UCI Institute and Museum of California Art

#Throwback to Los Angeles, 1965. Hassel Smith captures the essence of Southern California car culture in this dynamic painting. Known as one of the preeminent West Coast abstract painters of the postwar period, Smith spent the latter half of the 1960s exploring figuration. Here, the artist’s familiarity with the conventions of abstract expressionism is nonetheless evident in the gestural brushstrokes, splashes, and drips of paint that freely blend t...ogether in large swaths of pigment to create an animated street scene. Hassel Smith, L.A. Underpass, 1965. Oil on canvas. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art, The Estate of Hassel Smith #BuckCollection #uciimca #HasselSmith See more

#OnThisDay in 1913 the International Exhibition of Modern Art opened at the National Guard 69th Regiment Armory in New York City. Commonly known simply as the Armory Show, the revolutionary exhibition introduced Americans to what were at the time shockingly modern works of European art. German-born American painter Agnes Pelton exhibited two of her early works at the Armory Show, both of which were done in a style similar to The Toilet, pictured here. Pelton described these e...arly paintings in which she often used allegory to convey meaning as interpretations of moods of nature symbolically expressed. Agnes Pelton, The Toilet, 1911/1916. Oil on canvas. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art #uciimca #BuckCollection #ArmoryShow See more

#Throwback to Los Angeles, 1965. Hassel Smith captures the essence of Southern California car culture in this dynamic painting. Known as one of the preeminent West Coast abstract painters of the postwar period, Smith spent the latter half of the 1960s exploring figuration. Here, the artist’s familiarity with the conventions of abstract expressionism is nonetheless evident in the gestural brushstrokes, splashes, and drips of paint that freely blend t...ogether in large swaths of pigment to create an animated street scene. Hassel Smith, L.A. Underpass, 1965. Oil on canvas. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art, The Estate of Hassel Smith #BuckCollection #uciimca #HasselSmith See more

"Intelligence plus characterthat is the goal of true education." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To honor MLK’s legacy, we’re highlighting a work by politically and socially motivated artist Ed Bereal. In the assemblage Focke-Wulf FW 109 pictured here, Bereal references a WWII Nazi fighter plane by title as well as in his use of materials, which suggest machine wreckage and, by extension, the collapse of the Nazi party. The artist re-appropriate...s the swastika, flipping it backwards from how it appeared on Nazi insignia to recall its original meanings as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian and East Asian religions. When this work was exhibited in 1961 at one of the first racially integrated exhibitions, War Babies, at Los Angeles’ Huysman Gallery, it dripped and reeked of oil, compounding its shock value and heightening its likeness to aircraft debris or a bleeding heart. Ed Bereal, Focke-Wulf FW 109, 1960. Mixed-media assemblage. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art Ed Bereal 10-1-18 #MLKDay #BuckCollection #uciimca See more

Mark your calendars! Our next exhibition, Sublime Wonderlands, opens a week from today. Examining some of the ways American artists have formulated a uniquely American identity through landscape portrayal while stylistically and thematically associating themselves with their European roots, Sublime Wonderlands explores enduring cultural associations of the North American wilderness with rugged beauty, limitless resources, and national pride.... George Brandriff, Superstition Mountain, circa 1928. Oil on canvas. The Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine #SublimeWonderlands #uciimca #OneWeekAway See more

Here’s a little #joy to help you stay sunny during the winter doldrums, courtesy of Edouard Vysekal. Edouard Vysekal, Joy, 1917. Oil on canvas. The Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine #WinterProblems #uciimca

Sublime Wonderlands opens today! Head over to the Joan Irvine Smith and Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Gallery to see over forty landscape paintings spanning the 1800s to the 1980s, including Maurice Braun’s "Yosemite, Evening from Glacier Point" shown here. Joan Irvine Smith and Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Gallery 18881 Von Karman Avenue, Ste. 100, Irvine, CA 92612 General Hours: Tuesday Saturday 11:00 am 5:00 pm... Free and open to the public. Maurice Braun, Yosemite, Evening from Glacier Point, 1918. Oil on canvas. The Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine #uciimca #SublimeWonderlands #NowOnView #OpeningDay See more

