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, "Field Piece" at Cirrus

Announcement for Field Piece, a Barbara T. Smith exhibition at Cirrus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1971. Computer daisy-wheel print. © Barbara T. Smith. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Hal Glicksman, 2009.M.5.4

Founded by Jean Milant in 1970 in Hollywood, Cirrus Editions and Gallery worked primarily with Californian artists such as Terry Allen, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kauffman, and Vija Celmins, and helped establish Los Angeles as a center of printmaking. To produce this announcement, Barbara T. Smith worked with the latest in computer technology (daisy-wheel printers). Field Piece, inspired by a grass field, consisted of an enormous installation of translucent resin. It was also installed at F-Space Gallery in Santa Ana, and in the marshlands in Newport Beach.

Historic Map Locations

Works of Art

  • Full Jar, Empty Jar performance at Art Gallery, University of California, San Diego

    Full Jar, Empty Jar performance at Art Gallery, University of California, San Diego, 1974, Barbara T. Smith. © Barbara T. Smith

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

  • Barbara T. Smith’s artist business card

    Barbara T. Smith’s artist business card, 1970s. © Barbara T. Smith. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Hal Glicksman, 2009.M.5.10