A signed Andy Warhol screen print, valued at an estimated $50,000, was reported missing last month by a California community college.
The piece, titled "Mao," was created by Warhol in 1972 in response to President Nixon’s visit to China and subsequent meeting with Chairman Mao Zedong. Between 1972 and 1973, Warhol created 199 silkscreen paintings of Mao in five scales.
The piece was donated to Orange Coast College’s Doyle Art Pavillion in September 2020 by a retired faculty member and immediately placed in a vault by the gallery director.
“I never saw it again after after that,” Orange Coast College Foundation Executive Director Doug Bennett said.
The gallery director retired this past summer, having never exhibited the print publicly, Bennett added.
It was only last month that the interim director entered the vault and noticed the Warhol — which was the most valuable piece in the gallery’s small collection — was missing. The college began a search and alerted local authorities.
Bennett called the former director, who said he recalled seeing the piece within the past two years. The vault is only accessible to a small number of people given a keycard by campus security, according to Bennett.
“It's in a back room of the art gallery. It's not a place that the public normally would walk in,” Bennett said.
The school says they will accept the return of the print “no questions asked.” However, thus far, there are no leads on its potential whereabouts.
The piece was originally purchased by the donor in 1974 for $604, including sales tax, at a gallery in Laguna Beach. It hung at his home in Costa Mesa, California, for years until it was delivered into the custody of the college.
“We're still hoping it will be returned. ... That somehow someone took it and didn't understand how important it was,” Bennett said. “Or maybe they'll feel some some guilt and get it back back to us.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct. You can follow him on X at @Will__Stern.