One of the largest collections the Getty Research Institute has ever acquired has led to a major exhibition surveying the extraordinary practices of Harald Szeemann, the world-renowned curator of modern and contemporary art who championed radical art. “Harald Szeemann: Museum of Obsessions” will be on view at the Getty Research Institute through May 6, before traveling internationally.

“Szeemann was the most influential curator of his generation, and his projects had a profound influence on artistic developments of the postwar era, from conceptualism and postminimalism to new forms of installation and performance art,” said Thomas W. Gaehtgens, director of the Getty Research Institute. “His archive is one of the largest and most impressive collections acquired by the Getty and this exhibition is a window into the workings of one of modern art’s most fascinating minds.”

The exhibition explores the life and career of the quintessential exhibition maker, from his groundbreaking involvement with the avant-garde movements of the 1960s and ‘70s, and his global contemporary exhibitions of the ‘90s and 2000s, to his personal reading of early 20th-century modernism. The archive was acquired in 2011 and comprises his extensive research and records, along with his creative archiving strategies.

Szeeemann’s work covered large areas of research, challenging traditional narratives of art history and often embracing creative fields outside the visual arts. He referred to his vast library and research archive as a “Museum of Obsessions.”

The Getty Research Institute is located at 1200 Getty Center Drive, #1100. For information, visit getty.edu/research.