Virginia Merrill Brilliant

New York - With deep sadness, we announce that Dr. Virginia Brilliant died in New York, NY on August 22, due to cancer-related complications. An art historian, curator, and art dealer, she was the daughter of Judith Feinberg Brilliant and Sidney N. Brilliant of St Louis, MO, both of whom predeceased her. Dr. Brilliant held a PhD from The Courtauld Institute of Art with a focus on medieval art. She was the Ulla R. Searing Curator of Collections at the Ringling Museum of Art where she brought new attention to the museum's collections, and contributed to the field with such projects as A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe (2017), and Italian, Spanish, and French Paintings In the Ringling Museum of Art (2017). Dr. Brilliant became a successful art dealer, who placed important works in private collections and noteworthy museums in the United States and abroad.



Dr. Brilliant is survived by extended family and an international network of friends and colleagues. We remember her as an accomplished scholar, adept at sharing her love of art; an erudite and witty interlocutor, offering trenchant observations of the world at large; an avid reader with literary tastes both high and low; a lover of dogs; and a loyal friend. She will be deeply missed by her canine companion, Pella, and dear friends, Sophie Hackett (Toronto, Canada) and Barbara Hyde (Suwanee, GA).



A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Donations in Dr. Brilliants' name can be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.