special collections

100,000 Pieces of Ephemera Tell the Story of 20th-Century Art

A massive collection of 20th-century art ephemera is ready for research.

Join us to build a better history of L.A. art through Wikipedia.

Sarah Sherman | February 4, 2015

The improbable story of the invention of lithography.

Sarah Zabrodski | January 29, 2015

Julius Shulman photographs the Yucatan, mecca for the midcentury consumer.

Robert J. Kett | January 12, 2015

A failed bid for Renaissance masterpieces is revealed in a collection of newly catalogued letters.

Silvia Caporaletti | December 29, 2014

Let us marvel at this low-tech wonder from the past.

Sarah Zabrodski | December 10, 2014

A new place to explore digital treasures from the Getty Research Institute's collection.

Kathleen Salomon | September 18, 2014

Tiny, feverish watercolors by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner express the anxious hopes of an entire generation of European artists.

Anja Foerschner | August 1, 2014

Hear artist Yvonne Rainer read from her diaries.

Steve Saldivar | July 2, 2014

A look inside the artist files of legendary curator Harald Szeemann.

The vast archives of the Getty Research Institute contain many stories yet untold.

“I wanted her attention, but I was scared of it…She was tough, but her words were beautiful.”