Explore the Era

Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.

From the Archive

Video: Barbara T. Smith on art schools » Pacific Standard Time at the Getty
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Video: Learn more about the region’s network of art schools with artist Barbara T. Smith

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • Full Jar, Empty Jar performance at Art Gallery, University of California, San Diego

    Full Jar, Empty Jar performance at Art Gallery, University of California, San Diego, 1974, Barbara T. Smith. © Barbara T. Smith

  • "Event" performance

    Event performance at University of California, Santa Barbara, 1970, Wolfgang Stoerchle. Gelatin silver print documenting the event, unknown photographer. 9 15/16 x 8 in. The Getty Research Institute, 2009.M.16.1. © J. Paul Getty Trust

  • Entr’Acte Happening at CalArts

    Entr’Acte Happening at CalArts, 1972, Allan Kaprow. Courtesy Allan Kaprow Estate

  • Ablutions performance

    Ablutions performance at Guy Dill’s studio, with Judy Chicago, Suzanne Lacy, Sandra Orgel, and Aviva Rahmani (Sponsored by Feminist Art Program at CalArts), 1972. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Art in the Public Interest and 18th Street Arts Center, 2006.M.8.42. Photo courtesy Lloyd Hamrol

  • A Gourmet Experience

    A Gourmet Experience, 1974, Martha Rosler. Gelatin silver print. 10 1/16 x 7 15/16 in. The Getty Research Institute, Long Beach Museum of Art Video Archive, 2006.M.7.26 © Martha Rosler

  • Shoot performance at F-Space Gallery in Santa Ana, California

    Shoot performance at F-Space Gallery in Santa Ana, California, 1971, Chris Burden. Gelatin silver print documenting the event by Alfred Lutjeans. 9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Art in the Public Interest and 18th Street Arts Center, 2006.M.8.41. © Chris Burden

  • 100 Boots

    100 Boots, 1971–73, Eleanor Antin. Halftone reproductions on 51 cards. 4 ½ x 7 in. each. The Getty Research Institute, 2011.M.23, 2006.M.24, 890164, and 2009.M.5 (Gift of Hal Glicksman). © Eleanor Antin. Courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York

Explore the Archive

  • Video: The Womanhouse Kitchen

    Video: Experience the Womanhouse Kitchen. Excerpt from the documentary film Womanhouse, 1974, directed by Johanna Demetrakas. The Getty Research Institute, 2896-034. © Johanna Demetrakas

  • Announcement for Judy Chicago exhibition

    Announcement for Judy Chicago exhibition at California State University, Fullerton, October 23– November 25, 1970. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Rolf G. Nelson, 2010.M.38.5. Image courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica. © Jerry McMillan.

  • Orb, Chouinard Art Institute student journal

    Orb, a Chouinard Art Institute student journal, vol. 1, no. 2, 1959. © Ed Ruscha. The Getty Research Institute, 2925-311, v1.no2

  • Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, Ed Ruscha, and Patrick Blackwell

    Joe Goode, Jerry McMillan, Ed Ruscha, and Patrick Blackwell in the studio space they shared while in school at Chouinard, ca. 1959. Photo by Patrick Blackwell. Courtesy of the Joe Goode Studio

  • Ken Price at USC

    Ken Price with student work at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1956. Image courtesy of the Ken Price Studio

  • Womanhouse catalogue

    Womanhouse catalogue, Feminist Art Program at CalArts, 1972. Designed by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville. The Getty Research Institute, 89-B23677. Courtesy of CalArts Archives

  • Womanhouse announcement

    Womanhouse announcement, 1972. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Rolf G. Nelson, 2010.M.38.6. Courtesy of Sheila Levrant de Bretteville

  • Barbara T. Smith’s artist business card

    Barbara T. Smith’s artist business card, 1970s. © Barbara T. Smith. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Hal Glicksman, 2009.M.5.10

  • Womanhouse installation in Los Angeles

    Womanhouse installation in Los Angeles, featuring Robin Weltsch’s Kitchen and Vicki Hodgetts’s Eggs to Breasts (Sponsored by Feminist Art Program at CalArts), 1972. The Getty Research Institute, 2000.M.43.1. Photo courtesy Lloyd Hamrol

  • Announcement, Betye Saar "Black Girl's Window"

    Announcement for Betye Saar exhibition Black Girl's Window at California State University, Los Angeles, 1973. © BetyeSaar. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of George Herms, 2009.M.20