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.
In the 1960s, Ed Ruscha more or less reinvented the artist’s book. By turning away from the craftsmanship and luxury status that typified the livre d’artiste in favor of the artistic idea or concept, expressed simply through photographs and text, Ruscha opened the genre to the possibilities of mass-production and distribution. In Real Estate Opportunities, Ruscha presents, without comment, pictures of various tracts of land for sale in different parts of L.A. County.
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.
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
On View at the Getty Center: Greetings from L.A.: Artists and Publics 1950-1980
In the 1960s, Ed Ruscha more or less reinvented the artist’s book. By turning away from the craftsmanship and luxury status that typified the livre d’artiste in favor of the artistic idea or concept, expressed simply through photographs and text, Ruscha opened the genre to the possibilities of mass-production and distribution. In Real Estate Opportunities, Ruscha presents, without comment, pictures of various tracts of land for sale in different parts of L.A. County.
Styles & Materials
Time Periods & Venues
Works of Art
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, 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, 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
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: Ed Ruscha speaks about his work, April 2011
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 at 1024 3/4 N. Western Avenue in Hollywood, California, 1970. Photo by Larry Bell. Image courtesy of Billy Al Bengston
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 advertising books by Ed Ruscha, ca. 1968. Offset lithograph. © Ed Ruscha. The Getty Research Institute, Gift of Michael Asher, 2009.M.30.1
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
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