Kathleen Doyle seems to be in constant motion.

She is animated when she talks and laughs. She’s animated when pausing to reflect on a question. She gestures to illustrate a point. Then she gestures again to drive home that point. Even the slightest smile makes her facial muscles dance.

Had Ms. Doyle been an auctioneer, that sort of liveliness would have served her well. In fact, if she liked, she could wield a gavel at an auction podium any time — she is, after all, head of an eponymous auction and appraisal company in Manhattan, specializing in disposing art and antiquities from estates.
“I am really quite shy,” Ms. Doyle said yesterday.

But her shyness isn’t what keeps her from the podium. She has several veteran auctioneers to drive prices. It’s simply that, since the 1993 death of her husband — the founder of the firm,
William Doyle — Ms.Doyle has focused on running the company.

Although, to say that she’s run the company is to engage in understatement. William Doyle’s passion for antiques enabled him to build a business that challenged the older auction houses. But the company is what it is now — a market leader — largely on account of Ms. Doyle.

“Bill was a singularly exceptional person,” she said. “The entire company pivoted around one person. My job was to broaden the layers of responsibility, to delegate, to work quietly behind the scenes, and let the company’s growth speak for itself.”

That growth often has members of the art world mentioning Doyle in the same breath as Christie’s, which was founded in 1766 by James Christie, or Sotheby’s,which was started by Samuel Baker in 1744. Of course, Doyle’s annual revenues aren’t exactly close to those London-based auction houses. But among the smaller auction houses, Doyle is considered a jewel.

That status is largely due to its diligence in scouting estates. Over the years, Doyle has auctioned the estates of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Rock Hudson, Gloria Swanson, James Cagney, and longtime broadcast journalist Howard Smith, among others. A Chinese porcelain collection of F. Gordon Morrill, a Harvard professor, yielded more than $12 million.

One would think that her knowledge of art and antiquities must have come from rigorous scholarship. However, the Pennsylvania-born Ms. Doyle initially set out to be an editor after graduating from Trinity College with a degree in English literature. One of her first jobs was at the erstwhile Saturday Evening Post, which paid $80 a week.

After meeting and marrying William Doyle — whom she saw around her neighborhood — Ms. Doyle joined his company. She handled sales and marketing.

Then she decided to return to her first love: education. She enrolled at Bank Street College and obtained a master’s degree in parent and infant development.

Ms. Doyle did not expect to be pushed back to her husband’s firm by a tragedy. She’d had three daughters by then, and she had inherited a business that needed reinvigoration.

“I would often think of an inscription from Thomas Jefferson at the Library of Congress in Washington that I’d seen,” Ms. Doyle said.“That truly inspired me.” The inscription said: “Too low they reach who grope beneath the stars.”

She resolved to aim high. But some competitors suggested that her business would collapse.
“That was exactly the thing to say to someone who took a challenge very seriously,” she said. “So I started asking questions such as ‘How can we do better?’ and ‘What change is needed at our company?’”
One of her answers was to build a more versatile management team. Still another was that Doyle would expand internationally. Her tools were conventional newsletters and catalogs, and also the Internet.

“I am a very team-based person, and I’m very supportive of my colleagues,” Ms. Doyle, who grew up as one of six children of James and Monica Mahon, said. “We’re a researchbased business, and we put our reputation on the line with every auction. Strong leadership is essential to build a good reputation.”

The reporter asked her what imprint she would leave when the next generation of leaders takes over Doyle (one of her daughters, Laura Doyle Hammam, works in the jewelry department).

“I hope it will be said that I considered it an honor and privilege to represent the works of such fascinating artists, and I hope that it will be said that I was always open to new ideas and change,” Ms. Doyle said.

Then she paused.

“You know, I’m never comfortable with self-promotion,”she said,“but I do think that you become more courageous in your life when leadership is thrust upon you.”