LOS ANGELES, CA.- An outstanding selection of travel sketches, figure drawings and building renderings by one of modernism’s most important architects, Richard Neutra (1892-1970), is on display in the exhibit Richard Neutra, Architect: Sketches and Drawings at Central Library’s Getty Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular library hours.

The exhibition features choice selections at the Charles E. Young Research Library’s Department of Special Collections, UCLA. The pieces range from early pencil sketches from Neutra’s student wandering in 1913 to later pastel renderings of his Los Angeles houses from the 1950s. Selected for their artistic quality, the works illustrate Neutra’s skill in traditional notions of composition combined with his innovative techniques of architectural representation.

“Not only was Richard Neutra an imaginative and innovative architect, he was also a remarkable draughtsman, and the Department of Special Collections is pleased to have the chance to share its collection of his sketches with visitors to this exhibition,” says Department Director Victoria Steele.

Neutra’s work in Southern California – characterized by the post and beam structure, cantilevered roof slabs extending into space and an emphasis on the interpenetration of inner and outer space – developed a regional architecture that gained international prominence.

Thomas S. Hines, the exhibition’s curator and author of Richard Neutra and the Search for Modern Architecture, notes “While the world’s greatest architects have necessarily possessed imagination and skill in planning and conceiving buildings and environments, not all have been great artists and drafters. Richard Neutra was all of those. In the days before computer-aided design, he was supremely gifted in putting pen, pencil, and the watercolor brush to paper.”