Collection

Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA) was established by the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in 2017 following the acquisition of two important gifts of modern and contemporary California Art: The Irvine Museum Collection and The Buck Collection, respectively. Langson IMCA’s holdings of over 4,500 works represent a wide array of styles, genres, and mediums spanning 19th century California Impressionism and plein air painting to Post-War and contemporary art.

The originating collections celebrate artists’ wide-ranging perspectives and creative responses to the California experience and showcase Joan Irvine Smith’s and Gerald Buck’s connoisseurship and vision. Langson IMCA is building on this solid foundation—through acquisitions, gifts, and partnerships—in ways that expand the understanding of and appreciation for California Art; the forces that helped shape various genres, movements, and individual artists; and its enduring impact.