The game of musical chairs in Phillips’s C-suite continued today. Auction veteran Ed Dolman, who has been CEO and executive chairman since January, is stepping down. Art lawyer Martin Wilson is stepping up, the company said.

The news comes amid a contraction in the art market. The November auctions at the big three houses in New York were down 40 percent from the previous year. Phillips’s evening sale of modern and contemporary art totaled $54.1 million, a drop from its $69.9 million total in 2023. Sotheby’s laid off more than 100 employees across its business earlier this month.

The shift at Phillips comes less than a year after the smaller rival to Sotheby’s and Christie’s announced a change in leadership, bringing back Dolman as its CEO following the resignation of Stephen Brooks after just two years on the job. (Dolman had previously been CEO from 2014 to 2021.) Amanda Lo Iacono, who was appointed as deputy CEO at the time, is also leaving. Dolman will stay in an advisory role through May to assist with transition, according to the spokesperson.

Wilson is not a household name in the art world, despite having spent nearly three decades in the international art and auction business. Since 2019, he has been on Phillips’s executive board as chief legal officer, overseeing the firm’s legal and compliance matters. He is the founder of the Art Lawyers Association and holds law degrees from Sorbonne and King’s College, London. He is also the author of the textbook Art Law and the Business of Art (2019).

“After a decade at Phillips, it is time for me to turn to new pursuits and to explore new ways of engaging in the world of art,” Dolman said in a statement. “In these 10 years, I had the privilege of working with a world-class team to grow Phillips’s impact and reach with extraordinary record-breaking sales in new locations worldwide.”

After joining Phillips as CEO in 2014, Dolman assembled a team of top specialists from Sotheby’s and Christie’s, where he famously rose from porter to CEO, a role he held for 11 years.

At Phillips, Dolman guided the company through a period of growth, with total sales climbing from $398 million in 2014 to $1 billion last year. He expanded its digital and global footprint by opening a salesroom in Hong Kong before its big rivals.

Prior to joining Phillips, Dolman was director of the office of Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, chairperson of the Qatar Museums Authority. In 2012, he was appointed acting CEO of the Qatar Museums. Dolman was awarded the Légion d’Honneur as Chevalier in May 2007, and in 2011 was elevated to the position of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur.