NICA GUTMAN RIEPPI

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Nica Gutman Rieppi is the Managing Director at ArtDiscovery and has worked on many high-profile projects, including the rediscovery of Leonardo da Vinci’s lost Salvator Mundi. She assists the foremost art advisors, auction houses, galleries and private collectors around the world, helping bring value to their works of art. Ms. Rieppi gained her expertise working at world-class institutions and collections, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as well as the renowned Samuel H. Kress collection. She is a respected speaker, having lectured across the globe for esteemed institutions such as the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU, Sotheby’s Institute, Christie’s Education, Korean Art Management program in Seoul Korea, as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ms. Rieppi’s findings on technical art analysis have been widely published and her work has gathered world-wide attention in publications such as Heritage Science, Time Magazine, The New York Times, Town & Country as well as in PBS, Netflix and other global media outlets. Nica obtained a BA in History of Art and French from Emory University, Atlanta, a MA and Certificate of Advanced Study in Art Conservation at the State University College, Buffalo, and a MA in History of Art at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

DR. STEPHEN HANLEY

Senior Imaging Specialist

Stephen Hanley is a Senior Imaging Specialist at ArtDiscovery where he uses his expertise applying imaging technologies and advanced processing methods to provide our clients with new information about their works of art. Before joining the company, Dr. Hanley taught in the department of history of art at the University of York, UK. He was awarded a Caroline Villers postdoctoral scholarship in Technical Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, where he conducted research on the materials and techniques of early Netherlandish paintings in the collection. Dr. Hanley’s research on fifteenth century painting and the history of optics is published in scholarly journals such as Renaissance Studies and the Journal of the Historians of Netherlandish Art. Stephen holds an MA in Fine Art from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in Art History from the University of York.

DEHLIA BARMAN

Manager, Marketing and Business Development

Dehlia Barman is the Manager of Marketing and Business Development at ArtDiscovery. She leads customer and partner engagements world-wide, and is responsible for the global marketing and communications for the company. Ms. Barman is also guest lecturer at the Sotheby's Institute of Art and Regent's University, delivering sessions on the importance and value of art authentication. Her work experience includes galleries, auction houses, online art businesses and art advisory companies. Dehlia’s journey in the art world started in Lugano, Switzerland where she completed a BA degree in Communications. Passionate about the dynamics shaping and influencing the art market, Dehlia moved to London and completed her MA in Art Business at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

DR. JILLEEN NADOLNY

DIRECTOR, UK

Dr. Jilleen Nadolny is the Director of ArtDiscovery’s UK office and has served our clients on a broad range of high-profile projects world-wide over the course of the last decade. She has worked across the art market, with auction houses to law firms, from museums to private collectors. Her research fluency in a number of European languages has enabled ArtDiscovery to successfully undertake complex international projects and her skills in both art history and art science make her an effective project leader. She has worked with catalogues raisonnés and on larger museum investigations as well as with art authenticity disputes for our clients in the legal context. Dr. Nadolny gained her expertise working at a variety of leading institutions both in the USA and Europe. She is a sought-after speaker, having been invited to lecture at, amongst others, the University of Cambridge, Christie’s Education, Sotheby’s Institute, University College London, The Ashmolean Museum, The Technical University (Munich), The Swiss Institute of Art Sciences, and The Academy of Fine Arts (Vienna). She is recognized internationally for her contributions in the field of art technology and has contributed to foundational publications such as Conservation of Easel Paintings, as well as publishing many articles in books and peer-reviewed journals, additionally, editing several collaborative volumes. In the popular press, she has represented the company repeatedly for the BBC, Vice Media, the Süddeutche Zeitung and The Art Newspaper amongst others. Jilleen holds a BFA from Pratt Institute, New York, a double MA degree in History of Art and Art Conservation from New York University and a PhD in Technical Art History from the Courtauld Institute, London. Earlier, she taught technical art history and conservation as Associate Professor of Conservation at the University of Oslo. She is currently a member of ICOM-CC.

BHAVINI VAGHJI

Senior Scientist and Laboratory Manager

Bhavini Vaghji is a Senior Scientist at ArtDiscovery leading the materials laboratory for the company. She has performed scientific analysis on an extensive range of materials from works of art in museums and private collections world-wide. Mrs. Vaghji built her expertise working with the Pigmentum Project and joined ArtDiscovery at its inception. Subsequently, she has spent over ten years specialized in the analysis and identification of art materials, especially pigments and binding media, using a broad range of organic and inorganic analytical techniques from Raman microscopy to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Her accurate and detailed analyses have formed the basis of many high-level legal cases and authentication investigations. Mrs. Vaghji has built the company’s Raman and FTIR spectral libraries based on the Pigmentum Collections which are used routinely as part of ArtDiscovery’s unique and proprietary protocols. Notable projects include the study of paint cans from Jackson Pollock’s studio, which she published as a co-author, and investigations of the materials of Russian avant-garde painting. Bhavini obtained a BSc in Chemistry with First Class Honours from University College, London, and holds a MSc in Forensic Science from King’s College, London.

DR. JOANNA RUSSELL

Senior Scientist

Joanna Russell is Senior Scientist at ArtDiscovery specializing in both the imaging and material analysis of works of art. She uses x-ray, infrared, ultraviolet and other imaging techniques to investigate the materials and construction artworks, sometimes revealing hidden features such as underdrawings or changes in composition. Dr. Russell also uses a wide range of scientific methods to identify pigments and binding media and to visualize techniques of paint application. She has had over seven years’ experience working in scientific research departments in museums, first at the British Museum, where she held a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, and then at the National Gallery, carrying out projects on a wide range of subjects, including on the materials and techniques of Renaissance drawings on the identification of natural dyes and on the categorization of preparatory layers in paintings. Dr. Russell has presented her work at international conferences in London, Boston and Copenhagen, and has published on subjects including Francis Bacon’s painting materials and the metalpoint drawings of Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer. She has also taught on Conservation training programs at Northumbria University and at City & Guilds of London Art School.
Joanna holds an MSci in Chemistry with Conservation Science from Imperial College, London, an MA in the Conservation of Easel Paintings from Northumbria University, and a PhD in the analysis of the painting materials used by 20th century artist Francis Bacon, also from Northumbria University.

DR. NICHOLAS EASTAUGH

Chief Scientist

Dr. Nicholas Eastaugh has worked in the scientific and art technological study of paint and paintings since 1989, serving the many sectors of the art market both in the UK and abroad. Among his many areas of expertise, Dr. Eastaugh is highly experienced in presenting expert witness evidence in art law cases. In 1999 he co-founded the Pigmentum Project with Ruth Siddall, Tracey Chaplin, and Valentine Walsh, an interdisciplinary research group developing comprehensive documentary and analytical data on historical pigments and other artists’ materials. This led to the publication of The Pigment Compendium, which quickly became a standard reference text in the conservation field. In 2009, he founded Art Access and Research to be later known as Art Analysis & Research. Nicholas originally trained as a physicist before going on to study conservation and art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, where he completed a PhD in scientific analysis and documentary research of historical pigments.