Imagine how challenging and rewarding it must have been for the Worcester Art Museum’s (WAM) Assistant Curator of European Art, Delaney Keenan, to explore the museum’s acquisition records to search for data on “textiles, tapestries or weavings” — and then to locate these tapestries in storage or vaults — many that had not been seen for decades.
The result of Keenan and staff’s year’s long exploration and conservation is “From the Vault: Collecting Tapestries at the Worcester Art Museum,” a magnificent display of the museum’s finest tapestries.
Another outcome of their efforts is an elegant and informative catalogue, “From the Vault,” written and edited by Keenan and Claire C. Whitner. The photography by Steve Briggs, who used a forklift to rise high above the tapestries laid out on the floor, is exquisite. Tapestry conservation was completed by Camille Myers Breeze, owner of Museum Textile Services, based in Andover, Massachusetts.
“Tapestries are monumental in scale, immensely detailed, and very labor-intensive objects,” curator Keenan said. “It is a real treat to experience tapestry through the ages, together in one dedicated exhibition. It is only on view through July 27. Come see it before it is too late.”