David Hockney’s 1964 painting is puckishly titled “California Art Collector.”

An exhibition of seldom-seen paintings and sculptures, many of such large proportions that curators call them “monumental,” by a pantheon of pioneering American and European modern artists opened at the University Art Museum last Wednesday for a seven-week run. An opening reception is scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the UAM.

“Out of Site: Selections from the Marsha S. Glazer Collection” is a rare public display of 24 works from one of the top 25 private collections in the nation. The Glazer Collection encompasses many of the 20th century’s most celebrated artists. Included in the free exhibition are European paintings and sculptures by Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet, Henry Moore, and Gerhard Richter.

Major American works by the New York School are also represented and include artists Jackson Pollack, Lee Krasner, Willem de Kooning, Louise Bourgeois, Helen Frankenthaler, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and Joan Mitchell, among others.

“Many of the most notable art movements are vividly represented by their major proponents—Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Figural Expressionism, Color Field painting, Pre-Pop, Pop, and Conceptual art among them,” said Bonnie Kelm, director of the UAM. “For students, this exhibition provides an opportunity to personally experience a level of art that they might only otherwise see in art books.”  

Running through Feb. 27, these works have never been shown in a museum before and will not travel to another venue in the future, according to museum officials.   

Added Kelm, “It would be a coup for any museum in the country to host an exhibition of this collection. Collections as rich in significant works of art as the Glazer Collection can generally only be viewed in the nation’s largest and most prestigious art museums.”

A companion series of public programs, also free of charge, begins on Jan. 20 with Kelm speaking about some of the artists in “The Politics of Gender” at 5 p.m. in the museum. It ends on Feb. 24 with a talk by MacArthur Fellow and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. art theory professor David Hickey. Collector Marsha Glazer’s luncheon comments on Jan. 31 are already oversubscribed, but the UAM is taking names for a waiting list. Call Marie at x2951 to be added to that list.

Of special interest to visitors are two works by Picasso, a 31-inch by 51-inch Cubist painting “Nu Couche et Femme Se Lavan les Pieds,” and his sculpture “Femme en Robe Longe,” which many consider his most original achievement. This 5-foot, 3-inch-tall work—the exact height of his mother—was built from a dressmaker’s dummy, with a face carved by Picasso (bearing a strong resemblance to his mother) which was then cast in bronze.  

Robert Rauschenberg’s work is represented by “Braggard,” a 95-inch by 93-inch blend of painting and sculpture that broke boundaries in its time. And Jasper Johns, called the father of pop art by some, has an oil painting on canvas that covers most of a gallery wall.

	Robert Rauschenberg’s 1988 “Braggard”