Untitled
1967
Wallace Berman (American, 1926-1976)
Not on View

Berman is widely considered to be the father of the assemblage movement, which emerged in California during the late 1950s. Closely tied to the Beat culture, assemblage artists used found and discarded objects to create works of art. Berman is best known for his verifax collages, in which he used a predecessor of the copy machine to reproduce images from newspapers and magazines before placing them onto board. This sepia-toned collage is a carefully articulated grid that shows the image of a handheld transistor radio repeated in cinematic fashion. In the center of each of the radios are ghostly images and symbols including animals, Hebrew letters, and identifiable personalities from popular culture.

Details

  • Artist Name: Wallace Berman (American, 1926-1976)
  • Title: Untitled
  • Date: 1967
  • Medium: Verifax collage
  • Dimensions: 48 x 45-1/2 in. (121.9 x 115.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Norton Simon Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Terbell, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Allen O. Smith, David H. Steinmetz III, Margaret T. Cunningham, and Mr. and Mrs. John S. Ferrier
  • Accession Number: P.1967.11
  • Copyright: © 2008 Estate of Wallace Berman

Object Information

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Terbell, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Allen O. Smith, David H. Steinmetz III, Margaret T. Cunningham, and Mr. and Mrs. John S. Ferrier, gift 1967 to;
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, 1967-1975;
Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, 1975.

Images of an Era

  • Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1996-07-10 to 1997-06-29

[on loan]

  • University of New Mexico, Art Museum, 1971-02-07 to 1971-03-21

[on loan]

  • Rochester, New York, George Eastman House, 1971-05-14 to 1971-08-08

[on loan]

  • Pasadena, Pacificulture Asia Museum, 1972-09-24 to 1972-11-15

Surrealism Is Alive and Well in the West

  • Pasadena, California Institute of Technology, Baxter Art Gallery, 1972-02-24 to 1972-04-14

A Salute to the Ferus Gallery

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-23 to 1994-03-20

Made in America: Contemporary Painting and Sculpture from the Norton Simon Museum

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1999-06-24 to 2000-03-26

Radical Past: Contemporary Art and Music in Pasadena, 1960-1974

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1999-02-07 to 1999-06-06
  • Armory Center for the Arts, 1999-02-07 to 1999-04-11
  • Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, Calif.), 1999-02-07 to 1999-04-25

Permanent and Loan Collection, 1974

  • Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1974-03-16 to 1974-06-06

Duchamp to Pop

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2016-03-04 to 2016-08-29

West Coast Art

  • Pasadena Art Museum, 1972-06-20 to 1972-09-03

Lost but Found: Assemblage, Collage and Sculpture, 1920-2002

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2004-11-05 to 2005-03-28

Permanent and Loan Collection, 1973

  • Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, 1973-01-30 to 1973-12-31
  • Pasadena Weekly,
  • Armory Center for the Arts/Art Center College of Design, Radical Past: Contemporary Art & Music in Pasadena, 1960-1974, 1999, p. 43
  • Coagula: The Lowdown on High Art, 1999, p. 13
  • Pasadena Weekly, 1999, p. 25
  • Gloria WIlliams Sander, Thoughts on the Critical Fortune of Photogrpahy into Sculpture, 2015, Figure 8 pp. 46-49
Listen
Audio Tour
English | Español
Read
Audio Tour Transcript
English | Español
Escuchar
Audioguía
English | Español
Leer
Transcripción de Audioguía
English | Español

Image reproduction permission may be granted for scholarly or arts related commercial use. All image requests, regardless of their intended purpose, should be submitted via the reproduction request form.

Images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Additional permission may be required.

Approved requests for the reproduction of an image will receive a contract detailing all fees and conditions of use of the image. Upon receipt of both the signed contract and full payment, the Office of Rights and Reproductions will provide the image. A complimentary copy of the published material must be provided to the Norton Simon Museum.

Reproduction Request Form