Acquisition Information
Arrangement
Biographical/Historical Note
Access
Preferred Citation
Processing History
Scope and Content of Collection
Related Archival Materials
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Malcolm Lubliner photographs of the Los Angeles Art Scene
Creator:
Lubliner, Malcolm
Identifier/Call Number: 2012.R.21
Physical Description:
21.75 Linear Feet
(20 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1967-1997, undated (bulk 1968-1971)
Date (bulk): 1968-1971
Abstract: The collection of photographs of the Los Angeles art scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s by photographer Malcolm Lubliner
records the activities of artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Josef Albers,
John Altoon, Frank Stella, and Sam Francis. Most of the photographs were commissioned by Gemini G.E.L., and the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art's Art and Technology (A&T) Program. Included in the collection are approximately 460 sleeves of negatives,
600 corresponding contact prints, and 300 photographic prints, including duplicates.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language of Material: Collection material is in English.
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 2012.
Arrangement
The collection is comprised of two series: Series I. Artists, 1967-1992, undated (bulk 1968-1971); Series II. Events, 1968-1997
(bulk 1968-1971).
Biographical/Historical Note
Malcolm Lubliner was born in New York in 1933. His family moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1939. After military service
and a year at Los Angeles City College, he studied painting and drawing at Otis Art Institute, where he received an MFA degree
in 1962. After graduating from Otis, he taught at various private and public institutions before teaching graduate courses
in painting and drawing at California State University, Long Beach in 1967. He left in 1968 to become a full-time photographer.
Lubliner was then hired as a contract photographer for Gemini G.E.L. (Graphic Editions Limited), a publishing workshop in
Los Angeles. He would also become the official photographer for Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) Art and Technology
Program (1967-1971), which paired a select group of artists with technology companies in Southern California. Photographing
artists such as Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Irwin, Richard Serra, Frank Stella,
John Altoon, and Sam Francis among others, Lubliner documented many of the behind-the-scenes production activities at Gemini
and at the artists' own studios. In addition, he captured various artistic and social events of the day, which were frequented
by both artists and cultural notables alike, such as Maurice Tuchman, Stanley Grinstein, Betty Asher, and Leo Castelli. Lubliner's
work from this period was included, along with those of Dennis Hopper, Jerry McMillan, Edmund Teske, and others, in the 1996
exhibition and accompanying catalogue,
Photographing the L.A. Art Scene: 1955-1975.
Lubliner moved to northern California in 1982 where he has continued his career as a photographer. He is currently represented
by Craig Krull Gallery.
Sources consulted:
CityVisions - Malcolm Lubliner Photography, Malcolm Lubliner - Photography & Art Since 1965. www.cityvisions.com.
Lubliner, Malcom, e-mail mesage to authors, April 290, 2016.
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Preferred Citation
Malcolm Lubliner photographs of the Los Angeles art scene, 1967-1997, bulk 1968-1971, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles,
Accession no. 2012.R.21.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2012r21
Processing History
Processed by B. Karenina Karyadi under the supervision of Beth Ann Guynn in 2014.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection of photographs of the Los Angeles art scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s by photographer Malcolm Lubliner
records the activities of artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Josef Albers,
John Altoon, Frank Stella, and Sam Francis. The collection contains approximately 460 negative and slide sleeves, 600 corresponding
contact prints, and 300 gelatin silver prints (including duplicates), which were largely produced during Lubliner's time as
the contract photographer for Gemini G.E.L. and LACMA's Art and Technology Program. Also included is a small amount of other
material, including documents pertaining to certain shoots.
Series I consists of materials pertaining to Lubliner's documentation of various artists and their production activities,
many of which were part of his commissions from Gemini G.E.L. and LACMA's Art and Technology Program. Included are behind-the-scenes
photographs and records of projects such as Claes Oldenburg's
Profile Airflow and
Giant Ice Bag; Jasper Johns's
Numerals lead reliefs and
No lithographs; Robert Rauschenberg's lithographs for
Stoned Moon Series and
Cardbird Series; and Edward Kienholz's
Sawdy sculpture. In many cases, the staff members and facilities of Gemini are heavily featured, including Kenneth Tyler and Stanley
Grinstein. In addition, the series also features several events and solo exhibitions that were organized under the individual
artist's names, including James Lee Byars's
Mile Long Hat performance at Dwan Gallery; the First National Symposium on Habitability at Robert Irwin's studio; and Edward Kienholz's
Barter Show at the Eugenia Butler Gallery.
