Hidden Treasures Unveiled: Watercolors

Exhibition Info
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Richard C. von Hess Foundation Works on Paper Gallery
Historic Landmark Building
Curated by
Robert Cozzolino, Senior Curator and Curator of Modern Art
Anna O. Marley, Curator of Historical American Art
The inaugural exhibition in the Richard C. von Hess Foundation Works on Paper Gallery

Hidden Treasures Unveiled: Watercolors was the inaugural exhibition in PAFA’s new Richard C. von Hess Foundation Works on Paper Gallery. The exhibition presented a group of watercolors from the 18th through the 21st centuries, drawn from the museum’s extensive collection of works on paper that have remained little-known to the public.

Among the highlights of the exhibition were Benjamin West’s Portrait of Prince Octavius (1783), Winslow Homer’s North Road, Bermuda (1900), Robert Motherwell’s Lyric Suite (1965), and Gladys Nilsson’s “I Don’t Remember What the Name Is” Duckbird Blues? (1968).

By making the exhibition’s focus watercolor and other water-based mediums, PAFA presented superb examples of one aspect of the collection, and showed the wide range of approaches that artists took towards the medium.

Gladys Nilsson, "I Don't Remember What The Name Is" Duckbird Blues?, 1968, Watercolor on paper, 30 x 22 in., John S. Phillips Fund, 2012.15
Gladys Nilsson, "I Don't Remember What The Name Is" Duckbird Blues?, 1968, Watercolor on paper, 30 x 22 in., John S. Phillips Fund, 2012.15
Benjamin West, Portrait of Prince Octavius, 1783, Gouache over black chalk on buff laid paper, 23 3/8 x 16 5/8 in., Gift of Mrs. John Wintersteen, 1983.16
Benjamin West, Portrait of Prince Octavius, 1783, Gouache over black chalk on buff laid paper, 23 3/8 x 16 5/8 in., Gift of Mrs. John Wintersteen, 1983.16
Robert Motherwell, Lyric Suite, 1965, Black ink with orange halo and royal blue ink on rice paper, 11 x 9 in., Gift of the Dedalus Foundation and the John Lambert Fund, 1994.6.5.4
Robert Motherwell, Lyric Suite, 1965, Black ink with orange halo and royal blue ink on rice paper, 11 x 9 in., Gift of the Dedalus Foundation and the John Lambert Fund, 1994.6.5.4
Winslow Homer, North Road, Bermuda, 1900, Watercolor and graphite on white wove paper, 13 15/16 x 21 in., Partial Gift and Bequest of Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen, 1978.19
Winslow Homer, North Road, Bermuda, 1900, Watercolor and graphite on white wove paper, 13 15/16 x 21 in., Partial Gift and Bequest of Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen, 1978.19