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The New York State Museum will open a new exhibit on November 16 featuring a selection of important New York State decorative and fine arts artifacts that were recently donated to the Museum by Peter Wunsch, President of the Wunsch Americana Foundation. Since 1969, the decorative and fine arts collections of the State Museum have been enhanced by generous donations by the Wunsch Americana Foundation under the direction of Eric Martin Wunsch.

The exhibit, Building a Collection: E. Martin Wunsch and His Passion for Collecting New York State Decorative Arts, will be on display through March 5, 2014. The Museum’s Wunsch Collection consists of furniture, paintings, silver, ceramics and folk art crafted primarily between 1700 and 1900. The objects have labels indicating they were made by New York craftsmen or have a documented New York history. The Wunsch Collection illustrates changing stylistic trends in decorative arts and provides insight into how New Yorkers once lived. 

“The Wunsch Collection is probably the most important collection of New York State furniture and decorative arts in the nation,” said State Museum Director Mark Schaming. “Donating to the Museum allowed Eric Martin Wunsch the opportunity to collect antiques and preserve them for the public to enjoy. The Board of Regents and the State Museum are grateful to the Wunsch family for helping us preserve this important collection for future generations.”  

Eric Martin Wunsch passed away in March 2013 and his son, Peter, generously donated the remaining pieces that were on long-term loan to the Museum’s collections. In addition to the exhibit, the Museum is hosting a lecture series to honor the spirit of Wunsch and his life-long passion for collecting American decorative arts. 

All lectures listed below are free and open to the public. 

Sunday, November 17   |    2 pm    |    Huxley Theater   
From Frontier to Metropolis: New York Furniture 1650-1790, presented by Dean Failey, Senior Vice President and Senior Director of the American Furniture and Decorative Arts Department at Christie’s in New York 

Sunday, November 24   |    2 pm    |    Huxley Theater   
Duncan Phyfe and the Rise of the New York School of Cabinetmaking, presented by Peter Kenny, Curator of American Decorative Arts and Administrator of the American Wing, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sunday, December 1   |    2 pm    |    Huxley Theater   
Treasures from the Wunsch Americana Foundation: New York Decorative Arts 1700-1900, presented by John Scherer, Senior Historian Emeritus and Curator of Decorative Arts, New York State Museum

Sunday, December 15   |    2 pm    |    Huxley Theater   
Hidden Treasures: Searching for Masterpieces of American Furniture, presented by Leigh and Leslie Keno, PBS Antiques Roadshow and FOX Buried Treasure.  Leigh is the proprietor of Keno Auctions in NYC and Leslie is the Senior International Specialist, Business Development at Sotheby's in New York

Photos of some of the decorative and fine arts artifacts are available at: http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/PRkit/2013/wunsch/index.html.

The State Museum is a program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.  It is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

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