Series II consists of materials pertaining to Lubliner's documentation of different social and cultural events within the
Los Angeles art world. Included are photographs of social gatherings at the homes of Stanley Grinstein, Betty Asher, and Maurice
Tuchman; opening night of the
Serial Imagery exhibition at Pasadena Art Museum; concerts and performances by Yvonne Rainer and Steve Paxton; and a possible working model
from Experiments in Art and Technology's
Spherical Mirror Dome project.
Most of Lubliner's negatives and contact prints are organized by individual shoots and were originally contained in separate
envelopes. The envelopes bore typewritten descriptions pertaining to the shoot, mainly a record number, the artist(s) involved,
the title of the project or event, location, and year. Titles and dates of the files in this collection were largely derived
from them, unless otherwise noted. A number of envelopes contained additional information, which is included in the file-level
notes as appropriate.
Additionally, most of Lubliner's negative sleeves and contact prints are numbered according to the format: [record no.] -
[negative sleeve or contact print no.]. Some renumbering done by Lubliner also occurred (usually on verso of contact prints
or at the top of negative sleeves), which, in most cases, explains the existence of more than one record number (included
as "additional record numbers" in the file-level notes), and in some cases, discrepencies in numbering between the contact
prints, negatives, and/or prints. Specific instances where this occured are noted in the file-level notes.
Unless otherwise noted, contact prints and prints are gelatin silver prints. Most of the 8 x 10 inch gelatin silver prints
are keyed on the verso to their corresponding images following this format: [record no.] - [contact print or negative sleeve
no.] / [frame no.] ( [copy no.] ). This format, or some variation of it, was followed when transcribing annotations or referring
to specific images in the file-level scope notes throughout this finding aid. Annotations on the verso of some 11 x 14 inch
prints date them as having been printed between 1968 and 1972, and are noted below. In several cases, this date range conflicts
with the recorded date of when the original images were supposedly photographed (usually the year on their corresponding negatives
or contact prints). A number of the 11 x 14 inch prints that were printed early on by Lubliner are also numbered as editioned
prints.
Most contact prints are wet-stamped or labeled on the verso with Lubliner's studio contact information and copyright. Many
of the 11 x 14 inch prints are also wet-stamped and signed on the verso.
Related Archival Materials
Photographs of Robert Irwin, 1969, Special Collections accession number 960028 is comprised of Lubliner images. Experiments
in Art and Technology Los Angeles records, 1969-1975, Special Collections accession number 2003.M.12; and Experiments in Art
and Technology records, 1966-1993, Special Collections accession no. 940003 both contain files related to LACMA's Art and
Technology program and the Spherical Mirror Dome project.
Additional Malcolm Lubliner materials are available in the Kenneth Tyler Printmaking Collection, at the National Gallery of
Australia (NGA) (Kenneth Tyler Printmaking Collection, http://nga.gov.au/InternationalPrints/Tyler/Default.cfm, viewed on
September 9, 2014). Some of the images in the present collection are included and described in more detail in the Tyler Collection,
descriptions of which were written by NGA curators in collaboration with Tyler himself.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Art and technology
Gelatin silver prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Art, American -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Artists -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Performance art -- California -- Los Angeles
Black-and-white negatives -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Contact prints -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th century
Altoon, John, 1925-1969
Gemini G.E.L. (Firm)
Grinstein, Stanley
Stella, Frank
Albers, Josef
Goode, Joe, 1937-
Tuchman, Maurice
Asher, Betty
Tyler, Kenneth E.
Serra, Richard, 1938-
Kienholz, Edward, 1927-1994
Irwin, Robert, 1928-
Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997
Oldenburg, Claes, 1929-
Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Dwan Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Rainer, Yvonne, 1934-
Johns, Jasper, 1930-
Paxton, Steve
Francis, Sam, 1923-1994