Major Museum Acquisitions Span Centuries: Warhol Factory Photos, Valadier Silver, and Christo Works Enter Collections

Key facts

• Over 400 stereoscopic slides of Andy Warhol's Factory were donated to the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art by James R. Hedges IV.
• The slides were taken by artist Ronnie Cutrone, who joined Warhol's studio as an assistant in 1972.
• Cutrone's slides feature Warhol with visitors including Georgia O'Keeffe, Bruce Nauman, Debbie Harry, Mick Jagger, and David Hockney.
• A solid-silver relief by Luigi Valadier, believed to be his last known work, was acquired by the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.
• The Valadier relief was commissioned by Pope Pius VI in 1786 as a gift to Countess Palatine Maria Anna of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler.
• Heike Zech, deputy director general of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, called the relief a 'significant testament to European cultural history.'
• The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation donated 14 works to the City of Paris and Paris Musées, including Package on a Luggage Rack from 1962.
• Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Paris projects included the wrapping of the Pont Neuf in 1985 and the Arc de Triomphe in 2021, which drew six million visitors.