Otto Hans Ressler was a banker until 1978, when he took over the directorship of the Dorotheum in Graz. In 1986 he completed his training as an expert assessor and became the director of the art department at the Dorotheum in Vienna from 1986 to 1993. From 1993 onwards he was the managing partner of Auktionshaus im Kinsky GmbH (formerly Wiener Kunst Auktionen GmbH), which he had co-founded. In 2011 he resigned from his post as managing director in order to dedicate himself to literature, and until 2013 continued as an expert for contemporary art at the auction house. Since 1997 Ressler has also been a general and court-sworn certified art expert.

Apart from novels, he has published several reference books about art and its market: in 2001 Der Markt der Kunst (The Art Market), Böhlau Verlag Vienna; in 2003 Die Preise der Kunst (The Prices of Art), Böhlau Verlag Vienna; in 2007 Der Wert der Kunst (The Value of Art), Böhlau Verlag Vienna; in 2010 Das Mädchen mit dem Hut (The Girl with the Hat), Böhlau Verlag Vienna, a novella on the topic of restitution, and in 2013 the artist novel Die Gerechtigkeit der Hölle (The Justice of Hell), Edition Va Bene Vienna. 2014 saw the publication of Die Irreführung, a novel dealing with art forgery. 2014 saw the publication of Die Irreführung (The deception), a novel dealing with art forgery, 2015 the artist novel Soshana, Leherb and Kardinal und Hure (Cardinal and whore). 2021 has been published Dort endet unsere Kunst (There our Art ends), 2022 the illustrated book Heiße Tage auf Teneriffa (Hot days on Tenerife). In addition, he has written numerous contributions for anthologies, reference books, literary magazines and the ORF.

Peter Coeln was born in Linz in 1954. He studied photography at the Federal School and Institute of Graphics in Vienna. He opened the world’s first Leica Shop in Vienna in 1991, founded the Rare Camera Company in London in 1994 and opened the photography museum WestLicht in Vienna in 2001. He is the director of the world’s largest auction house for cameras. In 2011 he won the Austrian arts sponsoring prize “Maecenas“. The jury wished to reward his special efforts and engagement on behalf of photography. WestLicht had already won an encouragement award in 2002. More than 300,000 people have visited the 70-plus exhibitions at WestLicht since 2001. The number of visitors is constantly increasing. With OstLicht, Coeln has added a second string to his bow, an enterprise specialised in contemporary photography.

Mag. (FH) Rudolf Prosoroff is a trained travel agent and real estate professional. After working in the hotel industry he switched 2002 to the real estate business. 2011 he started the company Wettberg Immobilien GmbH in Vienna and pursues increasingly real estate projects in Ireland since 2016.