A teaspoon at a time: how LACMA built its collection – The Art Newspaper – International art news and events

How LACMA built a collection by moving slowly — and thinking big

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s rise has been less a sprint than a series of carefully timed leaps. Since opening on Wilshire Boulevard in 1965, the museum has paired ambitious exhibitions with patient collecting, turning limited resources into a collection that now anchors its new David Geffen Galleries.

That strategy is visible even before a visitor enters the building. Chris Burden’s “Urban Light,” installed outside LACMA in 2008, has become one of the city’s most familiar landmarks. Inside, the institution’s holdings reflect decades of accumulation shaped by curators who treated exhibitions not only as public programming, but also as a way to identify and secure important works for the permanent collection.

Stephanie Barron, who has spent 50 years at LACMA and leads the Modern art department, described the museum’s approach as one of steady cultivation. “It’s about cultivating collectors, cultivating an audience and building it slowly,” she said. “And you realise that, after decades, it has changed profoundly.” Barron also pointed to the Ahmanson Foundation as a model of how long-term relationships helped strengthen the European collection.

Sharon Takeda, senior curator and department head of costume and textiles, and Japanese art, said LACMA used major international loan exhibitions to its advantage. Early collaborations with the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Japanese History gave the museum access to works that could later become part of its own holdings. In some cases, she said, the goal was to ensure that a significant object from LACMA’s collection appeared in the exhibition, creating an opening for a major acquisition.

That exhibition-first mentality also helped LACMA establish its reputation at a time when much of the country’s catalogue publishing and institutional influence remained concentrated on the East Coast. Building its own catalogues and mounting serious loan shows gave the museum a stronger voice, while also sharpening its collecting priorities.

The pace quickened under director Michael Govan, who encouraged curators to aim higher and not shy away from major prices. He also pushed for acquisitions that would make headlines, including the 2010 exhibition “Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915,” which inaugurated the Resnick Pavilion.

The result is a collection that reflects both patience and ambition. Many of the works now destined for the David Geffen Galleries were acquired over the last 20 years, including familiar touchstones such as Matisse’s “La Gerbe” (1953). At LACMA, the collection has been built teaspoon by teaspoon — but with a clear eye on the future.