American Art
American Art
The American collection is the oldest in the museum, having begun with the acquisition of George Bellows’s Cliff Dwellers in 1916. Today the collection—consisting primarily of paintings and sculptures dating from the colonial period to World War II—provides an excellent survey of the development of art and culture throughout the nation and the region. Combined with related holdings of American decorative art, the collection recently moved to redesigned and expanded galleries emphasizing the international context of our nation’s art. Click here to browse by artist, selected topic, historical period, collection type, or tour the American art galleries.
Henry Inman
The Ruth Waddy Sketchbook
Cedric Adams, artist and senior art preparator at LACMA, and artist Wes Hall talk about the collection of more than 120 drawings by African American artists in the sketchbook that once belonged to Los Angeles artist and activist Ruth Waddy (1909–2003). Adams has called the sketchbook a "time capsule" of the advent of the Black Arts movement.
New Acquisition: Elizabeth Catlett, Sharecropper
Last month the newly formed American Art Acquisitions Group voted to acquire Elizabeth Catlett’s Sharecropper, a graphic masterpiece. A sophisticated and virtuosic pattern of cuts into the linoleum block create the striking energy and clarity of this print...
Women Surrealist Influence on Contemporary Music
Last year, I went to a Prince concert at the Great Western Forum. When I saw performer Janelle Monáe open for him that night, the black-hooded figures that surrounded her on stage struck a familiar chord with the work of a particular artist from the exhibition that I’ve been working on, In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States. Maya Deren’s film Meshes of the Afternoon graces the entryway of the introductory gallery. In the film one can see a dark shrouded figure ambling up a walkway in the Hollywood hills.
