Piano Nobile was established by Dr Robert Travers in 1985. The gallery has been based in Holland Park for over twenty years and is today run by Robert and his son Matthew Travers. In 2019, Piano Nobile opened a further space on Portland Road to support the gallery’s growing exhibition programme.

The gallery plays an active role in the market for twentieth-century British and international art. With curated exhibitions, a refined aesthetic and rigorous scholarship, we seek to source and present exceptional works of art. We work with public and private collections and institutions, tailoring to the specific needs of each accordingly. The gallery acts as both a principal and an agent, and we offer a range of services to private buyers and sellers including appraisal, acquisition and dispersal.

The name ‘Piano Nobile’ derives from an art business established by Robert’s grandparents in Rome after the First World War. Based in the Via Sistina, the gallery sold a range of work from Italian old masters to contemporary paintings by Giorgio de Chirico. In a tribute to the old family company, piano nobile is an Italian phrase for the principal floor of a palazzo – the place where the best art is shown.

Piano Nobile has close relationships with a large number of museums, particularly in the UK, Europe and the United States. As well as many private collections, the gallery has sold to leading UK and European public institutions and occasionally handles the sale of deacquisitioned works. Most recently we have placed works with Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales; the British Museum, London; The Charleston Trust, East Sussex; the Imperial War Museum; the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Museum Bilden aan Zee, The Hague; the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; the Petit Palais, Paris; and the Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE.