Who We Are - Fine Art Investments

Leigh Keno has more than 45 years of experience in the field of fine and decorative arts. Leigh lectures throughout the country and has appeared as an appraiser on the Emmy-nominated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow (for over 20 years and counting). He has helped build some of the top institutional and private collections of paintings, furniture and decorative arts in the world. Leigh has either advised or represented some of the country’s leading museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Deerfield, the Museum of the City of New York, Winterthur Museum, The Detroit Institute of Art, Chipstone Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In an Oval Office ceremony in 2005, President George W. Bush awarded Leigh the National Humanities Medal for his role as an educator in the field of American History and Artifacts. Leigh has been a member of numerous professional dealer organizations including the National Antique & Art Dealers Association (NADA) and the Antiques Dealers Association (ADA). He worked at as a vice-president of Christie’s Appraisals Inc. and as an expert in Christie’s Americana Department until 1987 when he left to begin his own business as an advisor and dealer. Leigh is a proven expert in private client services and the ins and outs of selling art and antiques through auction. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Appraisers Association of America (AAA), of which he is a Certified USPAP Approved Appraiser. In 2000 Leigh co-authored Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture, which recounts some of his most memorable discoveries of American masterpieces.

In 2009, Leigh Keno founded Keno Auctions, a boutique auction house which offers high-end fine art and decorative art ranging from the 17th through the 21st centuries. In 2015 alone, Keno Auctions sold works including a Chippendale Mahogany Tea-Table for $1,850,000.00, a 1968 Alexander Calder Standing Mobile, Pig’s Tail for $365,000.00, to a 1972 brass and copper wire sculpture by Ruth Asawa which set a record for the artist’s work from the 1970s at $985,000.00. Leigh’s knowledge of artwork spanning four centuries is broad and well established.

Leigh regularly advises clients on the best approach to take when selling major works of art, including major pieces by artists such as Jean Michel Basquiat, Mark Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, Willem de Kooning, Ruth Asawa and Joseph Cornell. He counsels and acts as agent for both private and institutional clients when navigating the complex process of selling their artwork at auction so that they choose the right auction house and receive the best possible terms. This approach results in the maximum financial return to the consignor. Leigh is an integral part of Fine Art Investments, helping to assess artworks, coordinate sales (both private and auction) and help obtain the very best price for Fine Art Investments’ clients.

In addition, Leigh has grown up immersed with classic automobiles and has raced vintage cars at tracks across the country. He serves as a judge at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance (for over 15 years and counting). After a lifetime of extensive experience in the history, condition assessment, evaluation and sale of top quality, rare classic European and American automobiles, he has a passion for Marques such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston-Martin, Jaguar, Cobra, Maserati, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, and Lotus.