Philip Hook has the unusual distinction of having been a director of both Christie's and Sotheby's. He is now senior director of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Picture department. He is co-author with Mark Poltimore of Popular 19th-Century Painting, published in 1986, and the Dictionary of European Genre Painters. From 1987 to 1993 he was an independent dealer, co-founding the London-based St. James's Art Group. He is also a successful novelist, having written five thrillers set in the art world.