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Thursday, December 27, 2001

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- The first major retrospective of Andy Warhol's art in more than a decade will make its only North American stop in Los Angeles next year.

The "Andy Warhol Retrospective," scheduled to run from May 25 to Aug. 18 at the downtown Museum of Contemporary Art, will feature more than 150 paintings, drawings and sculptures.

"This extraordinary exhibition reveals the extent and profound depth of Warhol's achievement," museum director Jeremy Strick said last week.

Warhol's self-portraits and depictions of Marilyn Monroe and Campbell's soup cans are included in the exhibition, which also brings together the complete series of the "Thirteen Most Wanted Men" for the first time in 35 years.

Another highlight is Warhol's "Disaster" series, which includes "Suicide," "Car Crash," "Electric Chair" and "Race Riot."

The last major American exhibition of Warhol's work was at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1989.

"The exhibit will emphasize that Los Angeles is an art center, where creativity and ingenuity thrive," said Mayor James Hahn, who remembered seeing the last Warhol exhibit in Los Angeles, which was more than 30 years ago.

Composed of works in both public and private collections, the retrospective was organized by the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. It will be on display in Berlin until Jan. 6, and will then travel to the Tate Modern in London, where it will be on view from Feb. 7 through April 1.

In the cards

Presidential Christmas cards spanning almost five decades are on display at the former winter retreat of President Harry S. Truman through March 1.

The collection at the Harry S. Truman Little White House Museum in Key West, Fla., includes cards ranging from President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1953 holiday greeting through George W. and Laura Bush's 2001 card.

"It's extremely rare for American citizens to have an opportunity to view and enjoy presidential Christmas cards close up," museum executive director Bob Wolz said last week.

The Little White House Museum acquired the cards from a variety of sources, including two greeting card companies.

Most cards in the collection feature the presidential seal or an image of the White House.

A 1962 card from President John F. Kennedy has a wide-angle photograph of his wife, Jacqueline, and their daughter, Caroline, riding in a horse-drawn sleigh that's approaching the White House.

The exhibit also features holiday gift prints presented by presidents to their staffs, politicians and campaign contributors.