For nearly a century, two unknown sketches by Paul Cézanne hid in plain sight inside their frames at the Barnes Foundation, concealed behind brown paper backings until conservators finally lifted them in 2015. The discovery added a remarkable new dimension to our understanding of the post-Impressionist master's thrifty, experimental studio practice.
A Routine Conservation Unveils a Secret
In 2014, conservators from the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) in Philadelphia were tasked with a routine preservation project. They needed to treat five Cézanne watercolors in the renowned Barnes collection. Their goal was straightforward: remove the acidic, non-archival brown paper backing boards that had sealed the works into their frames since the early twentieth century.
Dr. Albert Barnes, the idiosyncratic collector who built the foundation, originally purchased the watercolors from the American art collector Leo Stein in 1921. It is highly likely the backing boards were already applied when Barnes acquired them. For over ninety years, the pieces hung precisely where Barnes dictated they must remain.
As conservators carefully lifted the brittle paper backing off an 1885–1886 watercolor titled The Chaîne de l'Étoile Mountains, they found an unfinished, delicate sketch of trees rendered in pencil and watercolor on the reverse side of the paper.
Front side: The Chaîne de l'Étoile Mountains (BF650). Behind this finished watercolor lay a hidden sketch.
Thrifty Genius on Both Sides of the Paper
The surprises didn't end there. Shortly after, the team lifted the backing from a second Cézanne watercolor, Trees (c. 1900). On its reverse side, they uncovered a detailed graphite sketch. This one depicted a manor house, a sprawling farmhouse, and the distinct silhouette of the Pilon du Roi mountain peak in Provence.
Front side: Trees (BF655). Conservators discovered a detailed architectural and landscape graphite sketch on the reverse.
Finding double-sided drawings by Cézanne isn't entirely unprecedented, but discovering two unrecorded works hiding behind framing materials was a major art historical event. Paper was an expensive commodity in late nineteenth-century France. Cézanne frequently flipped his paper over to experiment with lines, test compositions, or quickly capture a fleeting idea before dedicating his efforts to a finished piece of watercolor art on the primary side.
A Temporary Glimpse of the Hidden Work
Because the sketches had been shielded from light by the backing boards for decades, the graphite lines and faint watercolor washes remained exceptionally crisp. Experts concluded that Dr. Barnes himself probably spent his entire life unaware of the secret sketches hiding inside the frames he so carefully arranged on his gallery walls.
Following the 2015 announcement, the Barnes Foundation briefly exhibited the works in special double-sided, glass-backed frames from April 10 through May 18. This short window allowed the public to walk around the pedestals and view both the finished masterpieces and the intimate, unfinished experiments. Afterward, respecting the strict legal mandate of Albert Barnes's will (which dictates that the layout of the collection cannot be permanently altered), the watercolors were returned to their original, wall-mounted display locations, hiding their secrets from everyday view once again.
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