Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, have announced the single-owner auction of the Estate of Dr. Paul J. Vignos, Jr. on November 6-8, 2011. Dr. Vignos, who passed away in June 2010, was an accomplished rheumatologist at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as a generous philanthropist, avid sportsman and art lover. Over the course of their lives, he and his wife, Edith Ingalls Vignos, established a sophisticated and diverse collection including American and European paintings, silver, porcelain, Asian and ethnographic objects and other property.
“Dr. and Mrs. Vignos were consummate collectors,” said Leslie Hindman, President and CEO. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to offer their extensive collection in a single-owner auction. The collection is reflective of their style: thoughtful, elegant and magnanimous.”
Dr. Vignos’ zest for life is apparent by the zeal with which he pursued both his career and his interests. He was born in 1919 in Canton, Ohio. He attended the University of Notre Dame and Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Throughout the course of his medical career, he participated in breakthroughs in the field of rheumatology. Dr. Vignos discovered the gene behind Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and his research helped children afflicted with the disease retain their ability to walk far longer than had previously been possible. He published and lectured internationally, and he was known worldwide for his contributions to the treatment
of muscle disease.
He was also deeply involved in many philanthropic functions as Trustee, Vice-President and President of different councils and committees of the Cleveland Orchestra (life trustee), the Cleveland Museum of Art (life trustee), Cleveland Institute of Art, John Carroll University, Lake Erie College and The United Way of Greater Cleveland.
In 1946, Dr. Vignos married Edith Ingalls, who came from a prominent Cleveland family. The couple shared a passion for art and antiques. In 2003, the Ingalls Foundation endowed the Paul J. and Edith Ingalls Vignos Curator of European Painting and Sculpture at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Along with the Snite Museum at the University of Notre Dame, the Cleveland Museum of Art will benefit from the sale of their collection.
They also loved to hunt and fish, and they amassed an impressive collection of decoys and distinctive fishing reels and rods, which will be included in the sale.
Highlights of the auction include important paintings by American artists Jasper Francis Cropsey, Martin Johnson Heade and William Bradford. Additional artists represented include William Trost Richards, John George Brown, Louis Comfort Tiffany, John Whorf, Adrien Thomasz Key, Giovanni Tiepolo and Jean Baptiste Mallet.
Other items featured include French and American 18th and 19th century furniture, American and European porcelain and silver, a Tang Dynasty glazed horse, numerous bronzes and pre-Columbian works of art.
Public preview for the sale will be held Wednesday and Thursday, November 2-3 from 10 a.m – 6 p.m., Friday, November 4, 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., and Saturday, November 5, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
