The University Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst has announced a gift of six original Andy Warhol prints from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Created between the late 1970s and mid-1980s, the never-before-exhibited prints depict a range of subjects, from fashionable portraits to popular culture, including such iconic images as Warhol's portrait of friend and artist Joseph Beuys and a representation of Lakota chief Sitting Bull. The prints, which will be exhibited in a future exhibition at UMCA, include: "Hammer and Sickle" (1977), "Shoes" (1980), "Karen Kain" (1980), "Joseph Beuys" (1980/83), "Alexander the Great" (1982), and "Sitting Bull" (1986).

The gift is the second made by the foundation to organizations that participated in the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program, which was launched in 2007 in celebration of the foundation’s twentieth anniversary to provide greater access to Warhol’s work. Combined with an initial gift of a hundred and fifty-one Warhol photographs made through the program, the prints will provide an ongoing opportunity for students, professors, and the general public to examine, research, and interpret original works by the pop art master.

"These works are pristine and have never been framed or previously exhibited," said UMCA director Loretta Yarlow. "They were in the artist's possession at the time of his death. Given the nature of this gift, the works are essentially priceless. We are honored to accept such a donation that will interest and inspire many students in the future."