LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - From cubism to colorful pop art, no two artists are more notorious than Picasso and Warhol. Now, the masters of contemporary art are sharing a home in Louisville.
"Obviously the name recognition is getting people in the door," said Amy Foster Parish with KMAC Museum which is hosting a Picasso exhibit.
Masterpieces by the two are usually reserved for major metropolitan areas, but something about the Derby City is attracting these big names.
"I don't have the full answer, but it's something the world is noticing," said Stephen Reily, director of the Speed Art Museum which will host Andy Warhol: Revelation beginning April 3rd. But Reily says bringing it to Louisville was two years in the making.
"It says a lot about the respect for the Speed among the nation and world of other art museums," said Reily.
Most well known for pop art, this exhibit tells the story of Warhol's career through the lens of his lifelong Catholic faith.
"Pittsburgh, much like Louisville, is a city fully of Catholic immigrants, and we're excited to tell the story of Warhol himself was a Slovakian immigrant family," said Reily.
On loan from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the exhibit features 150 pieces and will fill the 9,000 square feet of the building's third floor.
"We're going to have a painting in this show that the Andy Warhol Museum itself is not able to fit in its version of this exhibit in Pittsburgh," said Reily.
He credits the museum's $60 million dollar renovation and expansion with attracting the Warhol exhibit.
The KMAC Museum downtown also renovated, and curator Joey Yates says that helped them bring in the Picasso collection currently on display.
"Louisville is becoming a place people want to come to, artists want to come to," said Yates.
A chance to see Pablo Picasso's work up close and personal is bringing in crowds.
"We're seeing numbers 300 and 400 percent above last year's totals for the same time so it's really exciting," said Parish.
Once people are in the door, KMAC can introduce them to new artists.
"Create not just a new audience for our museum and Picasso but for this artist they didn't know when they came in the building," said Yates.
The Speed Museum hopes to capitalize on that same momentum with the Warhol exhibit.
The Picasso exhibit will be on display at KMAC through March 22. Andy Warhol: Revelation will open April 3 at the Speed Art Museum and run through August. The Speed Art Museum is free on Sundays, but there will be a five dollar charge for the Warhol exhibit.
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