The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art is an art gallery on the campus of

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

. The museum was founded in 1992 with a $1.5 million gift from Frederick R. Weisman, a noted art collector and philanthropist. The museum exhibits art from around the world, but focuses on art from California.

History

Frederick R. Weisman endowed the museum in 1992 with a gift of $1.5 million. Along with his gift, Weisman loaned the museum roughly $3 million of contemporary art from his personal collection. Weisman made his fortune as president of

Hunt Foods Hunt's is the name of a brand of preserved tomato products owned by Conagra Brands. The company was founded in 1888, in Sebastopol, California, as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co., by Joseph and William Hunt. The brothers relocated to nearby Sa ...

and as a distributor for

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, and he donated to many artistic organizations and charities, including the

Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation is a non-profit arts foundation located on North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles, California. Modern and contemporary artwork in the Frederick R. Weisman collection are displayed i ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and the

Weisman Art Museum The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1934 as University Gallery, the museum was originally housed in an upper floor of the university's Northrop Auditorium. In 19 ...

at his alma mater, the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. The founding director of the museum was Nora Halpern, who had previously worked as the curator of Weisman's private collection. Following a disagreement with the administration concerning censorship of an exhibit at the museum, Halpern left the university in 1994. In 1995,

Michael Zakian Michael Zakian (April 7, 1957-January 14, 2020) was an American art historian and museum curator. He was the director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum in Malibu, California for 25 years until his death in 2020. His academic research focused on ...

was named the new director of the museum, and served the Pepperdine art community for over 25 years before his death on January 14, 2020.

Notable exhibits

The museum has hosted a number of notable exhibits, including ''Rodin's Obsession: The Gates of Hell'' in 2001, which featured 30 sculptures by

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

; ''Chuck Close: Face Forward'' in 2015, a retrospective that featured over 70 prints by

Close Close may refer to: Music * ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988 * ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017 * ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969 * "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014 * "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016 * "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...

; and ''Andy Warhol: Life and Legends'' in 2016, which featured some of

Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

's most famous works.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Museums in Malibu, California Art museums and galleries in California University museums in California Pepperdine University