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Leading by Example: Leila and Dana Lyons Featured in Gentry Magazine
January 1, 2007
Click here to download the article
Gentry Peninsula's January issue contains an article featuring gallery owner Leila Lyons and gallery director Dana Lyons.
Enjoy the full article below:
 THE CONNOISSEURS
In the art world there are millions of artists, thousands of truly passionate and astute collectors, but only a handful of experts. Palo Alto is home to one of the foremost experts in the world on antique prints--author, lecturer, and gallery owner Leila Phee Lyons.
Leila and her late husband, Dr. Charles R. Lyons, were introduced to the world of antique prints through a precious wedding gift of a Piranesi print. From then on the couple was hooked and as they traveled the globe, they increased their collection and knowledge of prints and 38 years ago opened a gallery in San Francisco. Nearly four decades in the field has trained Leila's eye to be one of the best in the business. Lyons, Ltd., Antique Prints, now located in Palo Alto's Town & Country Village, is one of the top five antique prints dealerships on the planet for its scope and quality. And in 2005, Random House approached Leila to author a book on antique prints for their Instant Expert series.
With writing on her plate as well as a rigorous schedule of national antique shows, Leila knew that she needed top-level assistance at the gallery and she got it in daughter-in-law Dana Conley Lyons. Dana majored in International Relations at Stanford and fell in love, "scandalously," she jokes with her T.A. Jamie Lyons. Dana went to work in the office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, D.C., but Jamie swept her off her feet and she returned to Palo Alto. Six years ago she began managing the gallery with her mother-in-law. "Leila's amazing. Everything I know about collecting she has taught me."
When asked about the appeal of an antique print, Leila points to a 16th-century architectural scene on the table before her and notes, "Before photographs, this was the way people saw the world. These detailed prints offered glimpses of everyday life, architecture, plants, flowers, animals, and so much more--these prints are windows into history."
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