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.

From the Archive

Announcement, "Broxton Sequences"

Exhibition announcement for Broxton Sequences: Sequential Imagery in Photography, at Broxton Gallery, 1976. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Hal Glicksman, 2009.M.5.5. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery

Larry Gagosian opened the Broxton Gallery, his first gallery, in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1976, before re-locating to La Cienega Boulevard in 1977. The gallery worked with up and coming artists such as Vija Celmins, Alexis Smith, and Elyn Zimmerman, and staged exhibitions such as Broxton Sequences: Sequential Imagery in Photography, which included the work of John Baldessari and Bruce Nauman.

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • Quality Material, John Baldessari

    Quality Material, 1966–68, John Baldessari. Acrylic on canvas. 67 3/4 x 56 1/2 in. Collection of Danielle and David Ganek. © John Baldessari

Explore the Archive

  • Video: the postwar L.A. gallery scene

    Video: Making the Scene—find out about the L.A. gallery scene during the postwar years

  • Bruce Nauman in his studio

    Bruce Nauman in his studio in Pasadena, California, ca. 1970. Photo by Frank J. Thomas. Courtesy of the Frank J. Thomas Archives

  • John Baldessari at Molly Barnes Gallery

    John Baldessari at the opening of his exhibition at the Molly Barnes Gallery in Los Angeles, 1968. Photo by Phillip T. Jones and courtesy of John Baldessari. © Phillip T. Jones

  • Poster for John Baldessari exhibition

    Poster for John Baldessari exhibition Pure Beauty at Molly Barnes Gallery in Los Angeles, 1968. © John Baldessari. The Getty Research Institute, 890164.87