This time last year, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art and chief auctioneer Meyer was bringing his gavel down in New York on the biggest single auction in its 269-year history, raking in $375 million, with Mark Rothko’s painting No. 1 (Royal, Red and Blue) (1954) going for $75m. By contrast, London sales throughout the year proved strong, if not earth-shattering, but for Westphal – chairman of contemporary art Europe – the auction game may be changing anyway: in October, Sotheby’s expanded its S/2 private sales gallery format from New York to London, effectively muscling in on the business of gallerists and private dealers.

Private sales are a growth area for Sotheby’s, so S/2 London plans five selling shows a year. Sotheby’s shareholders seem to like it: the company’s shares have risen continuously, even while billionaire activist investor Dan Loeb has recently been gunning for Sotheby’s CEO William Ruprecht to step down.