SAN MARINO, CA.- This exhibition of newly acquired screen prints by artist R.B. Kitaj (1932–2007), now on view at Huntington Art Gallery, depicts hyperrealistic replicas of well-loved book covers, exploring the intersection between literary and visual arts. The exhibition is drawn from Kitaj’s portfolio titled In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part (1969–70), comprising 50 works that were acquired by The Huntington in 2020.An exhibition of screen prints by artist R.B. Kitaj (1932–2007), the newly acquired works depict hyperrealistic replicas of well-loved book covers exploring the intersection between literary and visual arts.

“In Our Time: Prints by R.B. Kitaj” explores the intersection between literary and visual arts, lays bare social and political issues that were important to the artist, and provides information about the art of screen printing. The exhibition will have two installation rotations that will each spotlight 22 screen prints, showing 44 works in total.

Library

The Huntington Library is one of the world’s great independent research libraries, with some 11 million items spanning the 11th to the 21st century. These extraordinary and diverse materials are centered on 14 intersecting collection strengths: American history; architecture; British history; early printed books; Hispanic history and culture; history of science, medicine, and technology; literature in English; maps and atlases; medieval manuscripts; prints, posters, and ephemera; photography; Pacific Rim history and culture; California history and culture; and history of the American West.

Its collections encompass:

·8.8 million manuscripts
·455,000 rare books
·454,000 reference books
·908,000 prints and ephemera
·800,000 photographs
·475,000 digital files

Some 1,700 researchers from 30 countries visit the Library annually to study rare collections in the reading rooms. Library staff assist an additional 4,000 researchers from all over the world through remote reference services.

The Art Museum features European and American art spanning more than 500 years and includes more than 42,000 objects. Extraordinary examples of decorative arts and folk art, paintings, prints and drawings, photography, and sculpture are displayed in the Huntington Art Gallery, the original home of Henry and Arabella Huntington, and in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art. Both buildings also showcase smaller, temporary exhibitions that focus on masterworks in the collection or place The Huntington’s historic works in conversation with contemporary artistic practice.

Huntington Art Gallery
In Our Time: Prints by R.B. Kitaj
July 29th, 2023 – March 4th, 2024