Masters of American Comics

November 20, 2005 - March 12, 2006

: Milton Caniff Steve Canyon January 26, 1947 Sunday newspaper page (detail). On view at Hammer Museum. Reproduced with permission of the Milton Caniff Estate.; Winsor McCay Little Nemo in Slumberland December 3, 1905 Newspaper Sunday page. On view at Hammer Museum. Collection Peter Maresca. Digital image ©2005 Peter Maresca.; Winsor McCay Little Nemo in Slumberland February 16, 1908 Newspaper Sunday page. On view at Hammer Museum. Collection of Peter Maresca. Digital image ©2005 Peter Maresca.; Lyonel Feininger The Kin-der-Kids April 29, 1906 Sunday newspaper page. On view at Hammer Museum. Collection Cartoon Research Library, Ohio State University. ©Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.; Lyonel Feininger The Kin-der-Kids abroad May 6, 1906 Newspaper Sunday page. On view at Hammer Museum. Collection Cartoon Research Library, Ohio State University. Slide Service International, Columbus, Ohio. ©Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.; George Herriman Krazy Kat November 28, 1937 Newspaper Sunday page. On view at Hammer Museum. Collection of Patrick McDonnell. ©2005 Reprinted with permission of King Features Syndicate.; George Herriman Krazy Kat September 12, 1937 Newpaper Sunday page. ©2005 Reprinted with permission of King Features Syndicate.; E.C. Segar Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye October 11, 1936 Newspaper Sunday page. On view at Hammer Museum. Private Collection. ©2005 Reprinted with permission of King Features Syndicate.; E.C. Segar Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye October 11, 1936 Newspaper Sunday page (detail). On view at Hammer Museum. Private Collection. ©2005 Reprinted with permission of King Features Syndicate.; Frank King Gasoline Alley 1934 Newspaper Sunday page. ©1934 Tribune Media Services. Reprinted with permission.; Frank King Gasoline Alley 1934 Drawing for newspaper Sunday page (detail). On view at Hammer Museum. Private Collection. ©1934 Tribune Media Services. Reprinted with permission.; Chester Gould Dick Tracy 1957 Drawing for newspaper Sunday page published August 4, 1957. On view at Hammer Museum. International Museum of Cartoon Art. ©1957, Tribune Media Services. Reprinted with permission.; Chester Gould Dick Tracy 1947 Drawing for daily strip published August 15, 1947 (detail). On view at Hammer Museum. Collection of Matt Masterson. © 1947 Tribune Media Services. Reprinted with permission.; Milton Caniff Terry and the Pirates December 29, 1946 Color proof for newspaper Sunday page. On view at Hammer Museum. Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library, Milton Caniff Collection. ©1946 Tribune Media Services. Reproduced with permission.; Charles M. Schulz Peanuts September 14, 1986 Drawing for newspaper Sunday page. On view at Hammer Museum. Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. Peanuts: ©United Feature Syndicate, Inc. Digital Image ©2005 Rick Samuels.; Charles M. Schulz Peanuts October 13, 1968 Newspaper Sunday page. On view at Hammer Museum. Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. Peanuts: ©United Feature Syndicate, Inc. Digital Image ©2005 Rick Samuels.; Will Eisner Will Eisner (Il Duce's Locket) 1947 Drawing for newspaper splash page published May 25, 1947. On view at MOCA. Collection of Denis Kitchen. © Will Eisner Estate.; Will Eisner The Spirit (Self Portrait) May 3, 1942 Newspaper splash page. On view at MOCA. Collection of Denis Kitchen. © Will Eisner Estate.; Jack Kirby Fantastic Four #50 May 1966 Comic book cover. On view at MOCA. Michigan State University Libraries, Comic Art Collection. ™ & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. Used with permission.; Jack Kirby and Syd Shore Captain America #109 1969 Drawing for comic book cover published January 1969. On view at MOCA. Collection of Joe Maddalena. Marvel Characters™ and © 2005 Marvel Characters, Used with permission.; Harvey Kurtzman Corpse on the Imjin 1952 Drawing for Corpse on the Imjin from Two-Fisted Tales #25, published February 1952. On view at MOCA. Collection of Glenn Bray. Reproduced with permission of William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.; Harvey Kurtzman Corpse on the Imjin 1952 Drawing for Corpse on the Imjin from Two-Fisted Tales #25, published February 1952. On view at MOCA. Collection of Glenn Bray. © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.; R. Crumb Zap #1 1967 Comic book cover. On view at MOCA. Private collection. ©The Paul Morris Gallery, New York and the artist, 2005.; R. Crumb Burned Out-The East Village Other 1970 Drawing for comic book cover. On view at MOCA. Collection of Eric R. Stack. ©The Paul Morris Gallery and the artist, 2005.; Art Spiegelman Maus 1992 Drawing for Maus II, published 1992. On view at MOCA. Courtesy of the artist. Reproduced with permission of the artist and Pantheon Publishers.; Art Spiegelman In the Shadow of No Towers 2004 Printed comic book page. On view at MOCA. Reproduced with permission of the artist and Pantheon Publishers.; Gary Panter Jimbo Meets Ray Boy 1979 Drawing originally published in Slash magazine. On view at MOCA. Courtesy of the artist.; Gary Panter RAW No.3 1981 Printed magazine cover. On view at MOCA. Collection of Art Spiegelman. Reproduced with permission of the artist and Pantheon Publishers.; Chris Ware Building Stories 2002 Pencil, ink, and brush on bristol board. Courtesy of the artist.; Chris Ware Rusty Brown 2002 Drawing for comic book. On view at MOCA. Courtesy of the artist.

