A Long-Lost Waring Painting Continues Its Recovery Journey

Valerie Harris
21 hours ago
3 min read

“Hello?”

“Hello. Is this Valerie Harris, the art historian?”

This was the first time I actually had someone query me with that title as I have never claimed to be an art historian. But I suppose my years of researching and writing about Laura Wheeler Waring qualifies me, so, okay….

“Yes, this is Valerie….”

Thus began an interesting conversation with Judith Brodsky—the distinguished artist, curator, feminist art scholar, author, and founding director of The Brodsky Print Center at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).

Judy was on the hunt for a Laura Wheeler Waring painting to exhibit in a show she is curating this coming fall for the Arts Council of Princeton as part of their upcoming events for the country’s 250^th anniversary. She was particularly interested in a portrait, which is what Waring is most known for. She had contacted several museums that she knew held examples of Waring’s work in portraiture, including PAFA and the Smithsonian, but for various reasons—timing, construction on the building where the Waring was stored, etc.—no one was able to loan her a Waring for her show.

How could I help?

My first thought was Waring’s grand-niece, who had been so helpful to me when I first started this work more than ten years ago. However, Judy told me that she had already reached out to this Waring relative, but had been unable to interest her in loaning out any of the paintings in her possession.

“Do you know any other collectors, perhaps locally, who may have a Waring painting?”

I was all set to say, “No. Sorry, I can’t help you.” But then I remembered Silks.

Two years ago I posted on this site a query from a woman who, while sorting through her late mother’s belongings, had found a medium-sized framed watercolor. Her mother had taught at Cheyney State College, the same school where Waring taught for forty years at the first half of the last century. In fact, the querent’s mother had taught home economics in the same class room in which Waring had taught “domestic arts.” On the back of the painting had been a tag that was so old that it had fallen off. Fortunately, the writer had kept it as it is part of the provenance of the work.

Artist label from Silks — Artist label from *Silks*

From this and other documentation, I was able to authenticate that the watercolor was by Laura Wheeler Waring, from around 1915.

Silks is a figurative painting, but not the portraiture by which Waring is now known. The women in the painting were not specifically “Black” or even “colored” – another attribute now associated with Waring.

But it is a Waring. Would the curator be interested in seeing this piece for possible inclusion in the upcoming show?

Yes, she was interested.

So I reached out to the woman who had contacted me earlier and soon put owner and curator together.

On May 5th, the three of us—Judy Brodsky; Lynn Starr, the painting’s owner; and myself—all met at the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia so that the experts could assess the painting. Curators from PAFA were also present to witness this long lost, early Laura Wheeler Waring watercolor.

Silks at the Conservation Center in Philadelphia — *Silks* at the Conservation Center in Philadelphia

Having last been shown in watercolor exhibitions in Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York from 1915-1916, Silks is now on its way to being professionally cleaned, repaired, and hopefully exhibited to new audiences at the Arts Council of Princeton’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts in the fall of 2026. If all goes as planned, I will be in Princeton, too, to talk about Silks and other issues related to Waring’s life during the time she completed the painting.

I am thrilled to be part of helping this painting along on its recovery journey!

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