As a pioneer in Indian and Asian Art, Hugo is an internationally noted specialist for Indian classical art and Himalayan art, as well as for modern and contemporary Indian art. He established the department of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at Christie’s New York in 1998. Besides handling important classical Indian sculptures, including Chola bronzes and Buddhist sculpture, he expanded the department to include sales of modern and contemporary Indian art. He achieved the first $1m milestone record for an Indian modern painting in March 2015, when he was the auctioneer for Tyeb Mehta’s Mahisasura, selling for $1.5m to a New York collector in the presence of the artist. Hugo subsequently initiated and led the first sale for Christie’s in India, at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai in December 2013, a hugely successful evening that marked the beginning of a stronger shift of the market to India. Hugo left Christie’s in 2014 to drive the emerging market in India. He was appointed CEO of Saffronart in Mumbai with branches in Delhi, New York and London from 2015-2018. He raised the company to a fully competitive level internationally and achieved global market share for Modern and Contemporary Indian art in 2018. Currently Hugo is an independent Art World specialist and advisor.