Frederick Hammersley: To Paint without Thinking

Curated by James Glisson, Bradford and Christine Mishler Associate Curator of American Art at The Huntington, and Alan Phenix, Scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute

Showcasing Frederick Hammersley's sketchbooks, notebooks, inventories, and vibrant color swatches to illuminate his painstaking process, this exhibition of works also travelled to the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe after its installation in the Susan and Stephen Chandler Wing of The Huntington’s Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art.

The show featured about 50 objects, with a majority of works from Hammersley’s archives that were gifted to the Getty Research Institute, computer drawings and See saw (1969) from the Huntington Art Museum's permanent collection, and the remainder of works including lithographs, silkscreens, and works of digital art on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, Palm Springs Art Museum, and Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

The presentation of "Frederick Hammersley: To Paint without Thinking" at The Huntington received generous support from the Frederick Hammersley Foundation and the Susan and Stephen Chandler Endowment for Exhibitions of American Art. The exhibition catalog received generous support from the Frederick Hammersley Foundation.