MILWAUKEE, WI.- Works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein are among the 135 pieces of photography and contemporary art, valued at $1 million, which have been donated to the Haggerty Museum of Art thanks to the generosity of three separate donors.

This is the first time the museum has been gifted three collections of this size and scope within one year. And while Michael, Arts’63, and Mary Tatalovich, Arts ‘64, who are donating 80 pieces of contemporary art, are alumni, the other two donors have no direct connection to Marquette University.

“These are three fairly significant gifts to receive all within a one-year period, and each gift adds new artists to the Haggerty’s collection,” said Wally Mason, director of the Haggerty Museum of Art.

The three collections are:

• 80 contemporary works from the Tataloviches, including a Warhol, Lichtenstein, and others
• 30 photographs from famed New York street photographer Frank Paulin. This gift was given by the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York.
• 25 modern/contemporary photos donated by an anonymous collector.

The Tataloviches have been collecting modern and contemporary American prints since shortly after they married in 1965. In 1997, the couple retired after teaching for 30 years in Milwaukee Public Schools. The Haggerty museum was the first public venue to exhibit pieces of the Tatalovich collection in 1997 and 1998.

“Mary and I decided to donate as part of our overall estate planning,” said Michael Tatalovich. “Our art work is our legacy and with both of us being Marquette graduates, donating the work to the museum ensures that the collection will be well taken care of and also displayed for general enjoyment and educational purposes of the university community and the general public. We hope that the Marquette students, faculty, and staff and the general public enjoy the collection as much as we do.”

The Paulin gift was given in recognition of the Haggerty museum’s commitment to art education.

“I feel that a rigorous program such as yours would appreciate and respect Frank Paulin’s contribution to the medium,” wrote Silverstein. “And the Haggerty is clearly a willing collaborator in the classroom.”

The 30 prints are from Paulin’s Out of the Limelight series and were featured in an award-winning book of the same title.

The set of 25 contemporary photos was a gift from an anonymous collector in Los Angeles. Many of those photos feature scenes from rural Wisconsin.

“We as a culture understand photos because they are very much a part of our visual language daily, and they’re easy to use in the classroom,” said Mason. “Photography has risen to the forefront of the world of art, well beyond its earliest aspirations to merely be documentary.”

Some of the works from the Silverstein and Tatalovich gifts have been exhibited already, and a large exhibition is being planned for the summer of 2012 of pieces from the Tatalovich Collection. The content of the 25 photographs from the anonymous collector easily integrate into the holdings of the Haggerty’s existing collection.