The Grunwald Center at 70: Five Centuries of Works on Paper
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Since its establishment in 1956 with a gift of prints from Los Angeles collector Fred Grunwald, the UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts has evolved into one of the nation’s foremost collections of works on paper. Over the decades, the Grunwald Center’s holdings have expanded through donations and acquisitions, and now comprise more than 45,000 prints, drawings, photographs, and artists’ books dating from the Renaissance to the present. Housed at the Hammer Museum since 1994, the Grunwald Center fosters learning and discovery through its collection, which is regularly presented in exhibitions and made accessible in its dedicated study room. This exhibition marks the 70th anniversary of the Grunwald Center, celebrating its history through a selection of significant works that reflect the collection’s breadth and diversity. It will feature nearly 100 works by over 90 artists, including Andrea Mantegna, Albrecht Dürer, Hendrick Goltzius, Rembrandt van Rijn, George Cruikshank, Jose Guadalupe Posada, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Vassily Kandinsky, Käthe Kollwitz, Pablo Picasso, Grant Wood, Ansel Adams, Norman Lewis, Elizabeth Catlett, Charles White, Corita Kent, Ruth Asawa, Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Analia Saban, and Toba Khedoori.
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![Bright, spirographic image in orange on a tellow background]()
Ruth Asawa, Desert Plant, 1965Printed by John Rock. Published by Tamarind Lithography Workshop. Lithograph. Sheet: 18 x 18 in. (45.7 x 45.7 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Gift of the UCLA Art Council. © 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.
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![Caricature of an elderly woman sitting on a satin sofa, her waist being cinched tightly by ropes held by demons on both sides]()
George Cruikshank after Frederick Marryat, The Cholic, February 12, 1819Published by George Humphrey. Etching with hand coloring. Sheet: 9 3/8 x 11 3/8 in. (23.8 x 28.9 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Gift of the UCLA Art Council. Richard Vogler Cruikshank Collection.
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![Portrait of a scantily-clad man and woman]()
Otto Dix, Die Verächter des Todes (The disdainers of death), 1923, from the portfolio Zirkus (Circus)Published by the artist. Drypoint. Sheet: 19 5/8 x 16 7/8 in. (49.9 x 42.9 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. The Fred Grunwald Collection.
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![Art: Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer]()
Albrecht Dürer, Melencolia I, 1514Engraving, 9 7/16 x 7 7/16 in. (24 x 18.9 cm), Collection UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Purchase.
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![Pencil drawing of a foot, overlain with the upside-down words "Human Garbage""]()
Robert Gober, Untitled, 2020Graphite on found drawing in artist’s frame. Sheet: 6 7/8 × 8 3/8 in. (17.5 × 21.3 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Gift of the artist. © 2020 Robert Gober
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![A figure in fancy garb holding a large flag aloft]()
Hendrick Goltzius , The Standard Bearer, 1587Engraving. Sheet: 11 1/4 x 7 5/8 in. (28.6 x 19.4 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Grunwald.
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![A long-haired woman holds a bowl of liquid in her hand]()
Eugène Grasset, Vitrioleuse (The acid thrower), 1894, from the periodical L’Estampe Originale, album 6, April–June 1894Printed by Auguste Delâtre. Lithograph, hand stenciled in five colors. Sheet: 22 7/8 x 18 in. (58.1 x 45.7 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Bequest of Elisabeth Dean.
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![Wassily Kandinsky, Joyous Ascent, 1923]()
Wassily Kandinsky, Fröhlicher Aufstieg (Joyous ascent), 1923, from Meistermappe des Staatlichen Bauhauses (Masters’ portfolio of the Bauhaus State School)Published and printed by Staatliches Bauhaus. Lithograph. Sheet: 13 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (34.3 x 26.7 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Grunwald.
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![Landscape with Three Gabled Cottages beside a Road]()
Rembrandt van Rijn, Landscape with Three Gabled Cottages beside a Road, 1650Etching and drypoint. Sheet: 3 3/8 x 6 1/2 in. (8.6 x 16.5 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Rudolf L. Baumfeld Bequest.
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![Words on an orange background, rendered as though written in liquid, reading "MADE IN CALIFORNIA"]()
Ed Ruscha, Made in California, 1971Printed by Paul Clinton and Ed Hamilton, Cirrus Editions. Published by the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts. Lithograph. Sheet: 20 × 28 in. (50.8 × 71.1 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Gift of Mrs. Fred Grunwald. © 1971 Ed Ruscha
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![Plastic shopping back reading THANK YOU]()
Analia Saban, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Have a Nice Day Plastic Bag, 2016Printed by Jose Luz Jimenes. Published by Mixografia. Mixografia print on handmade paper. Sheet: 22 7/8 × 16 × 1 1/8 in. (58.1 × 40.6 × 2.9 cm) UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Gift of the artist and Mixografia. © 2016 Analia Saban
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![A Japanese woodblock print depicting the bust of a person in 3/4 view, looking to the viewer's left. The person has white skin, red lips, and dark shadows under the eyes, and wears a blue striped piece of fabric over the head and tied under the chin. The figure is wearing a blue striped shirt with black color, and the background is ligh tblue with small white circles as if to depict snow. At upper right is Japanese caligraphy and a red real.]()
Natori Shunsen, Actor Ichimura Uzaemon XV as Naozamurai,1925, from the series Collection of Portraits by Shunsen, 1923–26Published by Watanabe Shōzaburō. Color woodblock print (nishiki-e). Sheet: 15 7/8 x 10 ¾ in. (40.4 x 27.3 cm). UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum. Helen and Felix Juda Collection.
The Grunwald Center at 70: Five Centuries of Works on Paper is organized by Naoko Takahatake, director and chief curator, Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, and Cynthia Burlingham, former deputy director of curatorial affairs, with Jennie Waldow, curatorial assistant and collection specialist, and Kelin Michael, curatorial fellow, Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts.