Converse Art Department Receives Collection of Prints by 20th Century Greats

An art collection donated to the Converse College Department of Art and Design will enable art aficionados in Spartanburg to see the works of some of the most famous artists of the twentieth-century without leaving town. The collection of 52 prints, given by Spartanburg resident Frank Toms, includes works by Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, Alexander Calder, and Helmut Newton. The prints will be available for public viewing when the Justine V.R. “Nita” Milliken Wing of the Milliken Fine Arts Building officially opens April 18.

The collection is international in nature, featuring art from England, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Ukraine, Hungary, the United States and elsewhere.

Frank Toms chose these prints solely on what he liked, therefore the artists, styles, mediums and themes vary. For example, there are several works by Surrealist artists, including Dali, Miro, Paul Delvaux, Giacometti, and Rufino Tamayo (a Mexican artist loosely affiliated with the Surrealists). Pop art is another area represented and includes works by Andy Warhol, Jim Dine, Allen Jones, Mel Ramos, and Roy Lichtenstein. There are two works by the Amsterdam artist Karel Appel, who was a significant member of the Cobra group, which was comprised of artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. Other well-known artists include the American Social Realist Raphael Soyer, and the sculptor, printmaker Leonard Baskin.