'A Modern Look: Selections from the Permanent Collection' at Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Los Angeles, United States on 16 Jan–29 Mar 2026

A Modern Look: Selections from the Permanent Collection Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art 16 January–29 March 2026 Los Angeles

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Press Release

A Modern Look presents paintings, drawings, and sculpture by modern and late modern artists drawn from the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art’s outstanding permanent collection. While not specifically thematic in nature, the exhibition rather presents a varied cross section of works that represent different styles typically associated with the modern and late modern period, a time in which artists sought to “invent new ways of seeing” in response to a rapidly changing world. Spanning the early 20^th century through the postwar decades, the exhibition highlights experimentation, innovation, and the ongoing redefinition of art itself.

Modern artists broke decisively with academic tradition, emphasizing the autonomy of form and the expressive potential of materials. Works in the exhibition reflect key modernist approaches such as abstraction, pop art, and color field painting, in which recognizable subjects give way to color, line, and geometry. Late modern art extends these concerns while sharpening focus on process, structure, and perception. Across these approaches, artists increasingly questioned representation, authorship, and the boundaries between art and everyday experience.

Together, the works in A Modern Look reflect modernism not as a single style, but as an evolving set of ideas—an ongoing commitment to experimentation and to redefining what art can be in the modern age.

About the Gallery

The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University showcases modern and contemporary art with a focus on art made in California. Opened to the public in 1992, the museum has presented exhibitions by internationally recognised artists—such as Wayne Thiebaud, Andy Warhol, Larry Bell, and Richard Diebenkorn. Situated on Pepperdine’s Malibu campus, the museum serves both the broader public and the academic community as part of the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts.

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24255 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu
Los Angeles
United States

Opening Hours

Tuesday – Sunday,
11am – 5pm

Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art

24255 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, Los Angeles, United States

(310) 506 4851
https://arts.pepperdine.edu/museum/

Opening hours

Tuesday – Sunday,
11am – 5pm

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