In spring 2013, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will present a rich collection of paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts, evidence of the new visual culture created during the Spanish and Portuguese global empires. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the development of a vast network of trade routes produced the conditions for an unparalleled artistic exchange between Europe and its colonies. The works in the Roberta and Richard Huber Collection reflect a mixed heritage of artistic practices, religions, and cultures from Peru to Sri Lanka. The 130 objects in Journeys to New Worlds demonstrate both an emphasis on faith and community as well as the high level of craftsmanship that developed in the Iberian colonies of South America and Asia.

The exhibition is generously supported by The Annenberg Foundation Fund for Exhibitions, the Arlin and Neysa Adams Endowment, Paul K. Kania, and Mr. and Mrs. Reinaldo Herrera. The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Fund for Scholarly Publications at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and by Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Showcasing the Museum’s collection, this exhibition is a journey from the genesis of photography to masterpieces of the modern art form. Rarely seen nineteenth-century images by William Henry Fox Talbot, Gustave Le Gray, and Charles Aubry are complemented by contemporary works, including recent acquisitions by artists such as Joachim Koester, and Hiroh Kikai. The centerpiece of the installation is a group of photographs by Alfred Stieglitz and Dorothy Norman reflecting their creative exchange in the 1930s and 1940s.

This exhibition includes nearly 200 drawings, paintings, and sculptures ranging in date from the 1930s to 2010 by twenty-seven artists who worked well outside of the boundaries of the modern and contemporary art world. Using unconventional materials in innovative ways, “outsider” or “self-taught” artists have drawn upon their life stories and surroundings, as well as popular culture, to create highly personal and intensely compelling objects of rare accomplishment and compelling beauty.

The exhibition is sponsored by Comcast Corporation and Duane Morris. Generous support for the exhibition is also provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts, Capital Solutions, Credit Suisse, William B. Dietrich Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation, Christie’s, PNC Bank, Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joe Neubauer, Ralph and Suzanne Roberts and Brian and Aileen Roberts, Erik and Tammy Bonovitz, Christopher Bonovitz and Kate Dunn, Steve and Gretchen Burke, Christina and Lance Funston, Lynne and Harold Honickman, Dr. Sankey V. Williams and Constance H. Williams, Marjorie and Jeffrey Honickman, John J. Medveckis, Lisa S. Roberts and David W. Seltzer, Peggy and Ellis Wachs, Margie and Bryan Weingarten, and other generous individuals. Support for the catalogue is provided by Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz.