Doing social media at the museum, one of the things I do every day is keep up with who's tagging @lacma / #lacma on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and elsewhere. Most often people are posting pictures from their visit to the museum, which usually means loads and loads of great pics of Chris Burden's Urban Light and Metropolis II, Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass, José Rafael Soto's Penetrable, or pics from inside Stanley Kubrick or the modern galleries. That all changed last week when we announced our new collections site, which holds roughly 80,000 images from our collection--20,000 of which are available as restriction-free high-resolution downloads. Ever since that announcement there has been an cascade of images from our collection proliferating on social media (partly because there is now a handy little "share" button on many of the entries on the site). Nothing against the usual suspects, but it's been really fun and refreshing to see what artworks you all have been sharing. The imagery has been across all eras, cultures, and media. Here are just a few of the highlights--click on the images to see their collections entries.
Layla Vistits Majnun in the Palm Grove; Page from a Khamsa of Nizami, Iran, Shiraz, 1550-1575, the Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky
Page from a manuscript of the Qur'an (11:111-12:1), Iran or Iraq, 11th-12th century, The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Perhaps thanks to the Persian New Year I've seen a great deal of objects from our Islamic art collection. (Tumblr users, follow Purple Fig Tree for a bunch more where this came from.)
Jayateja (active Nepal), Mandala of Vishnu, Nepal, dated 1420, the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase
The Hindu God Vishnu Riding on His Mount Garuda, India, Rajasthan, Bundi, c. 1750-1775, gift of Paul F. Walter
Traveling east, I've seen a number of works from our collection of South and Southeast Asian art., including multiple depictions of Vishnu.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Empress Jingū and Takenouchi no Sukune Fishing at Chikuzen, from the series A Mirror of Great Warriors of Japan, c. 1876, Herbert R. Cole Collection
Iga Flower Vessel, Japan, Momoyama period, 1573-1615, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
I've seen a variety of Japanese prints and objects, such as this 19th-century work by Yoshitoshi or this Momoyama-period flower vessel. Depending on your interest--say, you like the prints but not the decorative arts--you can narrow your search by selecting a curatorial area and then choosing types of artworks or eras.
Ambrosius Bosschaert (Holland, Middelburg, 1573-1621), Bouquet of Flowers on a Ledge, Holland, 1619, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. Carter
Jean-Antoine Houdon (France, Paris, 1741-1828), Seated Voltaire, France, c. 1779-1795, gift of The Ahmanson Foundation
So you found a flower vessel from Japan? I guess it needs filling with Dutch flowers. I've seen a lot of knockout European pieces around the web. Another nice feature of the new site is on display in this Houdon image--you can choose from up to six different views of the sculpture, from different angles of the full piece to close-up details like this one.
Standing Female Figure, Mexico, Guanajuato, Chupícuaro, 400-100 B.C., gift of Constance McCormick Fearing
Vladimir Cora, Untitled, 1984, The Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art
It's been great to not only see works from our Latin American collection show up on various sites, but to see works from across time periods, from an ancient figure made more than 2,000 years ago to a 1984 painting by the Mexican artist Vladimir Cora (well-represented in LACMA's collection, by the way).
David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, Eleanor Rigby, Scotland, c. 1840, printed c. 1910, The Marjorie and Leonard Vernon Collection, gift of The Annenberg Foundation, acquired from Carol Vernon and Robert Turbin
Gordon Coster, The Spigot and the Shadows, United States, 1927, gift of Gordon H. Coster
Erich Salomon, Ernst Lubitsch, Hollywood, Germany, 1930, gift of Nancy Nigrosh
Jane O'Neal, Untitled, 1978, gift of John Feidler
Likewise I've seen a variety of photographs from LACMA's collection, from the earliest years of the medium to more contemporary works.
This is just a small sample of the things you all have been sharing. Wherever you're sharing, be sure to tag us (@lacma / #lacma) so we can see (and maybe retweet/reblog) too!
Scott Tennent