Roughing it for art

Thursday's art rental at Allen Memorial Art Museum drew a record number of students into the cold Wednesday night as they camped out to claim artwork for the semester, according to Stephan Jost, curator of the art rental collection.

The first piece to go, Alice Neel's "Olivia," was a surprise to Jost, who said it didn't even go in the first four hours last semester. Jost also said he was surprised by how many of the top pieces were part of the Japanese wood block print collection. He mentioned that several pieces that usually go fast, including a Salvador Dali and Claude Renoir, weren't among the top 20. The Ringold, Goldin, Hasui and Snyder works are recent additions to the rental collection.

The following were the first 20 pieces to be snatched up at this semester's rental. The rental continues today for students and non-students.

1. Alice Neel, "Olivia"
2. Koson, "Swallows"
3. Marc Chagall, "Arabian Nights I"
4. Roy Lichtenstein, "Coke and Sandwich"
5. Faith Ringold, "The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles"
6. Pablo Picasso, "La Ronde"
7. Francisco Goya, "Tauromaquia"
8. Nan Goldin, "Suzanne and Philippe on the Train"
9. Mary Grigoriadis, "Fancy Free"
10. Jaya Appasamy, "Pastoral"
11. Keith Haring, "Untitled"
12. Marc Chagall, "Arabian Nights II"
13. Kawase Hasui, "Winter Moon"
14. Red Grooms, "No Gas"
15. Raymond Pettibon, "I Thought California Would Be Different"
16. Joan Miro, "Two Acrobats in the Garden"
17. Diane Vreuls Friebert, "November"
18. Joan Snyder, "Another Vision of Cherry Fall"
19. Katsunori Hamanishi, "Division"
20. Andy Warhol, "Civil Rights March"

Roughing it for art: Over 50 die-hard students spent the night under the stars in the AMAM courtyard in anticipation of taking home the most sought-after works in the art rental collection Thursday morning. Roughing the cold, these students catch some sleep at 3:30am. (photo by Zachary Williamson)