The National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, is revealing an unknown side to Andy Warhol, the most famous of pop artists -- screenprints of species from mountain sheep and butterflies to gorillas to America's national symbol, the bald eagle.
JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming — Most art lovers agree that no artist captures the grandeur of the American West and its wildlife better than ... Andy Warhol?
The National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, is revealing an unknown side to the most famous of pop artists -- screenprints of species from mountain sheep and butterflies to gorillas to America's national symbol, the bald eagle.
Seeing the works of Warhol in a sandstone building perched on a sagebrush-covered hillside, visitors are left to wonder -- what's a New York party-boy doing in a place like this?
In fact, "Silent Spring: Andy Warhol's Endangered Species and Vanishing Animals" has been wowing crowds all season. Most visitors, familiar with Warhol's iconic work and enduring celebrity, say the images were a complete surprise.
"I had no idea he did this and made a special trip to see it," said Ira Roth, a Los Angeles accountant.
Despite his avant-garde reputation, Warhol -- of the Campbell's Soup cans, the Marilyn Monroe images and the Velvet Underground -- was quite the nature lover. Born in Pittsburgh in 1928, Warhol tended a garden as a child, loved going to the zoo and owned undeveloped land in Colorado.
Warhol published the "Endangered Species" prints in 1983, four years before his death, and collaborated on the 1986 book "Vanishing Animals" with naturalist Kurt Benirschke "to raise awareness about the plight of animals in danger of becoming extinct," said Adam Harris, the museum's curator of art.
Warhol was also influenced by Rachel Carson, another Pittsburgh native, whose 1962 book "Silent Spring," sparked the modern environmental movement in the United States.
CELEBRITIES TO CRITTERS
From celebrities to critters, the subject matter might be different, but the style is unmistakable.
"It's certainly Warhol but it's interesting to see the twist in his style," said Susan Collins, a Washington, D.C., economist viewing the exhibition with her husband and two children."
A comment book shows many visitors have been moved. "Stunning and sad," wrote one. "Andy - I didn't know this about you. Love, K," wrote another.
Of course, tastes vary. Some museum visitors have left upon finding out that Warhol is featured -- even though he shares top billing with Thomas Moran's 19th Century images of the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
Moran is more in sync with the NMWA's permanent collection, works pleasing to who those who see no "art" in "pop." The museum shows the work of artists from John J. Audubon to Pablo Picasso but the collection is heavy on Western Americana.
Still, there's something about the Warhols, for fans of all ages. "I like the orangutans. They are cool," Jack H scrawled in a child's hand.
The positive response has spurred the museum to seek a set of Warhols for its permanent collection.
"We will receive 'on approval' a full portfolio from a private collector this fall," said Harris. "If the portfolio is in museum quality condition, we will purchase it."
Source: Reuters
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