Our annual Collectors Committee event was held this weekend, and the results are in: we’ve just acquired eight new works, from contemporary to ancient times, for the permanent collection. All this week Unframed will be running in-depth blog posts from our curators about each of these artworks, but for now, here’s a quick look at the weekend’s bounty:
Christian Marclay, The Clock (still), 2010, purchased with funds provided by Steve Tisch through the 2011 Collectors Committee, © Christian Marclay, photo courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Christian Marclay’s The Clock (2010), a 24-hour single-channel montage constructed out of moments in cinema and television history depicting the passage of time.
Ai Weiwei, Untitled (Divine Proportion), 2006, gift of the 2011 Collectors Committee, photo: Giovanni Tarifeño, courtesy of Friedman Benda and the artist
Ai Weiwei’s Untitled (Divine Proportion) (2006), a spherical wooden structure carefully crafted using a tenon and mortise (nail-free joinery) technique.
Mexico, Oaxaca/Guerrero border region, Painted Panel, 1200–1400, purchased with funds provided by an anonymous donor through the 2011 Collectors Committee
An ancient and richly painted panel (AD 1200-1400), from the region bordering Oaxaca and Guerrero in Mexico, rare in its scale and elaborate imagery.
Japan, Head of a Buddha, 1000–1050 AD, gift of the 2011 Collectors Committee
An ancient, wooden Heian-period Head of a Buddha—one of the finest sculptures of its age and size—from 1000–1050 AD Japan.
Craig Kauffman, Untitled, 1969, gift of the 2011 Collectors Committee
Craig Kaufman’s Untitled (1969), part of the artist’s loop series (ten in total, each a different color), a painted-plastic hybrid between painting and sculpture.
Donald Judd, Prototype Desk, 1978, purchased with funds provided by Kelvin Davis in honor of his brother, Paul Davis, through the 2011 Collectors Committee
Donald Judd’s seminal Prototype Desk (1978)—one of the few pieces the artist made himself—demonstrates the same philosophy about space, geometry, and proportion that characterizes his body of sculpture.
Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz, Three Casta Paintings, c. 1760, gift of the 2011 Collectors Committee
Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz, Three Casta Paintings, c. 1760, gift of the 2011 Collectors Committee
3- Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz, Three Casta Paintings, c. 1760, gift of the 2011 Collectors Committee
Three casta paintings from a series by Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz, circa 1760, representing the process of racial mixing among Indians, Spaniards, and Africans in colonial Mexico: VII. From Spaniard and Morisca, Albino (De español y morisca, albino), IX. From Spaniard and Albino, Return Backwards (De español y albina, torna atrás), From Spaniard and Return Backwards Hold Yourself Suspended in Mid Air (De español y torna atrás, tente en el aire).
1- Peru, Inka (1450–1532) or early colonial period (16th century), Hanging or Mantle, 1500–1600, purchased with funds provided by Camilla Chandler Frost through the 2011 Collectors Committee
An intricately woven Peruvian textile (1500–1600), symbolic of universal order.
Each year the Collectors Committee gathers for a weekend of events that include a chance to see a handful of proposed acquisitions installed in one of our galleries and to hear LACMA curators give presentations on each artwork. At the culmination of the weekend, the members convene at a gala dinner and vote on which artworks to acquire with funds raised through Collectors Committee membership dues. You can also see what we acquired in 2010 and 2009 through these generous and essential donors.
Stay tuned to Unframed all week for a closer look at each of these objects, starting tomorrow with looks at Christian Marclay's The Clock and Ai Weiwei's Untitled (Divine Proportion).
Scott Tennent