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.

Vons Café Galleria

In the 1950s and 1960s, Vons Café Galleria was a coffeehouse in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles that drew a young bohemian crowd and served as an alternative exhibition space. In 1955, for example, Edward Kienholz showed a group of abstract wooden reliefs there.

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • Walter Hopps Hopps Hopps

    Walter Hopps Hopps Hopps, 1959, Edward Kienholz. Paint and resin on wood, printed color reproductions, ink on paper, vertebrae, telephone parts, candy, dental molds, metal, pencil, and leather. 87 x 42 x 21 in. The Menil Collection, Houston, Gift of Lannan Foundation. © Nancy Reddin Kienholz. Photo: Susan Einstein

  • The Librarian

    The Librarian, 1960, George Herms. Wooden box, papers, books, loving cup, and painted stool. 57 x 63 x 21 in. Norton Simon Museum, Gift of Molly Barnes. © George Herms

  • The Future as Afterthought

    The Future as Afterthought, 1962, Edward Kienholz. Paint and resin on plastic and rubber doll parts with sheet metal, tricycle pedals, and wood. 54 x 21 x 16 15/16 in. Onnasch Collection. © Nancy Reddin Kienholz. Photo courtesy L.A. Louver, Venice, CA

Explore the Archive

  • Video: George Herms

    Video: George Herms speaks about his work, March 2011