A new computer screen saver offers a taste of the Ball State University Museum of Art with 10 colorful images of classic American and European artwork.

PC users with Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 can download the museum's screen saver free of charge from Ball State's Web site (www.bsu.edu/events/events1/msavr.html). Each frame displays a work from the art museum's permanent collection, accompanied by a brief description and documentation.

Paintings include Odilon Redon's "Large Vase of Anemones" (1914-15), Childe Hassam's "Entrance to the Siren's Grotto, Isles of Shoals" (1902), William Morris Hunt's "The Rapids, Sister Island, Niagara" (1878) and Jean-Honore Fragonard's "Sultana on an Ottoman" (circa 1772-76).

Four Italian paintings are featured: "Madonna and Child" from the School of Lorenze di Credi (circa 1494); Ottavio Vannini's "The Gathering of Manna" (circa 1635); Massimo Stanzione's "The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence" (circa 1625); and Mimmo Paladino's diptych "Canto Guerriero" (1981).

Andre Lhote's 1906 painting "Under the Trees I" and the Austrian sculpture "Saint Wolfgang" (circa 1480-1510) complete the screen saver.

"This is a kind of hors d'oeuvre for the main event--a visit to view the actual works," said museum director Alain Joyaux.

"The screen saver is free, so we encourage people to share it with others and to tell us what they think."

If interest exists, the museum might create other screen savers with the Hoosier Group, Rembrandt etchings, abstraction, decorative arts or ethnographic works, he said.

The Ball State Museum of Art's permanent collection includes some 10,000 works valued at more than $40 million. The museum boasts a variety of American, European, Asian, African, Oceanic and pre-Columbian art, from paintings and prints to sculpture, ancient glass and other decorative arts.

Admission to the museum is free. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The museum is closed on Mondays and university holidays. For information, call (765) 285-5242.