BULLIMORE PARTNERS
Maria Santangelo
Co-Founder, Managing Director
Maria Santangelo has over two decades of curatorial experience in European Decorative Arts and Sculpture, most recently at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Santangelo was recruited by Ann and Gordon Getty in 2017 and served as their Chief Curator before launching Bullimore Partners in 2024.
Santangelo has published widely and contributed to numerous museum exhibitions and publications, including A Princely Pursuit: The Malcolm D. Gutter Collection of Early Meissen Porcelain.
She holds an MFA in Art History and Italian from Indiana University, Bloomington, with additional decorative arts coursework at Cooper-Hewitt / Parsons School of Design, NYC and through The Attingham Trust, UK.
Caitlin Yates
Co-Founder, Managing Director
Caitlin Yates is a cross-category fine and decorative art specialist with a deep understanding of the art market. She has worked for private galleries in the US and the UK and worked at Christie’s in London for a decade. As a Specialist and Head of Sale in the Private and Iconic Collections Department, she successfully oversaw and sold diverse multi-million-pound single-owner collections spanning antiquities to modern & contemporary art, fashion and guitars. Yates returned to the US when she was recruited to serve as Art Collection Manager for the Ann and Gordon Getty Collection before launching Bullimore Partners in 2024.
Yates holds an MLitt in Art History and Art World Practice from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, with additional art law coursework through The Institute of Art & Law.
Jointly
Santangelo and Yates were indispensable figures in the successful management and dispersal of The Ann and Gordon Getty Art Collection. Working alongside the Gettys and their legal, administrative, and financial teams, they professionally directed the entire process from the earliest planning stages and negotiations to overseeing 15 groundbreaking sales with over 2,300 lots at Christie’s between 2022-2023 and another 1,200 lots at Stair Galleries in 2024. More than 200M was raised for the Getty’s philanthropic goals. On behalf of the Gettys, Santangelo and Yates also steered discreet private sales as well as family and institutional gifts.
With the successful completion of these projects on behalf of Ann and Gordon Getty and their Foundation, Santangelo and Yates launched Bullimore Partners in 2024. Bullimore is named for Francis Bullimore, longtime butler to Ann and Gordon Getty and to Gordon Getty's father, J. Paul Getty and Joseph Kennedy.
“Ann would be delighted that two exceptional women developed their own art advisory business from their experience working on our
art collection. Maria and Caitlin professionally shepherded and delicately advised
our team throughout the entire planning and sale process. They were indefatigable
in celebrating Ann and her artistic legacy.” - Gordon Getty