"Intelligence plus characterthat is the goal of true education." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. To honor MLK’s legacy, we’re highlighting a work by politically and socially motivated artist Ed Bereal. In the assemblage Focke-Wulf FW 109 pictured here, Bereal references a WWII Nazi fighter plane by title as well as in his use of materials, which suggest machine wreckage and, by extension, the collapse of the Nazi party. The artist re-appropriate...s the swastika, flipping it backwards from how it appeared on Nazi insignia to recall its original meanings as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian and East Asian religions. When this work was exhibited in 1961 at one of the first racially integrated exhibitions, War Babies, at Los Angeles’ Huysman Gallery, it dripped and reeked of oil, compounding its shock value and heightening its likeness to aircraft debris or a bleeding heart. Ed Bereal, Focke-Wulf FW 109, 1960. Mixed-media assemblage. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art Ed Bereal 10-1-18 #MLKDay #BuckCollection #uciimca See more

Mark your calendars! Our next exhibition, Sublime Wonderlands, opens a week from today. Examining some of the ways American artists have formulated a uniquely American identity through landscape portrayal while stylistically and thematically associating themselves with their European roots, Sublime Wonderlands explores enduring cultural associations of the North American wilderness with rugged beauty, limitless resources, and national pride.... George Brandriff, Superstition Mountain, circa 1928. Oil on canvas. The Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine #SublimeWonderlands #uciimca #OneWeekAway See more

Happy #NationalHatDay! In this ink drawing by Richard Diebenkorn, the artist captures a candid moment in which his subject seems momentarily lost in thought. Along with David Park and Elmer Bischoff, Diebenkorn was one of the primary figures associated with the Bay Area Figurative movement. This drawing, done in 1963, was executed toward the end of what is known as the artist’s Berkeley period during which he shifted from focusing on abstraction t...o actively exploring figuration. Richard Diebenkorn, Untitled, 1963. Ink on paper. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California 2018, Richard Diebenkorn Foundation #BuckCollection #uciimca See more

Can you spot the glowing campfire in James Swinnerton’s "Sunset in Monument Valley"? Born in 1875 in Eureka, California, James (aka Jimmy) Swinnerton made a name for himself as a cartoonist in the late 19th century producing some of the country’s earliest comic strips while working for the San Francisco Examiner. After recovering from a nearly lethal bout of tuberculosis, Swinnerton took up oil painting and adapted his characteristic illustrative style ...to landscape scenes of the American Southwest. You can see "Sunset in Monument Valley" and other works inspired by the North American wilderness at our upcoming exhibition, Sublime Wonderlands, opening January 25th. James Swinnerton, Sunset in Monument Valley, circa 1928. Oil on canvas. The Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine #SublimeWonderlands #uciimca See more

Today is National #HousePlantAppreciationDay! To celebrate, we’re featuring a greenery-inspired work by Elmer Bischoff. In a painting that verges on complete abstraction, Bischoff’s figure, subtly highlighted in the face and chest and lightly outlined in black, all but blends into the thickly pigmented verdant background. Though we can’t see them, we’re pretty sure the man in the painting has a couple of green thumbs. ... Elmer Bischoff, The Green Man, 1956. Oil on canvas. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art The Estate of Elmer Bischoff. Courtesy George Adams Gallery, New York #BuckCollection #uciimca #ElmerBischoff #HousePlantAppreciationDay See more

Today is your last chance to see El Camino del Oro. We're open 11:00 am to 5:00 pm today. Come check out this and other images of historic California. https://imca.uci.edu/event/el-camino-del-oro/ William Hahn, Mexican Cattle Drivers in Southern California, 1883. Oil on canvas, 34 1/2 x 60 in. (88 x 152 cm). Private Collection.... #uciimca See more

Don’t miss your chance to see El Camino del Oro. It closes this Saturday, January 4! Come check out this and other images of historic California. William Wendt, An Echo of the Past, date unknown. Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in. (76 x 102 cm). The Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine. #uciimca

Happy New Year! George Brandriff, Sunday Breakfast, ca. 1935. Oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art. #uciimca #newyear #happyholiday #winterholidays #resolutions

Happy New Year’s Eve! Masami Teraoka, Huryu Kaizukushi, 1974. Ink and watercolor on wove-screen paper, 14 x 9 in. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum of California Art. Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco. #uciimca #newyearseve #countdown #midnightkiss #happyholidays #winterholidays

Happy Birthday, Patssi Valdez! Born #onthisday in 1951. Patssi Valdez, L.A.T.J., 1987. Ink on archival paper, 26 x 20 in. Patssi Valdez. #uciimca