Exhibition

Frederick Hammersley: To Paint Without Thinking

Name: Frederick Hammersley: To Paint Without Thinking | The Huntington
Location: The Huntington

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), See saw, #3, 1966, oil on linen, 44 x 44 in. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, anonymous gift in memory of Robert Shapazian. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), Page 17 of Notebook #3, bound fabric-covered sketchbook with colored pencil and ballpoint pen, 8 1⁄16 × 6 1⁄2 in. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), Study for See saw, #3, 1966, page 20 of Composition Book, sketchbook with graphite and colored pencil, 10 7⁄8 × 8 1⁄4 in. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), Seedling, #4, 1967, screenprint, ed. 17/29, 17 × 12 in. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Photograph of Frederick Hammersley, 2004. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation.

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), JELLY CENTERS, #31, 1969, from one incomplete set of the series of 72, computer-generated drawing on paper, 11 x 15 in. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), Study for See saw, #3, 1966, Painting Book #2, spiral-bound stenographer's notebook with pen, 9 1⁄4 × 6 in. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), Like unlike, #6, 1959, oil on linen, 49 × 40 in. Private collection. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), color test swatch, November 1979, oil on paper with pen, 8 x 11 in. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, gift of the Frederick Hammersley Foundation. © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Frederick Hammersley (1919–2009), Adam & Eve, #2 1970, oil on linen on Masonite, 44 × 44 in. Palm Springs Art Museum, 75th Anniversary gift of L.J. Cella and museum purchase with funds derived from previous gift from the Estate of Marjorie Edris © Frederick Hammersley Foundation

Installation view of "Frederick Hammersley: To Paint without Thinking."

This exhibition on American abstract artist Frederick Hammersley (1919-2009) showcases his sketchbooks, notebooks, inventories, and vibrant color swatches to illuminate the painstaking process the artist used to create his hard-edge geometric paintings. It features about 50 objects, pairing items from Hammersley’s archives (a recent gift to the Getty Research Institute) with five paintings, including The Huntington’s See saw (1966), and dozens of other works, including lithographs, silkscreens, and works of digital art from the collections of The Huntington, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, Palm Springs Art Museum, and Santa Barbara Museum of Art. To accompany the exhibition, The Huntington is publishing a fully illustrated catalog with several scholarly essays revealing new research on the topic.

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.

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Frederick Hammersley: To Paint without Thinking catalog available in the Huntington Store.