The Hammer Museum and The Museum of Contemporary Art jointly present Masters of American Comics, a large-scale exhibition comprising in-depth presentations of work by 15 artists who shaped the development of the American comic strip and comic book during the past century. With over 900 objects on view simultaneously at both museums, the exhibition provides understanding and insight into the medium of comics as an art form.

About the Exhibition

Masters of American Comics endeavors to establish a canon of fifteen of the most influential artists working in the medium throughout the 20th century. American comics evolved in the latter half of the 19th century, and developed in numerous ways, primarily pushed in new directions by the artists who created them. This exhibition seeks to identify these significant contributors and to showcase the mastery and formal innovations they brought to bear on the tradition. Social, economic, and technological change also underlie many of the paths that comics have traveled during this period, from the mechanization of printing and distribution, to the commercial appeal of Sunday newspaper supplements, to the eventual contraction of space within newspapers that began in the 1930s and continued during World War II. The Cold War and the rise of the counterculture also had direct effects on comics, one of which was to drive many of the most innovative artists away from newspapers and towards the parallel universe of comic books and later, graphic novels, where their imaginations could run wild. As such, comics serve as a mirror in which we can view the central concerns of American life as they are unfolding through the eyes of artists who have given us new ways of looking.

This exhibition has been founded on the premise that comics are a bonafide cultural and aesthetic practice with its own history, protagonists, and contribution to society, on par with music, film, and the visual arts, but still in need of the kind of historical clarification that has been afforded those other genres. The in-depth analysis of the chosen fifteen artists - Winsor McCay, Lyonel Feininger, George Herriman, E.C. Segar, Frank King, Chester Gould, Milton Caniff, and Charles M. Schulz at the Hammer Museum, and Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Gary Panter, and Chris Ware at MOCA - is meant to inspire the kind of concentrated viewing that will bring out the central contributions of each, as well as the formal innovations that make their work unique. More

Masters of American Comics is co-curated by scholars John Carlin and Brian Walker, and is coordinated by Hammer Museum Deputy Director of Collections and Director of the Grunwald Center Cynthia Burlingham and MOCA Assistant Curator Michael Darling.

The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive, fully-illustrated catalogue co-published by Yale University Press. It features an essay by John Carlin and contributions on the individual artists by a variety of novelists, historians, and artists. Contributors include Tom DeHaven on Winsor McCay, Brian Walker on Lyonel Feininger, Stanley Crouch on George Herriman, Jules Feiffer on E.C. Segar, Karal Ann Marling on Frank King, Robert Storr on Chester Gould, Pete Hamill on Milton Caniff, Patrick McDonnell on Charles Schulz, Raymond Pettibon on Will Eisner, Glen David Gold on Jack Kirby, J. Hoberman on Harvey Kurtzman, Françoise Mouly on R. Crumb, Jonathan Safran Foer on Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening on Gary Panter, and Dave Eggers on Chris Ware. Designed by award-winning graphic designer Lorraine Wild, the publication features 185 color reproductions and retails for $45.

Masters of American Comics is jointly organized by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

The exhibition is made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.

89.9 KCRW is the Official Radio Sponsor for the exhibition.