Asian Works of Art

Benjamin Farina serves as a Senior Vice President of Freeman’s and is the International Representative of Asian Art. 
From the Philadelphia area, Farina has always been interested in the arts. He first joined Freeman’s as the Gallery Director in 1992 and is returning after more than 20 years in the field.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1991 from the University of Virginia where he studied History and Studio Art. In 1998 he received his Master of Fine and Decorative Arts degree from Sotheby's Institute, London.

Farina moved to New York in 1999 to continue his career; first at William Doyle Galleries, a Manhattan auction house, then in 2000 at Sothebys.com in New York as a cataloguer of decorative arts. During his eight year tenure at Sotheby’s, he researched and catalogued a wide range of rare and important materials for the arcade decorative arts, fine arts, and Chinese works of art departments. In 2009, he joined Gurr Johns appraisers and art consultants as an appraiser of fine and decorative arts and as a consignment advisor. He is a member of the Appraisers Association of America, certified in Chinese works of art and general fine and decorative arts.

Xuanyu Li joined the Asian Art department in 2021 and now serves as an Associate Specialist and an apprentice auctioneer. Born and raised in Shenzhen, China, he is deeply interested in Asian culture and history, with a particular emphasis on Chinese archaic jades. Li earned a bachelors degree in 2019 from Oregon State University where he studied Construction Engineering Management. In 2020, he received his Master of Science degree in Arts Administration and Museum Leadership from Drexel University.