The GRI is pleased to announce the launch of the African American Art History Initiative (AAAHI) with plans to acquire the archive of the world-renowned assemblage and installation artist Betye Saar. The contributions of African American artists to the canon of art history have long been under-researched and are essential to the comprehensive study of American art history. Through this initiative the GRI will facilitate and advance scholarship by means of a dedicated curator and a bibliographer, as well as library acquisitions, fellowships, research projects, exhibitions, and special collections, particularly archival material like Saar's.

Saar's pioneering work profoundly impacted the art scene not just in her home of Los Angeles, but nationally and internationally. The Betye Saar archives will include material from her earliest years to the present, documenting her prolific career producing art in a diverse range of media. Her archive will be the GRI's first major acquisition under the auspices of the AAAHI.

Kellie Jones, Professor in Art History and Archaeology and the Institute for Research in African American Studies (IRAAS) at Columbia University, serves as the senior consultant on this initiative, and will join us in December to present the first Thomas and Barbara Gaehtgens Lecture.

Learn more about this new initiative.

This month is the last opportunity to see Artists and Their Books / Books and Their Artists, co-curated by Marcia Reed and Glenn Phillips. Featuring highly visual works that challenge the notion of what a book can be, this exhibition focuses on non-traditional formats, including sculptural books such as Tauba Auerbach's Stab/Ghost (2013). Comprised of 250 sheets of silkscreened Lexan, the top pages are held by a wave-shaped piece of Plexiglas and the book is lit from beneath to highlight its transparency.

Gallery tours are held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:00 p.m., with special viewings of artists' books from GRI collections following the public tours every Tuesday.

Learn more about this exhibition.

Following a successful installation in Bern, Switzerland, the GRI exhibition Harald Szeemann: Museum of Obsessions, along with the recreation of his 1974 show Grandfather: A Pioneer Like Us, opens this month at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Curator Harald Szeemann was a groundbreaking exhibition maker with nearly half a century of curatorial experience, from his explorations of the avant-garde movements in the 1960s and 70s to global contemporary exhibitions in the 1990s and 2000s. This exhibition examines his prolific life and career using materials drawn from the vast Harald Szeemann Archive held by the GRI.

Plan a visit to see this exhibition at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf.

Learn more about Harald Szeemann: Museum of Obsessions.

Getty Library Research Grants provide partial support to researchers requiring the use of collection materials housed in the GRI, and who live more than 80 miles from the Getty Center. Supporting grants of up to $3,000 are available, and can be used for research lasting several days to a maximum of three months. Interested scholars can apply for any project; however, several grants will be awarded for proposals involving 18th-century German art, the Conservation Collection, the modern commercial art market, design, and Los Angeles modern architecture.

Applications are due October 15, 2018.

Contact Library Reference with any questions.

Learn more and download the application.

The German/American Provenance Research Exchange Program (PREP) brings together professionals specializing in World War II-era provenance and seeks to foster a cross-disciplinary look at the field. Curators, researchers, archivists, lawyers, other specialists, and graduate students are encouraged to apply. Previously held at the GRI, the 2019 exchange will take place at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden in March and the Smithsonian in Washington, DC in October.

Applications are due October 14.

Learn more and apply through the Smithsonian.

This world-premiere screening is the newest episode of Craft in America, PBS's award-winning documentary series, and features book artist Felicia Rice—whose work DOC/UNDOC is on display in the GRI's exhibition Artists and Their Books / Books and Their Artists. This episode also includes weaver Kay Sekimachi, textile designer and founder of LongHouse Reserve Jack Lenor Larsen, collector Forrest L. Merrill, and artists of Black Mountain College.

This event is held in conjunction with the GRI's current exhibition, and opens with remarks from curator Marcia Reed.

Reserve a free ticket.

Curated by architect and designer Josef Hoffmann as an homage to Beethoven, the 14th exhibition of art and design by members of the Vienna Secession movement was held in 1902 in the Austrian capital's Secession Building. Central to this show was a statue of the composer by Max Klinger along with works by 20 other members of the Secession, which was founded five years earlier by Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, and other key artistic figures from the turn of the century. The catalog is in itself a work of art and features original colored woodcuts, including this one by Elena Luksch-Makowsky as well as examples by Wilhelm List and Emil Orlik.

Learn more about this acquisition.

Architect Michael Gallis gained notoriety for his ability to translate fellow architect Erich Mendelsohn's visionary sketches into realizable buildings. After Mendelsohn's death, Gallis was tasked with completing two of Mendelsohn's outstanding projects, which dominated his practice from 1953 until his retirement in 1973. The collection focuses on his years at the School of Architecture at the University of Oregon, Eugene as well as his independent architectural practice after 1953. Materials include Gallis's personal correspondence, drawings, photographs, drafts for a monograph on Erich Mendelsohn, professional materials, and ephemera related to his personal and professional life.

Browse the finding aid.