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Glicksman (Hal) Papers
2009.M.5
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Contributing Institution: Special Collections
Title: Hal Glicksman papers
Creator: Glicksman, Hal
Identifier/Call Number: 2009.M.5
Physical Description: 60.5 Linear Feet(111 boxes, 3 flatfiles)
Date (inclusive): 1927-2010
Abstract: The papers document the life and career of Hal Glicksman, a curator and preparator who contributed to many key exhibitions
in Southern California, and helped found several important Southern California art institutions. The collection provides information
regarding Glicksman's relationships with artists, his exhibition planning and gallery administration, and the Southern California
art scene in the 1960s and 1970s.
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
Materials related to the Getty Research Library general collection were transferred and may be found by searching the library
catalog for the phrase Hal Glicksman Collection. The publications contained in these folders are outside of the scope of the
general collection. Miscellaneous publications include clippings.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Acquired from Hal Glicksman in 2009.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Born in 1937 in Beverly Hills, California, Hal Glicksman curated a number of key exhibitions in Southern California during
the 1960s and 1970s, and helped establish and foster several important Southern California art institutions. He started his
career as a preparator at the Pasadena Art Museum under the leadership of Walter Hopps, where he helped formalize professional
guidelines for preparators. While at the Pasadena Art Museum, Glicksman worked on the 1963 Marcel Duchamp retrospective. He
also designed and installed the United States' presentation for the eighth Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, Brazil in 1965.
Glicksman served as Assistant Curator for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's exhibition, Art and Technology, 1967-1971.
In 1969 Glicksman was appointed Gallery Director and Assistant Professor at Pomona College. While there he produced a seminal
Michael Asher exhibition, as well as exhibitions of work by other artists, including Tom Eatherton, Lloyd Hamrol and Ron Cooper.
In 1970 Glicksman accepted a position as Associate Director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., again under
the leadership of Walter Hopps. Glicksman returned to California in 1972 as Director of the Art Gallery at the University
of California, Irvine (UCI). Among the significant group exhibitions he curated at UCI, Assemblage in California and Los Four
demonstrate Glicksman's long-term interest in both Chicano art and assemblage art in California. While at UCI Glicksman also
exhibited work by Bruce Nauman, Maria Nordman, Larry Bell, Sol Lewitt, Eleanor Antin, Peter Alexander, John Baldessari and
Jane Reynolds. In 1975 Glicksman organized the large-scale exhibition Collage and Assemblage at the Los Angeles Institute
of Contemporary Art. Also in 1975, Glicksman was appointed Art Gallery Director at Otis Art Institute, where he curated exhibitions
focusing on contemporary artists such as Dan Flavin, Richard Tuttle, On Kawara, Hap Tivey, Sam Francis and Wallace Berman.
Following his tenure at Otis, Glicksman curated exhibitions for the Santa Monica Arts Commission and Beyond Baroque Literary
Arts Center.
Additionally, Glicksman made contributions to the design and planning of the new space for the Pasadena Art Museum at Carmelita
Park. In 1981 he founded his own gallery, Percept, a short-lived venue for light and space art. The first show at Percept
featured the work of Thomas Eatherton. Glicksman also played an important role in the 1985 founding of the Santa Monica Museum
of Art, where he served as the museum's first director and helped establish the museum's collecting policy and development
agenda.
The Hal Glicksman papers comprise letters, clippings, photographs, negatives, slides, original artworks, note cards, posters,
exhibition announcements, and audio and video recordings documenting the career and life of Hal Glicksman. The collection
provides insight into Glicksman's relationships with artists, his exhibition planning and gallery administration, as well
as the Southern California art scene in the 1960s and 1970s.
Many of the artist files in Series I contain correspondence regarding art production and research materials for exhibitions,
as well as materials unrelated to art. The series also includes some original artwork by artists such as Dave Anderson, Tony
DeLap and Lowell Darling.
Glicksman's exhibition files in Series II document his curatorial practice, including planning, budgeting, installation, and
publicity and event organization related to exhibitions. The exhibition files demonstrate Glicksman's long-term interests
in assemblage art, Chicano art, and Southern California contemporary art.
Series III contains administrative, teaching and research files. Although the administrative files in this series reflect
Glicksman's interest in the arts, they are not related to specific artists or exhibitions. Rather, the series documents the
administration and policies of several institutions where Glicksman worked. Glicksman's research files document his wide range
of interests, from his involvement with the women's art movement to his concern with information technologies.
The bulk of the ephemera in Series IV is gallery and museum exhibition announcements. The series also includes brochures and
publicity materials from other cultural institutions. Most of the materials in this series are from the Southern California
area; however, other regions of California, as well as national and international institutions, are represented.
Series V contains slides, negatives, transparencies, color photography and audiovisual materials. Personal photographs form
the bulk of the series, including images of Glicksman's travels across the United States and abroad. Some slides demonstrate
Glicksman's own photographic work documenting Los Angeles and its surroundings. Other slides focus on individual artists,
the Otis Art Gallery, brain hemispheres, and the Collage and Assemblage exhibition. Most of the audiovisual materials relate
to specific artists and exhibitions.
Laura Schroffel processed the collection, made an inventory and wrote the descriptive notes under the supervision of Andra
Darlington. The arrangementwas devised by Laura Schroffel, Andra Darlington and John Tain. Series I, II, III and V retain
Glicksman's original order; series IV was rearranged by a curator. One box was added to the archive in March 2010, after the
initial acquisition in 2009. Laura Schroffel integrated the additional materials into the collection.
Hal Glicksman papers, 1927-2008, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 2009.M.5.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2009m5
The collection is arranged in five series: Series I. Artist files, 1956-2008; Series II. Exhibition files, 1964-1988; Series
III. Administrative and research files, 1927-1995; Series IV. Ephemera, 1959-1995; Series V. Photographic and audiovisual
materials, 1958-1998.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Reformatted Audiovisual Material
Online access to
selected digitized audio and video recordings is available to on-site readers and Getty staff.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Black-and-white negatives
Art, Modern -- 20th century
Conceptual Art
Administrative records
Artists -- California
Assemblage (Art)
Art museums -- California -- Los Angeles
Gelatin silver prints -- United States -- 20th century
Videotapes
Mexican American art -- California -- 20th century
Acetate film
Audiocassettes
Color slides
Printed ephemera
Art museum curators -- Archives
Flavin, Dan, 1933-1996
Nauman, Bruce, 1941-
Nordman, Maria
Andre, Carl, 1935-
Bell, Larry, 1939-
Cornell, Joseph
Eatherton, Tom
LeWitt, Sol, 1928-2007
Chicago, Judy, 1939-
Hopps, Walter
Berman, Wallace, 1926-1976
Darling, Lowell
Herms, George, 1935-
Baldessari, John, 1931-
Asher, Michael
DeLap, Tony, 1927-2019
Anderson, Dave