( CNN ) -- After Haiti 's devastating earthquake , Georges Nader picked up Hector Hyppolite 's oil-on-cardboard painting like a father would a wounded child . He could barely hold back his tears . `` Vase et Fleurs , '' glorious in its art naif simplicity , lay before him like a complicated jigsaw puzzle . Pieces were frazzled , some were even missing . Like so many other things in Haiti , the painting by one of Haiti 's foremost artists was gone . A masterpiece lost , and with it a part of Haiti 's history . No one would ever be able to put it together , Nader believed , as he fished through a demolished museum in Port-au-Prince that housed 12,000 pieces of art collected by his family . Each told the history and aspirations of a people who survived hardship and expressed themselves through painting and sculpture . With few functioning institutions or the kinds of buildings and monuments found in wealthier nations , depictions of sun and sea , people and animals by untrained artists -- some infused with the spiritual traditions of voodoo culture -- came to serve as Haiti 's collective memory . Hyppolite , a voodoo priest and self-taught artist , painted with his fingers and with brushes made of chicken feathers . On Friday , Nader will stand again before Hyppolite 's 1946 still life , its brilliant hues brought back to life by conservators working with the Smithsonian Institution . `` I think it 's a miracle , '' Nader said . The painting is one of two restored works of art that is part of a larger show of 50 pieces created by Haitian artists -- the other rescued piece is `` Beau Reve '' by Celestin Faustin . `` Saving Grace : A Celebration of Haitian Art '' was organized by Affirmation Arts and curated by leading Haitian art historian Gerald Alexis . Alexis , like his longtime friend Nader , said the exhibit meant the world to him , a potent symbol of Haiti 's rebirth , especially amid cries that recovery efforts after the earthquake has been too slow . `` This is the identity of the Haitian people , '' Alexis said . `` If we let this go , the next generation in Haiti will not know where they came from . It was a duty we had to fulfill . '' In the immediate aftermath of earthquake , Nader and other art collectors in Haiti rescued thousands of pieces from the rubble that might have been forever lost . In just one room of his museum , he salvaged 1,000 pieces -- 70 percent needed restorative work . It was hard to quantify the loss , Nader said , because unlike in the United States , Haiti lacked a plethora of museums and galleries . Much of the nation 's treasure existed in private homes , in private collections like the one his father built when he began collecting decades ago . No one knew for certain how many pieces were lost . As the second floor of his gallery transformed into a hospital ward for art , Nader was determined to make them all well again . He and Alexis began making phone calls , knocking on doors . It would take people with tremendous expertise to perform intricate surgery on delicate paintings and objects to make them whole again . They found a partner at the Smithsonian and the result was the Cultural Recovery Centre , which recently opened in conjunction with the Haitian government in the hills of Port-au-Prince . Haiti 's cultural heritage , like Africa 's lions in the wild , were endangered . The center 's mission was to protect that heritage . Richard Kurin , under-secretary for history , art and culture at the Smithsonian , said it would have been unconscionable to leave art under the rubble . He said the recovery center is `` magically '' restoring thousands of pieces that were damaged . The center is also training Haitians how to conserve . A course in September taught 26 participants how to identify deterioration agents , apply first aid treatment , prepare and respond to emergencies and create safe storage spaces for collections . `` I think we look at the restoration of art as the restoration of hope , '' he said . `` By restoring the past you are giving people access to their heritage . '' Marla Goldwasser , the director of Affirmation Arts in New York admitted she did n't know much about Haitian art before she took on the `` Saving Grace '' exhibit . But the gallery wanted to make a contribution to Haiti 's recovery . `` We wanted to give Haitian art , the Haitian people , a voice , '' she said about `` Saving Grace , '' the first such show of Haitian art in the United States in over a decade . Many of the pieces have previously not been seen outside Haiti . Nader hopes those who relish the visual feast will gather an understanding of the vital role that art plays in Haitian society . And why it is incumbent on Haitians to bring back what an earthquake buried last January .
A still life painting by Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite was damaged in the earthquake . Gallery owner Georges Nader wanted to have it -- and thousands of other pieces -- restored . In a troubled land , art serves a vital role as the nation 's memory . The Haitian government has been working with the Smithsonian on restoration . 'Saving Grace , ' a show of 50 pieces of Haitian art , opens in New York on Friday .