The exhibition includes Albrecht Dürer’s 1514 work “Melencolia I.” (photo courtesy of the Hammer Museum)

The Hammer Museum at UCLA will present “Five Centuries of Works on Paper: The Grunwald Center at 70,” a two-part exhibition celebrating the 70th anniversary of the UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts. With more than 45,000 prints, drawings, photographs and artist’s books, the Grunwald Center’s collection of works on paper is among the most significant in the United States. Part one of the exhibition, opening Dec. 20 and on view through May 17, features nearly 100 works reflecting the breadth of the collection, from the Renaissance to present day, including works by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Vassily Kandinsky, Käthe Kollwitz, Ansel Adams, Elizabeth Catlett, Corita Kent, Bridget Riley, Ed Ruscha and Vija Celmins. 

“It is a pleasure to honor the 70th anniversary of the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts with two exhibitions that will span nearly a year on view,” Hammer Museum Director Zoë Ryan said.

“The story of the collection begins with Fred Grunwald, who donated his collection to UCLA in 1956 with the hope that it would become a vital resource for learning and would enrich the university experience. Seventy years later, the Grunwald Center has delivered on that promise through its extraordinary collection, a magnificent gallery for its display and a study center that serves scholars, students, artists and the general public week in and week out.”  

“The Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts is a cornerstone of the Hammer Museum – comprising the majority of the museum’s holdings – and a vital resource for UCLA,” said Naoko Takahatake, director and chief curator of the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts. “For seven decades, generations of curators have worked alongside donors, scholars and artists to shape the center’s collection and programs, expanding upon Fred Grunwald’s founding vision to embrace a diverse range of artistic traditions. Promoting critical thinking, visual literacy and cross-disciplinary engagement, the center serves as both a repository of cultural history and a forum for contemporary artistic practice. Co-curated with Cynthia Burlingham, who led the center from 2005 to 2023, this exhibition celebrates its remarkable growth and enduring contributions to learning and discovery.” 

The celebration of the Grunwald Center’s 70th anniversary continues in 2026, when part two of the exhibition opens on June 7, running through Oct. 25. The second exhibition will continue to highlight the breadth and depth of the Grunwald Collection, exploring notable collection areas including: Fred Grunwald and family gifts; early modern and 19th-century European prints and drawings; modern European prints and drawings; 20th-century photography; and printmaking post-1960. Artists in part two of the exhibition will include Marco Dente, Jusepe de Ribera, Paul Cézanne, Edvard Munch, Edouard Manet, Gustav Klimt, Henri Matisse, Imogen Cunningham, Robert Heinecken, Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler, Kiki Smith and Julie Mehretu.

For information, visit hammer.ucla.edu. The Hammer Museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Blvd.