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.

Karl Benjamin Home and Studio

In 1952, artist Karl Benjamin moved to Claremont, California, to attend graduate school, where he eventually taught for many years. As he recalled in 2010, “Everybody said, ‘We’ve got to get to Los Angeles, because this is Peoria out here! Nobody is going to come out here and look at your stuff.’ But, by this time, I had two kids and I liked that part of it. I liked having a house, and I couldn’t see doing that in Los Angeles, and I really got something out of teaching. It was a good thing.”

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • Stage II

    Stage II, 1958, Karl Benjamin. Oil on canvas. 50 x 70 in. Collection of Louis Stern. © Karl Benjamin, courtesy Louis Stern Fine Arts. ©Photography by Gerard Vuilleumier

Explore the Archive

  • Video: Karl Benjamin

    Video: Karl Benjamin speaks about his work, December 2009

  • Abstract Classicists

    Abstract Classicists meet at Lorser Feitelson’s studio in Los Angeles, May 10, 1959

  • Poster for Karl Benjamin exhibition

    Poster for Karl Benjamin exhibition at the Esther-Robles Gallery in Los Angeles, 1964. © Karl Benjamin. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Michael Asher, 2009.M.30.12