The collection of modern and contemporary art began with a strong foundation through the support of Donald Bear, the Museum’s first Director, and pivotal gifts by Wright S. Ludington, the Ala Story Collection of International Modern Art, founding members of the Board of Trustees, and many others. These early benefactors recognized the importance of a strong modern and contemporary presence, an important objective that continues today. Over a span of nearly seventy years, the Museum has amassed a collection with three basic areas of concentration: the art of Europe, Latin America, and North America, with a specific emphasis on California art.

Contemporary

Acquiring and exhibiting contemporary art has been a part of the Museum's mission since its inception. Critical trends in post-World War II American art are represented throughout, including figures influential in the development of abstraction, such as Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, Larry Poons, and many others. Figurative works by Philip Pearlstein, Larry Rivers, and Alison Saar are important aspects of the collection, as are identity-based works by Enrique Chagoya, Shirin Neshat, and Carrie Mae Weems. Two important video installations are TV Clock (1963) by Nam June Paik and Untitled Video Wall (Butterflies) (2008) by Diana Thater. SBMA owns a significant number of prints, and, in conjunction with the photography collection, works by Ori Gersht, Candida Höfer, and Yinka Shonibare.

Selected works from our Contemporary collection:

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click to enlarge ©Hung Liu	Hung Liu Chinese, b. 1948 A Third World, 1993 Oil on canvas; gold leaf on wood 92 x 76 x 3" Museum purchase with funds provided by 20th Century Fund, and by Jill and John Bishop, and Lillian and Jon Lovelace 1993.29	click to enlarge ©Miriam Schapiro	Miriam Schapiro Canadian (active America), b. 1923 Mother Russia, 1994 Acrylic, silkscreen, and collage on canvas 72 x 144" Museum purchase with funds provided by 20th Century Deaccessioning Fund, and the Santa Barbara Visionaries: Lillian and Jon B. Lovelace, Karen and Mathew T. Yonally, Jill and John Bishop Jr., Mercedes H. Eichholz, and Zola and John Rex 1995.11
click to enlarge ©Alison Saar	Alison Saar American, b. 1956 Terra Firma, 1991 Wood, tin, tar, & found objects 18 x 74 x 22" Museum purchase with funds provided by 20th Century Deaccessioning Fund, and Friends of Contemporary Art in celebration of the Museum's 50th anniversary. 1992.20	click to enlarge ©Carter Potter	Carter Potter American, b. 1961 Stormchasers, 1997 Film 72 x 72 x 2 1/4" Museum purchase with funds provided by Santa Barbara Museum of Art Visionaries 1998.7

Latin American

The Museum's permanent collection of 20th-century Latin American art was launched in the late 1960s with the gift of a core group of paintings and works on paper from the modern Mexican art scholar, Dr. MacKinley Helm, and his wife. The Latin American collection was further enriched when works by artist such as Alfredo Ramos Martinez and Carlos Orozco-Romero were donated. This strong foundation provided a basis for steady growth in the area of Latin American art. A major gift of Mexican art from Charles A. Storke again expanded the holdings to include works by artists active in the post World War II period, including Françisco Toledo, and Françisco Zúñiga. The museum holds works by those major figures associated with post-revolutionary Mexico, including José Clemente Orozco, Alfredo Ramos Martínez, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Included among these works is a permanent installation of Siqueiros' Portrait of Mexico Today, 1932, the only surviving intact mural in the United States by the world-renowned Mexican muralist. Recent acquisitions of both modern and contemporary works by Cuban-born Luis Cruz Azaceta, Argentineans Miguel Angel Rios and Isabel Barbuzza, Chilean Eugenia Vargas, and Uruguyan Joaquin Torres-Garcia, reflect an expansion of the collection beyond the borders of Mexico.
 

Selected works from our Latin American collection:

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click to enlarge ©Artists Rights Society, Inc. (VEGAP)	Joaquin Torres-Garcia Uruguayan, 1879-1949 Composition, 1932 Oil on canvas 32 1/4 x 25 3/4" Musuem purchase with funds provided by the 20th Century Art Acquisition and Endowment Funds, The Grace Jones Richardson Trust, Jon B. and Lilian Lovelace, and Les and Zora Charles 1997.69	click to enlarge ©SOMAAP	Gunther Gerzso Mexican, b. 1915 Dos Personajes, 1956 Oil on canvas 36 x 26 1/2" Partial gift of Charles A. Storke 1994.57.12
click to enlarge ©Artists Rights Society, Inc. (VAGA)	David Alfaro Siqueiros Mexican, 1896-1974 La Colina de los Muertos, 1944 Ducco on board 37 1/4 x 27" Gift of Mrs. MacKinley Helm 1969.35.51	click to enlarge ©Artists Rights Society, Inc. (ADAGP)	Wifredo Lam Cuban (active France), 1902-1982 The Casting of the Spell, 1947 Oil on burlap 43 1/8 x 36" Gift of Wright S. Ludington 1956.2.4

