UW-Whitewater adds seven Warhol works to campus collection

February 11, 2014

Wearing white cotton gloves and brimming with anticipation, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students carefully unwrapped seven original Andy Warhol screen prints that arrived on campus Monday.

The art, a gift from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York, will become part of the permanent collection at Crossman Gallery.

Each work is approximately three feet tall and three feet wide, and the subject matter is diverse - royalty, Native Americans, camouflage and a truck.

"I love his expressive line quality and the colors he used," said Becky Couch, a senior art major from Janesville. "It's exciting to be here. It's a privilege to be able to handle these works of art."

"There are college students who work at major art galleries in Milwaukee and Madison and never get to do this," said Michael Flanagan, director of Crossman Gallery and lecturer in art. "The number one thing right now is making sure the prints did not get damaged during transport. The next step is for students to catalog the items. We'll eventually coordinate a public viewing."

Screen printing, also known as serigraphy, is a commercial print process adopted for fine arts use.

"It's basically taking something like a woven mesh to apply ink to a surface," said Flanagan. "Warhol is one of the more famous artists to use the process effectively."

Flanagan estimates the prints are worth about $100,000, based on similar prints currently listed for purchase on art auction websites.

"We didn't really know what we were getting," he said. "These are classic images, original Andy Warhol pop art."

- Written by Jeff Angileri, Photography by Craig Schreiner