San Antonio doesn’t often register on the scale of artistically heavyweight cities. However, in the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio boasts the first collection of Modern Art in Texas and one of the best private collections in the country. Originally established in 1950 upon the death of Ohio-born oil heiress Elisabet McNay, the McNay Art Museum opened its doors in 1954 with more than 700 works of modern art amassed by McNay during her life. At present time, the museum holds more than 20,000 works of art and has expanded its scope to include, among other things, Medieval and Renaissance Art.

Currently, the McNay is showcasing the works of Andy Warhol in an exhibit exclusive to San Antonio entitled, Andy Warhol: Fame and Misfortune. The exhibit’s curators have drawn from the vibrant collections of the Andy Warhol Museum to assemble a broad survey of the artist’s work. Over 150 pieces in all media and spanning at least three decades of his career are intended to provide a survey of Warhol’s twin obsessions of fame and disaster.
To aid us in our understanding of at least half of Warhol’s obsession and to further entice us to catch this exhibit before its 15 minutes are up, the McNay has put together something special for your Sunday Funday in the form of their “Warhol Sunday Nights” series. In the Chiego Lecture Hall, the McNay is showing films from the stars of Hollywood’s heyday. Admissions to the films are included with your price of admission to the museum’s exhibit, which, conveniently, is also discounted to half-price on Sunday nights! On Sunday, May 13, at 4:00, see Academy Award Winner Joan Crawford in the role that insured her place in Hollywood history, 1954’s Mildred Pierce. At 6:00, watch the teenage cannoodling of Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood in Entertainment Weekly’s # 50 best high school movie of all time, Splendor in the Grass. 

On Sunday, May 20, close the exhibit with two of Hollywood’s grand dames.  At 4:00, hear Judy Garland’s legendary voice on the classic songs in Meet Me in St. Louis, and then at 6:00, stay for something a bit more risqué as her daughter, Liza Minnelli, and Joel Gray show us that, at least in 1930’s Berlin, life is a Cabaret.

Other photographers of interest may be, Christopher Durst, an international rock photographer that specializes in celebrity and entertainment photography.

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Written by Robyn Powell