California

California art is an area of strength within the collection. The Bay Area is represented through significant works by Robert Arneson, Richard Diebenkorn, Viola Frey, David Park, Nathan Oliveira, William T. Wiley, and others. Southern California artists figure prominently, with important works by Abstract Classicists including Karl Benjamin and John McLaughlin, as well as Finish Fetish artists such as Larry Bell and John McCracken. Unique and essential to the collection are significant holdings of remarkable individualists like Rico Lebrun, Lee Mullican, Joyce Treiman, and Beatrice Wood. Recent works include those by Amy Adler, Edgar Arceneaux, Ingrid Calame, Charles Long, Aaron Morse, Kori Newkirk, Patrick Nickell, and Mario Ybarra Jr.

Selected works from our California collection:

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click to enlarge ©Viola Frey	Viola Frey American, b. 1933 Homage to Dubuffet, 1977-80 Glazed ceramic Woman 86 x 23 x 20" Wall 61 x 35 x 13" Dog on table 74 x 29 x 19" Museum purchase with funds provided by Eli and Leatrice Luria and the Carol L. Valentine Art Acquisition Fund 1998.10	click to enlarge ©Richard Diebenkorn	Richard Diebenkorn American, 1922-1993 Woman and Checkerboard, 1956 Oil on canvas 59 x 56" Museum purchase, Second Pacific Coast Biennial Fund 1957.18
click to enlarge ©Peter Voulkos	Peter Voulkos American, b. 1924 Sitting Bull, ca. 1959 Stoneware, wheel & paddled parts, slip, and glaze 69 x 37 x 37" Bequest of Hans G. M. de Schulthess 1965.16	click to enlarge ©John McLaughlin	John McLaughlin American, 1898-1976 No. 5, 1961 Oil on canvas 42 1/4 x 60 1/8" Gift of Katherine Peake in memory of her mother, Alice F. Schott 1982.67

European & American Modernism

Through the efforts and interests of the Museum's second director, Ala Story, the collection of modernist art was established. The rapid evolution towards abstraction is well demonstrated through examples of Cubism, Constructivism, Vorticism, and other avant-garde art by such artists as George Grosz, László Moholy-Nagy, Kurt Schwitters, and Wassily Kandinsky. Fauvism and Expressionism are represented through works by Egon Schiele, Emile Nolde, André Derain, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse, and major paintings by Alexej Jawelensky, and Marc Chagall. The collection of surrealist work comprises paintings and works on paper by Joan Miró and Salvador Dali. American Modernism is represented by significant works from vanguard sculptor Gaston Lachaise, Fauvist-inspired Milton Avery, and Precisionist Joseph Stella.

Selected works from our European & American Modernism collection:

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click to enlarge	Marsden Hartley American, 1877-1943 Still Life, ca. 1929-30 Oil on cardboard 25 3/4 x 18 3/4" Gift of Wright S. Ludington 1950.3	click to enlarge ©Artists Rights Society, Inc.	Milton Avery American, 1893-1965 The Fencers, 1944 Oil on canvas 48 1/4 x 32 1/4" Gift of Emily Hall, Baroness von Romberg in memory of Maximillian von Romberg 1949.4
click to enlarge ©Artists Rights Society, Inc. (ADAGP)	Wassily Kandinsky Russian (active France), 1866-1944 Linie-Fleck (Line-Spot), 1927 Oil on pressed pulp board 17 3/4 x 26 1/4" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Gershwin 1956.5.4	click to enlarge ©Artists Rights Society, Inc.	Salvador Dali Spanish, 1904-1989 Honey is Sweeter than Blood, 1941 Oil on canvas 20 x 24" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Tremaine 1949.17
click to enlarge ©Artists Rights Society, Inc. (ADAGP)	Marc Chagall Russian (active France), 1887-1985 Young Girl in Pursuit, ca. 1927-28 Oil on composition board 25 3/4 x 19 3/4 " Gift of Mme. Ganna Walska 1963.18	click to enlarge ©Artists Rights Society, Inc. (ADAGP)	Aristide Maillol French, 1861-1944 Study for Action in Chains, 1905 Bronze 48 x 29 x 20" Bequest of Wright S. Ludington 1993.1.40