Untitled (Verifax Collage)&raquo;Pacific Standard Time at the Getty

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.

Untitled (Verifax Collage)

Untitled (Verifax Collage), 1969, Wallace Berman. Verifax collage on board. 45 x 48 in. Collection of Michael D. Fox, Berkeley, CA, courtesy Steven Wolf Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA. Permission courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo by Joe Schopplein

On View at the Getty Center: Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970

In 1963, Berman began to make works using a Verifax machine— a predecessor of the photocopier—that had been given to him by artist and gallery owner William Jahrmarkt. Berman first collaged a range of photographs and found images culled from magazines before running them through the machine and pasting them onto a board backing. Comprising 56 images, this is one of the largest of Berman’s Verifax grids. The upper three rows include an eclectic mix of iconography– from a Gothic cathedral spire and a Hindu statue, to footballers and an astronaut–presented inside the repeated frame of a hand-held Sony transistor, an image that Berman had cut from a magazine advertisement. The row of repeated spiral galaxies and the 28 close-up images of billowing smoke clouds that comprise the lower half of the image, complement the upper section and create a sense of dynamic tension between cosmic creation and earthly destruction.

Learn more about Wallace Berman

Works of Art

Untitled (Faceless Faces with Kabala), 1963–70, Wallace Berman. Verifax collage with transfer lettering. 29 7/8 x 28 11/16 in. Collection of Nicole Klagsbrun. Permission courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Topanga Seed, 1969–70, Wallace Berman. Dolomite rock and transfer letters. 39 x 40 3/4 x 41 in. Collection of the Grinstein Family. Permission courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Semina cover with Wife (photograph of Shirley Berman), 1959, Wallace Berman. Semina journal, no. 4 (1959) by Wallace Berman. Halftone reproduction on cardstock. 9 7/16 x 8 x 1/16 in. The Getty Research Institute, 2564-801.no1.2. Courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Semina cover with photograph of Cameron, 1955, Wallace Berman. Semina journal, no. 1 (1955) by Wallace Berman. Gelatin silver print mounted on cardstock. 7 1/2 x 4 in. The Getty Research Institute, 2564-801.no1.2. Courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Semina cover with altered press photograph of William George Heirens (the “Lipstick Killer”), 1963, Dean Stockwell. Semina journal, no. 8 (1963) by Wallace Berman. Halftone reproduction on cardstock, mounted on cardboard. 7 1/16 x 5 1/2. The Getty Research Institute, 2864-801.no8.6. Courtesy of Dean Stockwell and the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, 1964, Wallace Berman. Mixed media collage. 44 1/2 x 32 ¼ x 2 in. Collection of David Yorkin & Alix Madigan, Los Angeles. Permission courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Homage to Hermann Hesse, 1949 (modified 1954), Wallace Berman. Wood. 59 x 21 3/16 x 17 7/8 in. Collection of Joy Stockwell. Permission courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Card to George Herms, 1970, Wallace Berman. Letterpress, ink, and gelatin silver print on board. 6 1/4 x 4 in. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of George Herms, 2009.M.20.9. Courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
Card to Betty Asher, ca. 1965, Wallace Berman. Photomontage and ink on board. 4 x 2 15/16 in. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Michael Asher, 2009.M.30.25. Courtesy of the Estate of Wallace Berman and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles

Explore the Archive

Suzi and Eddie Hicks at Charles Brittin exhibition at Semina Gallery in Larkspur, California, 1961. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.24 © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Exterior view of the Semina Gallery in Larkspur, California, with partial view of Charles Brittin’s exhibition. 1961. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.21 © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Installation view of Charles Brittin exhibition at Semina Gallery in Larkspur, California, 1961. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.19. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Wallace Berman and friends in the alley next to the Ferus Gallery showing a sculpture to the LAPD vice squad, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.10. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Contact sheet showing images of Wallace Berman's exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.13. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photos by Charles Brittin
Wallace Berman's assemblage Temple in his exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.12. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Temporary closure sign at Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers 2005.M.11.11. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Robert Alexander, John Reed, Wallace Berman, Juanita Dixon, and Walter Hopps in the alley next to Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, ca. 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.9. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Wallace Berman in an abandoned building on the Speedway (an alleyway running parallel to the beach) in Venice, California, ca. 1955–57. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Strip of photos taken by Charles Brittin at the Semina Gallery in Larkspur, California, 1960. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11. © J. Paul Getty Trust
Dean Stockwell and Wallace Berman at Stone Brothers Printing, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.18. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Wallace Berman with a copy of Semina no. 1 in the Stone Brothers Printing display window, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.17. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin
Arthur Richer and Wallace Berman at Syndell Studio in Los Angeles, 1957. Richer’s art is in the background. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.16. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Image courtesy of Lauri Richer. Photo by Charles Brittin
Wallace Berman and the LAPD vice squad at Ferus Gallery, 1957. The Getty Research Institute, Charles Brittin papers, 2005.M.11.8. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Photo by Charles Brittin

Explore the Era