The Walters Exhibits “Lost” American Treasure by Painter George Inness Not Seen In Over 120 Years

Scholar and Conservator Discover Three Fragments of Monumental Work Thought Destroyed

Beginning Oct. 3, the Walters Art Museum will display for the first time George Inness’s (1825–1894) painting The Valley of the Olives—hauntingly beautiful evening landscape once thought to have been lost, but recently discovered to be part of a larger masterwork. Acting upon a theory developed by independent Inness scholar Michael Quick, Walters Head of Paintings Conservation Eric Gordon has determined scientifically that The Valley of the Olives is one of three large fragments comprising Inness’s original masterpiece, The New Jerusalem. This painting was believed to have been destroyed in 1880 after the partial collapse of Madison Square Garden, which killed three people and damaged many well-known artworks then being exhibited.

All three existing fragments comprising The New Jerusalem will be displayed together for the first time since 1880 and accompanied by a short video detailing their intriguing story. The two additional fragments on view will be Evening Landscape, owned by the Krannert Art Museum in Champaign, Ill., and Visionary Landscape, from a private collection in North Carolina.

“It is extremely rare to find a missing painting,” said Franklin Kelly, senior curator at the National Gallery of Art. “This ‘rediscovery’ of a key painting from [Inness’s] early career is one of the most exciting developments in understanding his art that has ever occurred.”

“Eric Gordon explored Quick’s theory that our painting was a fragment from The New Jerusalem and through painstaking work and conservation science discovered a major treasure,” says Walters Director Gary Vikan. “We are very excited that these three fragments will be exhibited together for the first time since the late 19th-century.”

Unaware of its unusual history, Henry Walters bought The Valley of the Olives in 1895. Due to poor restoration work in the 1930s, the painting was relegated to storage and never put on view at the museum. In 2002, while conducting research for the Inness catalogue raisonné, Quick theorized that the Walters’ The Valley of the Olives, along with a painting from the Krannert and a third painting seen only in a 1992 Sotheby catalogue, comprised the majority of the lost work, The New Jerusalem. He believed that the damaged painting was salvaged from the Madison Square Garden accident, and brought to Inness’s studio, where it was reworked, restored and then sold.

Conservator Eric Gordon began to investigate the link between the three fragments using conservation science techniques and straight detective work. The trail led from the analytical laboratories of the University of Delaware to the Sons of the American Revolution, from The Archives of the Union League Club of Chicago to Madison Square Garden and from the New York Public Library to the vaults of a small-town museum. Through a donation from the Wyeth Foundation, Gordon was able to borrow the other two paintings for testing purposes. He discovered that all three had identical canvas weaves and the same paint type with the equivalent pigment makeup. Gordon’s analysis also enabled him to understand more clearly Inness’s complex painting techniques in order to restore correctly The Valley of the Olives. Inness applied layer upon layer of very distinct colors, which did not blend into each other. Therefore, in restoring the painting, Gordon devised a system where each layer was a different medium and would not bleed into the paint below. In this way, Inness’s unique colors and color combinations could be re-created. After completing the restoration, he and Quick assembled the three fragments and almost the entire horizon of the original became visible. This discovery broadens the knowledge of Inness’s painting in a way that could not previously have been realized.

The New Jerusalem is itself only one picture of a three-part allegorical series, The Triumph of the Cross, commissioned for $10,000 by three prosperous men. For this 1866 commission, Inness was inspired by John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress—the second most popular book in the 19th century. Bunyan’s story is of the pilgrim Christian who, after a spiritual awakening, flees his homeland and makes a pilgrimage to heaven.

Using Bunyan’s work for inspiration was a departure for Inness, who had painted few canvases based on narrative texts and even fewer allegorical works. The topic captured his imagination, however, owing to his continued interest in the highly metaphysical Christian doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), who sought to inspire the viewer to see the correspondence between all things in the material and spiritual realms. The Triumph of the Cross series was Inness’s exploration of faith on canvas and reflected his belief that when experiencing his paintings, the viewer should reflect upon the relationship between nature and the divine. The theme illustrated Swedenborg’s claim to have already witnessed The Last Judgment as an historical event. He foresaw a less dogmatic church concerned with new freedoms in spiritual thought. The establishment of this new church would be called New Jerusalem. Inness’s devotion to Swedenborgian doctrine, and his desire to create new ways of viewing the world, led to the creation of a new form of visionary landscape.

Inness Documentary A half-hour documentary entitled Search for the New Jerusalem will run on Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. on Maryland Public Television. Funded by the Wyeth Foundation and Eleanor McMillan, the program was written and produced by Al Spoler, directed and edited by Michael Brassert and produced by Brooke McDonald of Houpla, Inc. in conjunction with Walters conservator Eric Gordon. Woody Lissauer is the musical producer for the project.

Admission and Hours Admission to the museum’s 19th-century collection is included in general museum admission, which is $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens (65+), $6 for college students with ID (18–25), $2 for children ages 6–17 and free for children under 6 and for members. Admission is also free on Saturdays from 10 a.m.–1 p.m. and all day on the first Thursday of every month. Museum hours are Wednesday–Sunday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The museum is also closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The Walters will be open Monday and Tuesday, December 27 and 28 and is open on New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is located in Baltimore’s historic Mount Vernon Cultural District at North Charles and Centre Streets and is one of only a few museums worldwide to present a comprehensive history of art from the third millennium B.C. to the early 20th century. The Peabody Court Hotel is the official hotel of the Walters Art Museum. For hotel accommodations, call 1-800-292-5500 and ask for “The Walters” rate code when making reservations. The hotel is located directly across from the museum on Cathedral Street. www.peabodycourthotel.com.