Woman Finds Final Piece to Picasso Discovery
By: Casie Mason
Updated: November 11, 2012
Shock-waves rippled through the art community when a rare painting was discovered right here in Evansville, back in August. A rare Picasso had been hidden at the Evansville Art Museum for decades, but its discovery is only part of the story. Eyewitness News spoke with a Newburgh woman who knows how the priceless artwork came here in the first place.
"That's what makes it a mystery see, is to who gave it and when." Carolyn Weng says it was her late husband Siegfried Weng, who was the the founder and director of the Evansville Art Museum, who brought the rare Picasso to the river city. "I just felt that I owed it to him to tell the truth about how the Picasso came to the museum. All of the other articles told the story very well but none of them mentioned the connection between the donor and the director."
After her husband's passing, Weng decided to do some investigating of her own. She wanted to find out just how the painting made its way to the museum. With the help of an archivist at the Dayton Art Institute, Weng found out more than she had imagined. Weng says,"After all the news came out, I became more and more interested in it myself. So, I just telephoned her and she sent me copies of letters and telegrams between Mr. Lowey and Dr. Weng. With all that information I just decided it should be in the newspaper. It's like the next chapter."
Though she solved the final piece of the Picasso puzzle, Weng says its she and her husband's love of art that made the discovery possible. "If you want to know the truth, I'm doing this for Sigfried, my sweetheart," she says. "Sigfried and I met in the early sixties just about the time the Picasso came to the museum." Art brought the two together, and her love for both brought this final chapter to an end.
Weng says her love of art has survived her husband's passing. She says she still creates her own work in memory of their lives together.
"That's what makes it a mystery see, is to who gave it and when." Carolyn Weng says it was her late husband Siegfried Weng, who was the the founder and director of the Evansville Art Museum, who brought the rare Picasso to the river city. "I just felt that I owed it to him to tell the truth about how the Picasso came to the museum. All of the other articles told the story very well but none of them mentioned the connection between the donor and the director."
After her husband's passing, Weng decided to do some investigating of her own. She wanted to find out just how the painting made its way to the museum. With the help of an archivist at the Dayton Art Institute, Weng found out more than she had imagined. Weng says,"After all the news came out, I became more and more interested in it myself. So, I just telephoned her and she sent me copies of letters and telegrams between Mr. Lowey and Dr. Weng. With all that information I just decided it should be in the newspaper. It's like the next chapter."
Though she solved the final piece of the Picasso puzzle, Weng says its she and her husband's love of art that made the discovery possible. "If you want to know the truth, I'm doing this for Sigfried, my sweetheart," she says. "Sigfried and I met in the early sixties just about the time the Picasso came to the museum." Art brought the two together, and her love for both brought this final chapter to an end.
Weng says her love of art has survived her husband's passing. She says she still creates her own work in memory of their lives together.
