Lost Painting Project

What is it?

After Matilda Wilson’s death in 1967, some of Meadow Brook Hall’s largest and finest pieces of art were sold at auction or bequeathed to her family. For more than a decade, the curatorial staff have been looking for these paintings and have since located nine of them. With your support, we will create high-quality replicas of these remarkable paintings and hang them in their original locations. This will be a huge step toward interpreting the house as it was when the family lived here – with a target date of 1929.

Why is Meadow Brook Hall doing this?

Matilda and Alfred Wilson carefully chose the paintings in their beloved art collection and returning The Hall to its original appearance – a family home full of both personal items and impeccably curated art – is as important in telling their story as it is in preserving history. We want to honor their design while also staying accurate to history by making The Hall look as it did when the family lived here.

Many of the paintings in our collection are in need of conservation; any funds collected beyond what is needed for replication will go toward caring for those.

How can I help?

We are currently in need of funding. Meadow Brook Hall raises every dollar that it spends, and the Lost Painting Project must be totally supported from our friends.

Due to a significant grant from the Richard and Jane Manoogian Foundation and a major gift from Oakland University President Ora Pescovitz, as well as several gifts from the OU and MBH community for the conservation of paintings in the collection, the fundraising drive is more than half accomplished.

With $55,000 raised, we now need additional support from friends of The Hall to reach our goal of $80,000 to finish the painting replication and further conserve other art that will be moved to new locations in the house to make way for the replicated works.

For more information or to donate, contact the curator, Madelyn, at or (248) 364-6253. Checks payable to “Meadow Brook Hall” can be sent to:

Meadow Brook Hall

Attn: Lost Painting Project

350 Estate Dr.

Rochester, MI 48309

Want to donate now with a credit card? Click here. Please note that your gift will go directly to the Lost Painting Project, even though the fund number is “MBH Collections Conservation.” Thank you!

In gratitude to those who have already given:

  • $10,000 – $25,000
    • The Richard and Jane Manoogian Foundation
    • Ora Pescovitz, Oakland University President

    $1,000 – $5,000

    • In loving memory of Mary Kathryn Cichowski
    • Frank and Janet Cassise
    • Geriann Reimann
    • Anthony Gallina and Victoria Martinuzzi
    • The Lindsey Family
    • Kellie Rao-Evans
    • James and Py Wolfe

    $200 – $999

    • Mrs. Christine Burnard and Mr. Greydon Hyde
    • Richard and Janice Caloia
    • Cathy Johnson
    • Gwendolyn Kirby
    • The Gaudreau Family
    • Keith Morgan
    • Anthony Spadafore

    Under $200

    • Diane Gurzick
    • Charles Kemler
    • Daniella Kenwell
    • Timothy Kieselhorst
    • Gerald Nickles
    • Natalie Reilly-Finch
    • Donna Vogt
    • Ron Miller
    • Perry MacNeill
    • Dale A. Carlson

    In gratitude to those who have volunteered to help with this project:

    • Cook’s Lamp Shaders Co., Roseville
    • Nora Eisele
    • Dani Kenwell
    • Steven Lindsey
    • Marianne Raffin