64 Parishes

The Warhol Generation

The LSU Museum of Art in Baton Rouge premieres Andy Warhol/Friends and Frenemies: Prints from the Cochran Collection

Published: November 30, 2023
Last Updated: February 29, 2024

The Warhol Generation

The Cochran Collection

Andy Warhol, Annie Oakley, 1986. Screenprint on museum board. © 2023 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The LSU Museum of Art in Baton Rouge premieres Andy Warhol/Friends and Frenemies: Prints from the Cochran Collection on January 11, 2024. The exhibition features over ninety serigraphs, etchings, woodblocks, and lithographs by American and European masters active between the late 1960s and the early 1990s. These decades represent a unique era of innovation and discovery, with artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Rauschenberg, and Willem de Kooning experimenting with imagery, styles, and materials. Their work alludes to cultural and societal shifts sweeping across America as the country emerged from the 1960s, a time of growing consumerism, political scandals, recession, the Vietnam War, and mounting tensions with the Soviet Union.

The exhibition highlights thirty-six original prints by Andy Warhol, exhibited alongside over sixty works by twentieth-century artists who tested the boundaries of the established art world. The show includes examples of abstract expressionism, pop art, neo-expressionism, conceptualism, and minimalism, by an array of artists working in and around the East Coast. They redefined American art, evolving it into a conduit for personal catharsis, social justice, or experimental practice, reflecting the era’s emphasis on self-discovery and introspection. Artists of this period deliberately transcended societal norms and explored unique perspectives, defying entrenched conventions with the development of innovative styles and imagery, creating a complex tapestry that mirrored the evolving society.

The Cochran Collection is owned by Wesley and Missy Cochran of LaGrange, Georgia. The couple has devoted their lives to supporting artists and acquiring art, amassing a vast collection of twentieth-century works on paper representing a wide range of mediums, movements, and styles. Andy Warhol/Friends and Frenemies will be on view through March 31, 2024. Visit lsumoa.org to learn more about the exhibition and upcoming programming at the LSU Museum of Art.