Recent Acquisitions

Terrace Theater, Los Angeles

by Ed Moses

This black-and-white photograph of the Terrace Theater’s opening day is a masterful study of light and shadow, combining the venue’s warm, inviting glow with its austere, minimalist architectural design. As part of Shulman’s extensive body of work documenting the development of mid-century architecture in Los Angeles, this image epitomizes the openness and sense of leisure that define the modern California lifestyle. The acquisition of this work grows the museum’s holdings of California photography.

Acquired in 2024

The Unauthorized History of Baseball (Bay Brand, Fish n’ Seals Brand, Westward O! Oranges Brand)

Ben Sakoguchi, The Unauthorized History of Baseball (#01), 2008, Acrylic on canvas, each: 10 x 11 in. UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, Museum purchase with additional support by Janet Mohle-Boetani, MD

The Unauthorized History of Baseball (Bay Brand, Fish n’ Seals Brand, Westward O! Oranges Brand)

by Ed Moses

A series of more than 200 works, The Unauthorized History of Baseball blends the graphic design of vintage orange crate labels with baseball imagery, offering a wry commentary on the consumerism and expansionism underlying the American Dream. The work ties these historical reflections to the family narrative of the artist, the son of a Japanese American grocer who sold oranges, loved baseball, and spent years in an Arizona internment camp.

Acquired in 2024

Spaces

by Ed Moses

In Spaces, a small, intricately detailed garden scene is framed by monochromatic color blocks and semi-abstract renderings of water surfaces, juxtaposing representation and abstraction, nature and artifice. In its attention to color, light, and loose brushwork, Spaces references American Impressionism but simultaneously points to East Asian philosophies, art forms, and contexts through its depiction of a Tokyo park.

Acquired in 2024

Tropical Plants

by Ed Moses

Amid a flourishing garden, the plants in Parshall’s painting display full, waxy leaves and budding blossoms, capturing the beauty and exuberance of nature. Now part of our collection alongside other works by Parshall, such as a moonlit mountain scene, a portrait, and a lively gouache of horses, Tropical Plants further showcases the artist’s mastery across diverse mediums, styles, and subjects.

Acquired in 2024

Jimmy the Crow

by Ed Moses

This work critically examines racism within US media and culture through its presentation of Dandy “Jim” Crow, a character from Disney’s 1941 animated film Dumbo that revived stereotypical depictions of Black Americans from 19th-century minstrel shows. Laboriously embroidered, the ghostly figure embodies the insidious yet pervasive racism that continues to haunt our collective consciousness and institutions.

Acquired in 2024

Capri Theater, San Diego

Julius Shulman, Capri Theater, San Diego, 1954, Gelatin silver print, 20 x 24 in. UCI Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, Gift of Craig Krull

Capri Theater, San Diego

Julius Shulman

Capri Theater, San Diego (1954)
Gift of Craig Krull

Julius Shulman’s (b. 1910, Brooklyn, NY – d. 2009, Los Angeles, CA) iconic photographs have become some of the most widely known and published images of the midcentury architecture of Los Angeles and Southern California. Soon after moving to Los Angeles in 1936, the architect Richard Neutra hired Shulman to photograph his Kun Residence, launching Shulman’s career. Shulman would go on to document many of Neutra’s other buildings as well as the work of architects Frank Lloyd Wright, Pierre Koenig, Charles Eames, and Raphael Soriano among many others. Capri Theater, San Diego (1954) depicts a movie theater in San Diego that was extensively remodeled in 1954 in a modernist design whose lobby became an improvised art exhibition space. Like many of the buildings Shulman photographed, the Capri Theater depicted here no longer exists, having been demolished in 2003. Capri Theater, San Diego marks the first work by Shulman to enter Langson IMCA’s collection, an important expansion of our photography holdings that reflects the history of midcentury modernism in California.

Year acquired: 2022