The Broad has added 29 new works to its permanent collection of contemporary art, with a third of the new works from local artists, further deepening the museum’s connection to Los Angeles.
“L.A. artists have been essential to the collection from the beginning,” museum director Joanne Heyler told the Los Angeles Times in an email interview Friday. “Now L.A. is teeming with good artists, so we collect here in increasing depth.”
The new acquisitions come from artists both familiar and new to the Broad, according to The Times. The museum owns the largest collection of Cindy Sherman works worldwide — the artist’s latest photographs are on view in the Broad’s “Cindy Sherman: Imitation of Life.” The museum now boasts 129 Sherman works.
The Broad deepened its holdings of works by other 1980s-era Pictures Generation artists in its collection as well, The Times reported. It purchased Sherrie Levine’s cast bronze “Beach Ball After Lichtenstein,” created last year; it now owns 11 pieces by the artist. It also acquired a new work from 2015 by John Baldessari, the painted print “That’s Not Bad….,” bringing its holdings by the L.A. artist to 41.
The museum introduced Ericka Beckman into its collection as well, with the acquisition of the artist’s 32-minute, 16-millimeter film, “You the Better.” The piece, shot in 1983, will be displayed in an installation alongside related set pieces immersed in synchronized lighting, according to the newspaper.
Beckman is one of six artists whose work is new to the Broad’s collection of postwar and contemporary art. The others are Oscar Murillo, Tauba Auerbach, Alex Israel, Jonas Wood and Piotr Uklanski, The Times reported.
“The Broad collection has a scope that includes deep representations of works by artists who emerged from the 1950s to today,” Heyler told The Times. “We continually add artists and usually acquire very recent works by artists in the collection, but we also keep our eyes on more historic and great work that fits the collection.”
—City News Service