Specialist Personnel

John Albrecht belongs to one of Melbourne's retail dynasties. His father Kurt Albrecht owned and operated the oldest jewellery retailer in Australia, Kozminsky and had conducted business with the Joel family for many decades. After founding the modern day jewellery department at Leonard Joel two decades ago, John completed a bachelor of law degree and arts degree at Monash University and later an MBA at RMIT. At Kozminsky he was instrumental in the founding of their art gallery and was a director of the firm. After a brief period as a securities broker John returned to his passion for all things auction and established Joel Fine Art for Leonard Joel in 2006. For two years Joel Fine Art conducted major Australian and Aboriginal fine art auctions and set numerous artist price records. In 2009 John was invited to return to Leonard Joel as Managing Director and a shareholder in the firm.

After 10 years with the famous Melbourne jewellers Kozminsky, as Executive Manager of both their jewellery and art departments, John now runs the largest specialist jewellery auction department in Australia. As Head of Jewellery at Leonard Joel, John manages and oversees the identification, valuing and dispersal of more than 10,000 jewellery items annually and is uniquely placed to manage both significant jewellery collections and single items. No new comer to the Auction industry, in 1990 John was one of the first to set up and run his own auction of original movie posters and memorabilia, a passion for which he still maintains to this day.

Giles brings profound international expertise to the Leonard Joel business. His first 9 years were at Christie’s South Kensington, the first two of which were spent in the book department. The remaining 7 years at Christie’s were spent in their popular entertainment department that dealt in all manner of Rock & Roll memorabilia. With a clear passion for collectables, Giles rose to the position of associate director of Rock & Roll with Sotheby’s London, culminating in his appointment to Sotheby’s New York’s Collectables department as Assistant Vice President.
Giles is the most experienced collectables specialist in the country and brings to Leonard Joel a unique stand-alone department, specifically tailored for single-owner collections, with particular expertise in Antique Toys, Rock & Roll memorabilia, militaria including medals, sporting memorabilia, film and advertising posters and post-second world war utilitarian objects and ephemera.

Anne was appointed Head of Art in 2009. She has a wealth of experience in the auction industry, having previously worked at Bonhams and Goodman Auctioneers as a Senior Specialist Art, Head of Aboriginal Art and also an auctioneer for her departments. Often considered a project manager, Anne has handled the consignment of many large collections from corporations and private estates. She also has a highly academic background in literature and Japanese studies and her qualifications include a Master of Arts, a First Class Honours Degree and a Bachelor of Arts. Prior to working for Bonhams & Goodman, Anne held established positions as a lecturer, translator and editorial assistant. Her skills in the areas of research, academic writing, editing and critical analysis are widely acknowledged.

After completing his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Hobart, Guy joined Leonard Joel as an assistant manager in 2003 and was promoted to the position of Head of Decorative Arts in 2007. Over the past 7 years, Guy has had the opportunity to experience all facets of the company, from single-owner collections, such as the Marvin Hurnall Australiana Collection and The Grace Antique Galleries Collection, to individual items of international importance. Guy now oversees two major Decorative Art and Furniture auctions annually and is regularly engaged to manage the dispersal of significant house contents auctions and single-owner sales.

Originally from New Zealand, Briar graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History in 2000. She then undertook a post graduate diploma at Sotheby’s institute in London studying Fine and Decorative Arts. Upon returning to New Zealand, she worked in a leading commercial gallery in Auckland and managed an art services business. After moving to Australia in 2006, Briar joined a well established commercial gallery in Melbourne as gallery manager but her desire to pursue a career in the fine art auction industry led her to Leonard Joel in 2007 where she joined the Leonard Joel art department. Briar’s flair for curating high quality art auctions led to her rapid appointment as Senior Specialist and in 2010 she accepted the position of Head of Art. The Leonard Joel art department has now become synonymous with excellent research and valuing skills and the presentation of some of the most eclectic art auctions in the country.

As both an auctioneer and valuer, Warren has spent more than three decades working in the auction industry and headed up the Leonard Joel Group prior to its sale in 2008. Throughout his career, Warren has established himself as one of the most experienced participants and observers of the Australian auction market and is widely acknowledged as an expert valuer for private, commercial and public clients. Warren has a particular passion for early 20th century international art and objects.

Alec was educated in England and America and started his career in advertising. He moved to Australia in 1964 and commenced a career working with books in 1970; operating The Rocks Bookshop in Sydney for some 15 years. Alec's interest in books began almost 70 years ago as a young child and grew with the dispersal of his own family’s library. With a clear passion for the category, Alec has been consulting to auction houses including Bay East, Bonhams and Goodman and now Leonard Joel, Sydney for over 30 years. He now works closely with the Sydney Art department where he is involved in the appraisal and cataloguing of books and manuscripts for the quarterly Art & Book Sales.