Sense of Palace

CHICAGO—When Leslie Hindman decided to expand her Chicago art-and-antiques auction firm, the solution was just around the corner. She sold her 10,000-square-foot building in the West Loop to Oprah Winfrey, whose Harpo Studios is in the neighborhood, and bought another at 1338 W. Lake that is three times the size. She shelled out $2.5 million for it, and then spent another $1 million on renovations.

Her new headquarters, which opened in January, contains spacious offices, several large preview rooms, a drive-in intake dock and other amenities undreamed of at the previous site. “The old space was tiny and cramped,” says Hindman, “but the new one is palatial and lovely.” It’s a good thing: Since she reopened the firm in 2003, after a six-year hiatus, her staff has ballooned to more than 40, and last year sales volume hit $20 million.

Many out-of-town patrons will get their first look at Hindman’s new digs on April 25, when she hosts a party for VIP guests from Art Chicago. That will be followed by contemporary-art sales on the 27th and 28th featuring Frank Stella’s Progressive Pattern (n.d., est. $30–50,000) and paintings by Gertrude Abercrombie (Untitled, 1961, $4,000–6,000); John Grillo (Phoebus, 1957, est. $20–30,000); and Michael Johnson (Sanjue Two, 1994, $20–25,000).

"Sense of Palace" originally appeared in the April 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's April 2008 Table of Contents.