Leigh Keno

In 2005, Leigh Keno received the National Humanities Medal, awarded by the White House, in recognition of his contributions to the fields of American art and decorative arts history. Regarded as an expert in art objects and antiquities, Leigh Keno has studied and appraised objects ranging from Chippendale furniture to American stoneware to modern works by Alexander Calder and Joseph Cornell. In addition, he has worked extensively with fine art and paintings from the 17th to the 21st centuries. As the founder and president of Keno Auctions on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, he has handled a number of high-end pieces, including old master paintings and modern works. Recently, he sold at auction a document discovered by an intern at the Morris-Jumel Mansion in Manhattan. It was an original draft of the letter from the Second Continental Congress to the "...Inhabitants of Great Britain" and was one of the last documents written before the Congress produced the Declaration of Independence. It sold at Keno Auctions for $912,500.00, setting an auction record for a Revolutionary War manuscript.

Since 1997, Leigh Keno has been in the American public eye via frequent appearances on the PBS program Antiques Roadshow, which has received 14 Emmy nominations. As an volunteer appraiser for the show, he and his brother, Leslie Keno, have worked in dozens of venues and helped uncover some truly rare and valuable pieces. For example, Mr. Keno identified a Federal-period John and Thomas Seymour card table that dated to circa 1798 and ultimately sold for more than $540,000. He tells this story and others in the 2000 book Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture.

From an early age, Leigh Keno also has maintained a strong interest in classic cars. He enjoys racing vintage cars at tracks across the country and has raced in the Historic Ferrari Challenge with his 1980 Ferrari 512 BBLM as well as with the Vintage Sports Car Club of America with his 1958 Lotus Eleven Series II. Through his interest in preservation of fine and decorative arts as well as classic cars, Leigh Keno has earned a position as an annual judge for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the preservation class.