About Us

Staff Biographies

Founder | Leigh Keno

Leigh Keno is founder and president of Keno Auctions. During his more than 30 years in the auction business and as a dealer, he helped build some of the top institutional and private collections of American furniture, paintings and decorative arts in the world.

Leigh's lifelong immersion in the world of fine and decorative arts has made him one of the foremost experts in the field. He holds a B.A. in Art History from Hamilton College, was a graduate fellow at Historic Deerfield, and a visiting scholar at Winterthur Museum. Leigh worked as the Director of American Furniture Department at Doyle Galleries in New York City, and was Vice President of Appraisals and Specialist in the American Furniture Department at Christie's, in New York. In 1986, Leigh opened a gallery specializing in 18th to 20th-century American furniture and decorative arts which he continued to operate until founding Keno Auctions in 2009.

Leigh lectures throughout the country and appears regularly on the popular PBS television program Antiques Roadshow. In 2000, Leigh, co-authored Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture which recounts some of his most memorable furniture discoveries. Since 2001, Leigh has written monthly furniture and design columns for House Beautiful and This Old House magazines and is currently Editor-at-Large for Traditional Home magazine. Leigh was the co-host of 'Buried Treasure', a primetime television series on the Fox Network.

In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded Leigh the National Humanities Medal. Prior to opening Keno Auctions, Leigh was a member of numerous professional dealer organizations, including the National Antique & Art Dealers Association of America. He is still a proud member of ADA, the Antique Dealers Association of America.

Senior Specialist | Jack O'Brien

Jack O'Brien is an Americana specialist, including Folk Art and American Paintings who joined forces with Leigh Keno in 2007. Prior to his start at Keno Auctions, he had the privilege of working as a researcher for the Winterthur Museum on the Southeastern Massachusetts Furniture Project. Mr. O'Brien is a co-author of Harbor and Home: Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, and has also published articles in The Magazine Antiques and Antiques and Fine Arts magazine on the Newport influenced furniture of New Bedford.

Specialist | Catherine Skibitcky

Catherine Skibitcky joined Keno Auctions in 2010 as a cataloguer and was soon promoted as a specialist the following year. Catherine is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University.

Director of Marketing & Business Development | Amy Sheldon

Amy Sheldon joined Keno Auctions in 2011. Prior to that time she was employed as the Global Communications Manager at GE Real Estate and Vice President of Marketing at Christie’s. Amy holds a B.A. in History from Mount Holyoke College.

Office Administrator | Sarah DeSanctis

Sarah DeSanctis joined Keno Auctions in 2011. She graduated from Sotheby’s Institute of Art with a Master’s of Art in Art Business, and holds a B.A. in Art History from Salve Regina University.