consists of 10 screen prints in different
colors, on Becket High White paper,
each 36 x 36 inches. The donor wishes to
remain anonymous.
Andy Warhol is arguably one of a very
small handful of great artists of our time.
The Mao silkscreens are in a class by
themselves, because the work is so richly
layered, making them stand out from
all of his other graphic work. As a series,
the Mao Suite shows us Warhol’s interest
in celebrity, repetition, consumerism,
stylishness, and yes, fun. As a group, the
Mao Suite is powerful on the wall and
recreates for the viewer an essential feeling
of what the Pop movement was all about.
Another important gift to the CMA since
the New Year began is a pair of etchings
by renowned American printmaker
Paul Cadmus. Asheville-area collectors
Raymond Griffin and Thomas Robinson
donated both Nude #2 and Nude #3, each
one a muscular study of the undraped
male form.
Paul Cadmus, American, 1904-1999. Nude #2, 1984, etching, 17/100 (state one) and Nude #3, 1984, etching, 17/100 (state one).
Gift from the Ray Griffin and Thom Robinson Collection to the CMA in 2014.
Carolina, Osamu Kobayashi earned his
BFA from the Maryland Institute College
of Art and currently resides in Brooklyn,
New York. Kobayashi has already
accomplished much for a young artist,
including solo exhibitions in both New
York and Italy.
Each year the Academy nominates and
selects talented candidates for the purchase
program, and Frozen Ghosts, Black Hole was
one of only 17 works selected for purchase
in 2013. It is an honor to be selected
by the American Academy of Arts and
Letters for participation in their program,
and signals that they respect the quality
of our institution. The renowned artists
who formed the 2013 award selection
committee are Alex Katz, Catherine
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columbiamuseum.org
Murphy, Thomas Nozkowski, Judy Pfaff,
Dorothea Rockburne, Peter Saul, and
Joel Shapiro.
In short, a highly qualified committee
of artists have vetted Kobayashi and
awarded Frozen Ghosts with a purchase.
Following on their expertise, the CMA
curators believe this painting is an excellent
addition to our contemporary collection,
and it has the added benefit of having been
painted by a Columbia native, which may
serve to inspire and encourage local artists.
Another recent gift is an absolutely
stunning addition to the CMA collection:
a complete set of Andy Warhol’s silkscreens
of Mao Tse-Tung, best known as the Mao
Suite (see page 3). Made in 1972, the suite
One of the most accomplished artists of the
20th century, Paul Cadmus is best known
for his provocative satires of American life.
He first gained national recognition in
1934 when his bawdy painting The Fleet’s
In! was barred from a Public Works of Art
exhibition in Washington, D.C. For more
than six decades following, Cadmus led a
career as a meticulous craftsman devoted
to Renaissance-era traditions of figurative
realism. But his images of the male nude,
which always formed the heart of his work,
were often overlooked. The artist’s most
frequent model was his lifelong partner
Jon Anderson, and the drawings offer up
not just an elegant fluency and technical
virtuosity but also a tender emotional
resonance. Paul Cadmus reminds us—
poignantly, eloquently, humbly—of the
sincere beauty of the male form. Guy
Davenport describes Cadmus’ work best
in The Drawings of Paul Cadmus: “His
drawings of male nudes are of bodies, but
of achieved, perfected bodies that serve as