Hidden Treasures

Ever wonder what treasures are tucked away in the depths of a museum’s cellar? The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art dispels the mystery this summer in a new exhibition entitled, Hidden Treasures, which highlights rare, fragile and obscure pieces from the Wadsworth’s extensive permanent collection. On view from June 27 to September 20, 2009, Hidden Treasures spans more that 2,000 years of art and will include works from numerous countries and cultures including Asia, South America and Africa. The exhibition also includes pieces culled from the collection by the Wadsworth’s curatorial team who delved into the museum’s art storage to locate objects that will surprise and intrigue museum visitors. Many of the selected works are extremely fragile and light sensitive, which is why they are rarely on view in the galleries. Highlights include: - A masterful watercolor by Paul Cézanne, The Bather, c. 1885 - A drawing by Gustave Doré, The Virgin of the Apocalypse, c. 1865 - Engravings by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) - Prints by modern American masters such as George Bellows, Edward Hopper, and John Sloan - Watercolor miniature portraits on ivory by such noted English and American painters as George Engleheart (1752-1829), John Singleton Copley (1739-1815), and John Trumbull (1756-1843) - A painting by Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro entitled Cherry Blossoms at Yoshiwara, c. 1793 and a Chinese Qing Dynasty porcelain “Vault of Heaven” Vase from the Ch’ien-lung period, 1736-1795 - An important Reliquary Guardian Figure, late 19th or early 20th century, from Kota, Eastern Gabon, Africa - A group of box constructions by the surrealist-inspired American artist Joseph Cornell - Silkscreen prints by leading American artists such as Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol - Examples of contemporary work by Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Robert Longo, and Andrea Fraser.