The University of Maryland Art Gallery is home to a large permanent collection of art, and that collection includes ten works by the (in)famous American artist Andy Warhol. These works, ten screen print and acrylic paintings, are a rare example of a complete set of the artist's 'Athlete Series.' The paintings in the series each feature a screen print of a well-known American athletes, such as Muhammed Ali and Dorothy Hamill. However, before and after the portraits were printed, Warhol painted the canvas in various vibrant tones of reds, yellows, and blues. The layering effect adds an incredible painterly quality to Warhol's favored screen print medium and sets this series apart from others. The University of Maryland series was a 1982 gift of The Frederick Weisman Company.

 

These works typically hang throughout campus (most notably the Pelé at University House), but they are now on loan to the Columbus Museum of Art for their exhibition "Keeping Pace: Eva Glimcher and Pace Columbus." This exhibition marks the reopening of the museum after an extensive renovation.  The University of Maryland Art Gallery is very happy to have participated in the this landmark exhibition for the museum, and we look forward to further collaborations.

 

 

If you are in the area, be sure to stop by the museum on December 9, 2015 at 2:00 pm for a lecture by Columbus Museum of Art Chief Curator David Stark on Warhol, "Andy Warhol and The Fame Factory."