Helene Love-Allotey

Helene Love-Allotey is Head of Sale and Specialist for the Modern and Contemporary African Art department at Bonhams.

A graduate of SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) in London, Helene joined the department in 2016 and has assisted with the development of dedicated Modern and Contemporary African Art auctions beyond London to New York and Paris. Most recently, she was Head of Sale for A Focus on William Kentridge and was responsible for the consignment of Kentridge's Colonial Landscape - Waterfall, 1995-1996 which sold for £504,300 including premium, a world record for a work from that series. In 2023, she is curating a second themed auction—Abuja! Ladi Kwali & The Art of Clay—scheduled for February, focusing on the female potter Ladi Kwali and her fellow peers at the Abuja Pottery Training Centre.

Partly Ghanaian, Helene travels to Ghana regularly and specialises on art from that region. She is particularly keen on including more women at auction, in addition to artworks from the 1950s and 1960s. Her expertise also extends to 20th century African photography, and she has participated in a talk for Photo London. She has also appeared on Katy Hessel's 'The Great Women Artists' podcast and, in her spare time, curates the Instagram account @africanarthistory.