The corner installation of this work is based on archival photo documentation of Hurtado’s 1974 exhibition at the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles.

Orinoco, 1973
Oil on canvas
Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Luchita Hurtado
Photo: Jeff McLane/Hauser & Wirth

Hurtado in the garden of her home on Mesa Road in Santa Monica Canyon, 1973

Photo by Matt Mullican

Hurtado often depicted herself with objects from her surroundings. This detailed interior scene, although not a conventional self-portrait, offers an intimate glimpse of the rich collection of art and artifacts she and her husband Lee Mullican lived with at home.

To make this work, Hurtado traced the outlines of herself and her youngest son, John, then age four.

Untitled, 2019

Ink on paper
Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Luchita Hurtado
Photo: Jeff McLane/Hauser & Wirth

Hurtado’s handwritten observation on this page of her notebook demonstrates her keen attention to human figures and figure relationships across the history of art.

In its formal composition, this drawing references the folded-arm figures of ancient Cycladic art, like the one Hurtado documented in the sketch-book drawing at right.

This drawing, composed of eight strips of cut and reassembled paper, anticipates the much larger cut and resewn canvases Hurtado made in the 1970s.

Untitled, c. 1950

Crayon and ink on paper
Collection of Chris Wiley © Luchita Hurtado
Photo: Genevieve Hanson/Hauser & Wirth