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About the Collection: This exclusive collection of archival prints provides an overview of the works housed within the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. These stunning prints are the highest quality reproductions ever produced from these works. This exclusive collection will continually be updated as new works are added to the offering. |
 George Bellows, Cliff Dwellers
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The Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, popularly known as LACMA, was originally part of a larger civic complex known as the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science, and Art. Founded in 1910 when the city claimed a population of about 320,000 (today it is nearly 4,000,000), the tri-parte museum had no permanent art collection and no intention of establishing one. As the institution’s name implied, its focus was on historical artifacts and inventions; it also had plenty of stuffed animals and birds. Art in contrast was to be borrowed and displayed on a temporary basis.
In a decade, the museum attracted so much art that a new wing was added to the original building located in Exposition Park on the south side of the city. Asian art, costumes, and textiles constituted the strengths of the growing collection. Paintings soon followed, thanks to major donations by some of California’s most distinguished citizens, including William Randolphe Hearst, Paul Mabury, Alan Balch, and J. Paul Getty. By mid-century, the collection had become serious enough to warrant the appointment of a high profile art professional--William R. Valentiner. Born and trained in Germany, Valentiner came to the United States in 1908 to be the curator of Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In 1924, he was made director of the Detroit Institute of Arts where he served until 1954 when Los Angeles called. During his eight year tenure, the Los Angeles museum grew exponentially, so much so that in 1961, its Board of Governors voted to establish an independent entity devoted exclusively to art. Four years later LACMA opened its doors on Wilshire Boulevard on land donated by Alan Hancock. At its inauguration, LACMA was the largest museum in the United States after the National Gallery in Washington.
LACMA was originally comprised of three separate buildings--the Ahmason Building for the permanent collection, the Hammer Building for temporary exhibitions, and the Bing Theater for public events. In 1986, the museum added the Modern and Contemporary Art building, and two years after that the Pavilion for Japanese Art designed by Bruce Goff. Still pressed for space in 1992, the museum acquired the adjoining property that included a huge Art Deco building formerly part of the Mays Department store-chain. In 2008, a long-term board member, Eli Broad, financed a new addition to LACMA’s campus, a light-filled airy structure designed by the internationally acclaimed Renzo Piano to house selections from Broad’s collection of contemporary art. Piano was also retained by the Trustees to develop a master plan for the museum.
In addition to its noted collection of Japanese art, LACMA is distinguished by its holdings of Korean art, the largest in the world outside of Korea. It also owns significant examples of German art of the 20th century, particularly German Expressionism. And it has one of the biggest collections of Latin American art in the United States through the generosity of Bernard and Edith Lewin who donated some 2,000 works, mostly by Mexican modernists. With more than 130,000 objects overall, LACMA is the most substantial museum in the United States west of Chicago and a enormous educational resource for South California.
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| Museum |
Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
| Address |
5905 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
USA |
| Web |
www.lacma.org |
| Telephone |
323-857-6000 |
| Hours |
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 12 pm - 8 pm
Friday: 12 pm - 9 pm
Saturday, Sunday: 11 am - 8 pm
Closed Wednesdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas |
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