The J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute announced their joint acquisition of photographic work by Ed Ruscha.
The Getty-bound package includes seventy-four photographs by the artist, as well as the comprehensive Streets of Los Angeles archive — comprising thousands of negatives, hundreds of contact sheets and related documents.
A press release states that this acquisition “now makes the GettyCenter the preeminent resource for understanding the role of photography in Ruscha’s practice and will make this aspect of the artists work more widely accessible, locally and internationally.”
The majority of these works were made in conjunction with the self-published books that Ruscha began producing in 1962, including Twentysix Gasoline Stations (1963), Some Los Angeles Apartments (1965), Thirtyfour Parking Lots in Los Angeles (1967), and Real Estate Opportunities (1970).
Ruscha has lived in Los Angeles since 1956 and has become one of the city’s iconic artists. The city, its architecture and signage have been a primary subject of his creative output.
A selection of the acquired works, many of which have never been on public view, will be included in two exhibitions at the Getty in Spring 2013: Los Angeles Architecture: 1940-1990 and In Focus: Ed Ruscha.
