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.

University of California, Los Angeles

Car Hood

Car Hood, 1964, Judy Chicago. Sprayed acrylic lacquer on Corvair car hood. 42 15/16 x 49 3/16 x 4 5/16 in. Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Acquired 2007 with means from The Second Museum of our Wishes. © Judy Chicago, 1964. Photo © Donald Woodman

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has long been one of the major arts schools in Los Angeles. It trained a range of artists in the 1950s and 1960s, including Peter Alexander, Tony Berlant, Vija Celmins, Judy Chicago, Lloyd Hamrol, Craig Kauffman, and Betye Saar. It was while in residence at UCLA that Irving Petlin organized the Artists’ Protest Committee and the Peace Tower (1966).

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • Untitled

    Untitled, 1969, Craig Kauffman. Acrylic lacquer on plastic. 73 x 50 x 9 in. Courtesy the Estate of Craig Kauffman and the Frank Lloyd Gallery. © The Estate of Craig Kauffman

  • The Phrenologer's Window

    The Phrenologer's Window, 1966, Betye Saar. Assemblage of two-panel wood frame with print and collage. 18 1/2 x 29 3/8 x 1 in. Private collection, courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY. © Betye Saar

  • Freeway

    Freeway, 1966, Vija Celmins. Oil on canvas. 17 1/2 x 26 3/8 in. Collection of Harold Cook, Ph.D. © Vija Celmins. Image courtesy McKee Gallery, New York

  • Cloud Box

    Cloud Box, 1966, Peter Alexander. Cast polyester resin. 9 5/8 x 9 5/8 x 9 5/8 in. Collection of Janis Horn and Leonard Feldman, Los Angeles. © Peter Alexander. Photo: Brian Forrest

  • Car Hood

    Car Hood, 1964, Judy Chicago. Sprayed acrylic lacquer on Corvair car hood. 42 15/16 x 49 3/16 x 4 5/16 in. Moderna Museet, Stockholm. Acquired 2007 with means from The Second Museum of our Wishes. © Judy Chicago, 1964. Photo © Donald Woodman

Explore the Archive

  • Video: Judy Chicago

    Video: Judy Chicago speaks about her work, April 2011

  • Video: Vija Celmins

    Video: Vija Celmins speaks about her work, February 2011

  • Video: Joe Goode, Larry Bell, Ron Miyashiro, and Jerry McMillan

    Video: Joe Goode, Larry Bell, Ron Miyashiro, and Jerry McMillan speak about the exhibition War Babies, 2010–11

  • Video: Peter Alexander

    Video: Peter Alexander speaks about his work, May 2010

  • Video: Betye Saar

    Video: Betye Saar speaks about her work, March 2011. Footage of the Watts Towers courtesy and © Over the Moon Productions

  • Robert Irwin and James Turrell

    Robert Irwin and James Turrell inside the anechoic chamber at UCLA, 1969. Image courtesy of Malcolm Lubliner and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica. © Malcolm Lubliner