GLENDALE, CALIF.- Forest Lawn Museum, in collaboration with the Velaslavasay Panorama, is now presenting Grand Views: The Immersive World of Panoramas. The exhibition explores the history of panoramic paintings, an immersive, large-scale artistic format popularized in the 18th and 19th centuries. Presented by two distinguished, decades-old arts institutions and panorama experts, Grand Views will feature an array of artworks and artifacts spanning the late 18th century to present, including never-before-displayed preparatory paintings, 19th-century prints and posters, a painted movie backdrop, and more. Organized thematically, the exhibition addresses three major topics: the early history of panoramas, crucifixion panoramas, and panoramas in Hollywood and Los Angeles. In addition, Forest Lawn will launch a new documentary-style audio visual program on Jan Styka’s Crucifixion, during the run of the exhibition.
A centerpiece of the exhibition is Panorama of the Valley of the Smokes (60 ft. x 5 ft.). Painted by Sara Velas (Founder of the Velaslavasay Panorama) in 2000, the panorama visualizes the natural landscape of Los Angeles before the city became a metropolis and in the century prior to the arrival of the film industry. Archival photographs, ephemera, and a newly constructed model of the rotunda where Valley of the Smokes was originally displayed will be exhibited alongside the artwork.
Grand Views also includes prints, broadsides, and other artworks from the late-18th through the early 20th centuries. These rare objects are related to panoramas exhibited in the United States, Europe, and Asia throughout the "heritage era" of the panoramic medium. The artifacts address topics ranging from world travel to the American Civil War.
The Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection, located next to Forest Lawn Museum, showcases the Crucifixion (195 ft. x 45 ft.), which was painted by Polish artist Jan Styka in the 1890s. The exhibition features original artifacts related to Jan Styka’s colossal painting and other crucifixion panoramas. The Resurrection (70 ft. x 51 ft.), which was painted by American artist Robert Clark, is also on display in the Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection. Completed in 1965, Clark’s work was commissioned by Forest Lawn as a companion to Styka’s painting. Grand Views features never-before-displayed preparatory paintings for the Resurrection, including works by Clark, fine artist and Disney Imagineer, Herbert Ryman, and artist Allyn Cox, who painted murals in the United States Capitol.
Panoramic paintings have long influenced cinema and other immersive media formats. The final section of Grand Views features a Hollywood backdrop (21 ft. x 15 ft.), which was painted in the 1950s. It is displayed alongside other cinema artifacts, including original film strips on loan from 3-D SPACE (The Center for Stereoscopic Photography, Art, Cinema, and Education).
James Fishburne, Forest Lawn Museum Director, said, “As the home to the largest panoramic painting in the Western United States, Forest Lawn is thrilled to bring this immersive panoramic experience to our community, and particularly, to Hollywood, where large-scale painted backdrops have transformed studio lots into the settings for countless films. We are grateful to collaborate with our knowledgeable and inventive partner, the Velaslavasay Panorama, for this exhibition.”
Sara Velas, who also serves as Co-President of the International Panorama Council, said, “We are excited to celebrate panoramas, to showcase a range of artworks and artifacts, and to create continuity among the long history of the art form and the ways it continues to evolve alongside technological and artistic advances in the 21st century.” The exhibition is co-curated by Velas, Fishburne, and Ruby Carlson. Carlson is a writer and Co-Curator at the Velaslavasay Panorama.
There will be an opening reception on Saturday, May 13 from 5:00 PM–7:00 PM at Forest Lawn Museum.
