COLUMBIA, SC.- Carolina Collects, the major summer exhibition at the Columbia Museum of Art, celebrates the spirit of private collectors who have been instrumental in the formation and continued vitality of art collections throughout the state. Visitors get a first-hand look into private collections of South Carolinians, with hidden gems including paintings, works on paper, sculpture,
furniture, decorative arts and photography from a wide range of historical time periods. The exhibition opens on June 27 and runs through August 17, 2008, and is presented by Carolina First.

Surprising and diverse, these collections from the Lowcountry to the Upstate and the Riverbanks Region include approximately 140 high-quality works by nationally and internationally recognized artists. Carolina Collects is the first statewide exhibition organized by the Museum and celebrates the museum’s mission and vision, its 10 years on Columbia’s Main Street, and its contributions to the cultural and economic development of the city and state.

The exhibition comprises works by significant artists such as Corot, Matisse, Diebenkorn, Picasso, Renoir, Degas, Sully, Benton, Dine, Wyeth, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gehry and Warhol. Other major figures in the show include — Inness, Peale, Glackens, Saint-Aubin, Lucero, Cadmus, Boilly, Twombly, Wright of Derby and Diane Arbus. Decorative arts in the exhibition include fine American furniture, mid-century modern furniture, Tiffany glass and Chinese export porcelain. American Impressionist paintings, Southern art, contemporary photography and works on paper, French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and sculpture, a stellar collection of American 19th century landscape paintings, and an impressive collection of 18th-19th century European paintings round out the exhibition.