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Nancy Christman Reilly, North Carolina

Expert rank 33

Expert in

• Portraits & Miniatures

Bio

• Collector, dealer, auctioneer, and appraiser
• Specializes in portraits and portrait miniatures from the 17th to 20th centuries
• Formerly at Cotswold Auction Company in England
• Founded Piccolo Art based in North Carolina

Nancy Christman Reilly is an art dealer and expert in fine portraits and portrait miniatures from the 17th to the 20th centuries.  She has a Bachelor´s degree from Wright State University in Ohio, and a Master´s degree in Fine and Decorative Arts from the Sotheby´s Institute, London and the University of Manchester, UK.  After spending six years working as an auctioneer and appaiser, including the Cotswold Auction Company in England, Mrs. Reilly and her husband Mark, established Piccolo Art, based in North Carolina.  She has been an independent art dealer since 2003 specializing in portraiture.

For centuries people have been interested in portraiture for a number of reasons.  Typically the wall portrait, by its very size was meant as a public object, designed to flatter the sitter, or impress the onlooker.  The portrait miniature, by contrast, stood apart in the field of portraiture in that it was initially conceived for quite different reasons. The "picture in little" (as they were sometimes called) was a private expression of one's self, often intended for the eyes of a single loved one.  The birth of a child was one of the reasons why a miniature would be commissioned.  Miniatures were also routinely given to solidify a declaration of love or bestowed at the time of an engagement or marriage.