What's On

Exhibition includes never-before-exhibited series, archival materials and key works from the past four decades.

LOS ANGELES—The Skirball Cultural Center presents R. B. Kitaj: Passion and Memory—Jewish Works from His Personal Collection. On view from January 11 through March 30, 2008, the exhibition is devoted to the work of American painter R. B. Kitaj, one of the most celebrated and controversial artists of our time, who recently passed away at the age of 74. Created in cooperation with the artist over the course of two years, this rare presentation focuses on Kitaj's intimate exploration of Jewish identity, history and culture and his efforts to establish a "Jewish Art."

R. B. Kitaj: Passion and Memory features more than 30 paintings and works on paper dating from 1969 through 2006, including one never-before-exhibited series, Passion (1985–1986). In Skirball Cultural Center, addition, a number of archival materials will be on view, including correspondence with leading artists and intellectuals, philosophical musings, photographs and handwritten drafts from his two published books. These materials are from papers donated to UCLA, which will form part of a planned UCLA Archive of Jewish Culture. A concurrent exhibition, Portrait of a Jewish Artist: R. B. Kitaj in Text and Image, will open at the UCLA Special Collections in January 2008, organized by the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies and the UCLA Charles E. Young Library Department of Special Collections.

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