A family portrait from the 19th century that had been modified to conceal an enslaved teenager has undergone a complete restoration, returning it to its original state.
The 1837 artwork by Jacques Guillaume Lucien Amans, titled "Bélizaire and the Frey Children," will be displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art later this autumn, following 50 years of hiding, according to the New York Post.
The portrait depicts three children of Frederick Frey, an affluent banker from the French Quarter of New Orleans. In the artwork, they are portrayed alongside Bélizaire, who was 15 years old at the time and was reportedly purchased when he was 6 years old.
The modified portrait remained in the possession of the Frey family for more than a century. Then, in 1972, a descendant of the family's matriarch, Coralie D’Aunoy Frey, gifted the painting to the New Orleans Museum of Art, explaining that Bélizaire had been removed from the image.
However, the museum didn't act on this information, the Post noted. The painting remained in storage until 2005, when it was sold at an auction at Christie's New York for $7,200.
At that time, the museum's director, John Bullard, justified the choice by explaining that the artwork "was not in exhibitable condition" and that neither the artist nor the children were identifiable, as reported by The New York Times.
“I think in hindsight it was a mistake,” he told the paper.
The process of restoring the painting commenced in 2005 when it was sold to an antique collector in Virginia. Eventually, in 2021, the artwork found its way to Jeremy K. Simien, an art collector with ties to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Creole heritage. The exact price remains undisclosed.
Under his ownership, the portrait was completely restored to its original form.
The Met announced its acquisition of the portrait earlier this month, calling it "one of the rarest and most fully documented American portraits of a Black individual depicted with the family of his white enslaver."
"The deeply compelling and rare painting carries immense historical and artistic significance, and represents an important milestone in our ongoing commitment to sharing profound stories of identities and place," said Max Hollein, the Met’s Marina Kellen French director and CEO. "As well as memory and erasure."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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