The DePaul University Art Gallery, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., has opened its new season with “Past Present,” an impressive exhibition of paintings, prints, drawings, photographs and sculpture from its permanent collection. The show, which opened August 15 and runs through November 30, is free and open to the public.

Contained in the collection is a stained glass window located in the corridor of the Richardson Library, just outside of the gallery. The window, which depicts the “Visit of the Magi,” is believed to be the university’s earliest acquisition. It won a prize in the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

DePaul began acquiring art in the early 20th century, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that the university’s women’s board began collecting art in a serious and systematic way, according to Louise Lincoln, director of the gallery. The permanent collection now comprises more than 500 works, including a 16th century painting of Madonna and Child. Strong in mid-twentieth century painters in the Midwest, the gallery’s collection also contains works by Diego Rivera, Francisco de Goya, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Jacob Lawrence.

Many of the works in “Past Present” have been restored or rediscovered recently, which makes for an exciting and educational exhibition.

“Past Present” has been designed to provide educational opportunities for DePaul students, faculty and public school tour groups. The exhibition is organized to show future curators and the curious how museums and art galleries function, how art is acquired and collected, and how works are cared for and conserved. A painting of a ship by Gordon Grant, entitled “Commerce,” was only cleaned halfway to dramatically illustrate the process of conservation.

Perhaps the most interesting “find” among the paintings that were sitting in storage until the gallery staff began the cleaning and restoration project last year is a large watercolor of Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. “Our records listed the artist as Charles Verlet, an obscure late 19th century French sculptor,” explained Lincoln. “But that didn’t seem quite right, so we kept digging and then began to wonder if it was Charles Verlat, who was a leading figure in Belgian academic painting around the same time. The conservator who worked on the watercolor just found a signature confirming that this is the case.”

Verlat was director of the Fine Arts Academy in Antwerp, the second oldest art school in Europe. His most significant claim to fame may be that Vincent Van Gogh was one of his students.

The DePaul Art Gallery will hold its opening reception for “Past Present” on Friday, October 6, at 5 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public. For more information about this exhibition and future exhibitions at the gallery, call 773/325-7506 or visit the gallery’s Web site at www.depaul.edu/~gallery.