Newly Discovered Cézanne Works Go on Temporary Display Friday at Barnes Museum
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Visitors to the Barnes Foundation, on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, will soon get a bonus, courtesy of a French master whose previously unknown sketches recently caught restoration workers by surprise.
The two sketches, by post-impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, were discovered on the reverse side of two watercolors in the museum's permanent collection, hanging in the Barnes for all these years. The unfinished hidden pieces -- one graphite and one watercolor -- had never been mentioned in any of founder Albert Barnes' correspondence.
Conservator Gwenanne Edwards (in background center of photo, wearing black dress), of the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, recalls that she was painstakingly removing the original acidic brown paper on the back ("verso") of one of the works with acid-free paper when she made the stunning discovery.
"I realized I was also uncovering other media, like watercolor and graphite, and then realized it could be a drawing," she said today.
Fellow conservator Samantha Sheesley (wearing white sweater in photo) then carefully worked on the other piece.
"When I started working the corner, it became apparent almost immediately that there was a drawing underneath the backing paper," Sheesley recalled.
It's unlikely that Dr. Barnes knew of the existence of the verso works when he acquired the two watercolors, in 1921, depicting the Provence landscape of Cezanne's southern France. Barnes paid $100 for each work.
Now, the paintings are on temporary display in double-sided frames, allowing the public to see both front and back. After May 18th, both works will be returned to their original spots, in Room 20 of the museum.