Anticipation mounts for Lichtenstein exhibit

Friday, Aug. 18, 2006 | 9:11 a.m.

The Roy Lichtenstein exhibit at the Las Vegas Art Museum doesn't open until next month, but signs of the show are already evident at the museum bookstore, which is selling copies of the book, "Roy Lichtenstein Prints 1956-97."

The Lichtenstein exhibit, which opens Sept. 10 and runs through Nov. 19, will feature more than 70 works from the early 1960s through the late '90s. Although the works are only prints, the museum expects a large turnout, museum deputy director Renee Coppola says. "This is going to be a very popular show. Everyone loves Pop Art."

The collection belongs to the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, known for gathering affordable contemporary prints for educational exhibits that span an artist's career. The traveling show was organized by the Museum of Art/Washington State University and brought to the Las Vegas Art Museum by its previous administration.

Exhibit curator Chris Bruce will give a lecture Sept. 9 at the museum, 9600 W. Sahara Ave. For information, call 360-8000 or visit www.lasvegasartmuseum.org .

Mapplethorpe meets Mannerists

When its Rubens exhibit ends on Sept. 4, the Guggenheim-Hermitage will clear space for "Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition: Photographs and Mannerist Prints."

The exhibit, expected to open in late September or early October, compares Mapplethorpe's photographic styles to Mannerist prints. In 1992, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation received 200 photographs and objects by the New York artist from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. The exhibit has shown in New York, Berlin and St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Guggenheim-Hermitage is at the Venetian. More information can be found at www.guggenheimlasvegas.org .