Company Overview
For more than two decades, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has been an industry leader combining a local recognition as the Midwest’s leading fine art auctioneers with a global reach of buyers. Founded in 1982, sold to Sotheby’s in 1997 and reopened in 2003, Leslie Hindman has remained a constant force behind high profile auctions of everything from contemporary paintings and fine jewelry to French furniture and rare books and manuscripts and always maintains a practice of achieving the highest prices while maintaining the highest levels of integrity and customer service. 
In 1982, Leslie Hindman founded her eponymous auction house in Chicago, Illinois, and within a few years it grew to be the largest auction house in the Midwest and the fifth largest in the country. The company conducted many significant and highly publicized auctions, including memorabilia from the historic Comiskey Park, the Chicago Stadium, the Schwinn Family Bicycle Collection, as well as the personal property from such renowned estates as Arthur Rubloff, Mrs. Robert R. McCormick, the Potter Palmer families, and Dole heiress Elizabeth F. Cheney.
In 1991, Leslie received international recognition for the discovery of a previously unknown still life by Vincent van Gogh. The painting sold for $1.43 million and the resulting publicity brought Leslie Hindman Auctioneers to the forefront of the world auction scene. As a result of her firm’s outstanding reputation, it was acquired by Sotheby’s in 1997.
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers reopened in 2003 and in 2010 announced the opening of a new auction facility in Naples, Florida. Both locations hold regularly scheduled auctions featuring paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture, furniture and decorative arts, fine jewelry and timepieces, vintage couture and accessories, and fine books and manuscripts. An exceptional team of specialists – allied with a worldwide network of consultants and representatives – effectively appraise and market property leading to outstanding prices realized. Furthermore, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers provides a full range of services for trust and estate professionals.
Since reopening, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has handled property from the estates of Leo S. Guthman, Mrs. Jacob Baur (Bertha Baur), Rose Movius Palmer, Melville N. Rothchild, Sally Fairweather, Helen C. Tunison, Frank J. and Mary Mackey Jr., and Dr. Reid I. Martin among others. Additionally, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has handled the Kenan Heise collection of books and manuscripts, property from the Akron Art Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Milwaukee Art Museum, the Scottish Rite Bodies: Valley of Chicago, the Kmart art collection, the Kemper Insurance Companies corporate art collection, sports memorabilia from the legendary Ernie Harwell, music and movie memorabilia from Eric “Mancow” Muller, and the John Drury collection of A.C. Gilbert Erector Sets and Mysto Magic Sets.
