Candy Coleman has left her position as director of Gagosian Los Angeles to re-join Sotheby’s as a contemporary art specialist.

Coleman, a founding staff member of the LA branch of Gagosian, is keen to work in auctions again after over two decades at the super-gallery.

“It is an ideal moment to return not only to the auction market, but to Sotheby’s,” Coleman said in a statement. “The art market is in a period of evolution and Sotheby’s is expanding the traditional role of an auction house. I am particularly excited by the opportunities that exist to bridge the secondary market with the interests of artists and their primary markets,” she added.

Coleman worked at Sotheby’s for ten years between 1985 and 1995, in the contemporary art department, before moving to Gagosian where she managed Ed Ruscha for seventeen years.

“Candy is an established market powerhouse, and she brings to Sotheby’s extensive private sale experience, as well as a commitment to artists over the long term,” said Amy Cappellazzo, the chairman of the fine art division at Sotheby’s, in a statement.

“She has helped build extensive private and public collections, while also thoughtfully representing artists’ careers. Candy has also been a key figure on the West Coast for decades, playing a critical role in establishing Los Angeles as the center for Contemporary art that it is today.”

Sotheby’s is among many companies in the art world who have been turning their focus to the West Coast and the increasing number of collectors in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Both Hauser Wirth and Sprüth Magers have opened branches in Los Angeles in the last year.

Coleman’s career move comes after a swathe of artists including Richard Prince,  Julian Schnabel, Yayoi Kusama, and William Eggleston have left mega-dealer Gagosian, citing an impersonal approach.