Jacqueline Subhash is an independent researcher based in Bellport, New York. With more than a decade as an auction professional in New York City specializing in Indian, Himalayan and Southeast antiquities, Jacqueline is an expert in provenance research and a certified appraiser in Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).

As a specialist in Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art at Sotheby’s New York (2010-2018), Jacqueline traveled the globe working on extraordinary private collections including the Richard R. and Magdalena Ernst Collection of Himalayan Art, the Tamashige Tibet Collection, the Nyingje Lam Collection, and the Leo S. Figiel, M.D. Collection of Indian Folk Bronzes; as well as landmark selling exhibitions including Footsteps of the Buddha, and deacquisitions from renowned cultural institutions including the Cleveland Museum of Art.

As the Head of Department of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art at Christie’s New York (2018-2020), Jacqueline helped bring to market esteemed private collections including the Estate of Baroness Eva Bessenyey; the James and Marilyn Alsdorf Collection of Himalayan Art; and Gandharan Masterpieces from a Private Japanese Collection.  

Prior to her auction career, Jacqueline Dennis Subhash spent formative years in South and East Asia, leading adventure-based study abroad programs for university and gap-year students throughout India, Nepal, China and the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and traveling extensively throughout the pan-Himalayan region. Jacqueline holds an MA in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies with a concentration in Tibetan and Sanskrit Translation from Naropa University (2007), and a BA in Religion and Asian Studies from the University of Vermont (2001). She also completed a year of undergraduate work in Tibetan Studies in Kathmandu, Nepal through Tribhuvan University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1999), during which time she began her lifelong study of the colloquial Tibetan language.

Jacqueline’s current field of interest includes the development of medieval Indian hathayoga traditions, and the transmission of these early teaching cycles into Tibet, including the Amrtasiddhi('Chi med grub pa) and auxiliary corpus. 

EDUCATION

MASTER OF ARTS: Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies
Concentration in Sanskrit and Tibetan Translation
Naropa University: Boulder, Colorado, 2007

BACHELOR OF ARTS: Asian Art History and Religious Studies
University of Vermont: Burlington, Vermont, 2001

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CHRISTIE’S
New York, New York: Sept 2018 – July 2020
Head of Department, Specialist, Vice President
Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art

SOTHEBY’S
New York, New York: June 2010 –March 2018
Specialist, Assistant Vice President
Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art

WHERE THERE BE DRAGONS
India, Nepal, China, Tibet: June 2007 – December 2009
Himalaya Semester Program Director

ALLEN GINSBERG LIBRARY, NAROPA UNIVERSITY
Boulder, Colorado: September 2005 – June 2007
Archives and Special Collections

RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART
New York. New York: June 2004 — June 2005
Gallery docent