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

Ed Ruscha in his studio

Ed Ruscha in his studio at 1024 3/4 N. Western Avenue in Hollywood, California, 1970. Image courtesy of Billy Al Bengston. Photo © Larry Bell

Artist Ed Ruscha moved to this large, bright studio on Western Avenue in Hollywood in 1965 and remained there for nearly 20 years. Ruscha produced not only paintings and drawings in this space, but also several of his artist books, including Every Building on the Sunset Strip (1966). As the writer A.D. Coleman described the studio in an interview published in the New York Times in 1972: “A punching bag hangs on one wall; a motorcycle sits in another room; there are paintings on the wall, and a framed photo of Bela Lugosi with cigar. Several cowboy hats hang from the edge of an unframed mirror resting on an easel. From the radio comes a mixture of rock, jazz, and cowboy yodeling.”

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire, 1965–68, Ed Ruscha.

    The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire, 1965–68, Ed Ruscha. Oil on canvas. 53 1/2 x 133 1/2 in. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1972. © Ed Ruscha. Photography by Lee Stalsworth

  • Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas

    Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas, 1963, Ed Ruscha. Oil on canvas. 64 1/2 x 121 3/4 in. Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; gift of James Meeker, Class of 1958, in memory of Lee English, Class of 1958, scholar, poet, athlete and friend to all. © Ed Ruscha

  • Some Los Angeles Apartments

    Some Los Angeles Apartments, 1965, Ed Ruscha. Self-published book, offset lithograph, 1965 (seconding printing 1970). 7 1/16 x 5 9/16 x 1/4 in. The Getty Research Institute, 86-B19485.c2. © Ed Ruscha

  • Real Estate Opportunities

    Real Estate Opportunities, 1970, Ed Ruscha. Self-published book, offset lithograph. 7 1/16 x 5 5/8 x 3/16 in. Open to pages depicting 12th & Sentous (southeast corner), and 1140 E. Pico. The Getty Research Institute, 86-B19480. © Ed Ruscha

  • Every Building on the Sunset Strip

    Every Building on the Sunset Strip, 1966, Ed Ruscha. Self-published book, offset lithograph, 1966 (second printing 1971). 7 1/8 x 5 3/4 x 3/8 in. Open unfolded: 7 1/8 x 297 in. The Getty Research Institute, 86-B19486.c1. © Ed Ruscha

Explore the Archive

  • Video: L.A. artists and commercial culture

    Video: Discover how L.A. artists of the 1960s and 1970s appropriated commercial culture

  • Video: Ed Ruscha

    Video: Ed Ruscha speaks about his work, April 2011

  • Ed Ruscha holding "Every Builging on the Sunset Strip"

    Ed Ruscha holding his book Every Building on the Sunset Strip, 1967. © Ed Ruscha. Image courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica. © Jerry McMillan

  • Ed Ruscha's studio

    Ed Ruscha's studio at 1024 3/4 N. Western Avenue in Hollywood, California, 1970. Photo by Larry Bell. Image courtesy of Billy Al Bengston

  • Orb, Chouinard Art Institute student journal

    Orb, a Chouinard Art Institute student journal, vol. 1, no. 2, 1959. © Ed Ruscha. The Getty Research Institute, 2925-311, v1.no2

  • Heavy Industry Publications, books by Ed Ruscha

    Heavy Industry Publications advertising books by Ed Ruscha, ca. 1968. Offset lithograph. © Ed Ruscha. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Michael Asher, 2009.M.30.1

  • Los Angeles artists at Culture Day at LACMA, 1968

    Several Los Angeles artists at Culture Day at LACMA (L.A. County Museum of Art), 1968. Photo by and © Julian Wasser.

  • Ed Ruscha and Joe Goode on horseback

    Ed Ruscha and Joe Goode on horseback. Exhibition catalogue cover for the Fine Arts Patrons of Newport Harbor at the Balboa Pavillion Gallery, 1968. Image courtesy of Jerry McMillan and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica. © Jerry McMillan