Archive of Past Exhibitions
From Queen Califia to Grizzly Adams: Eighty Essential Books on California History
August 24—December 15, 2007
In 1945, a book club in Los Angeles named after California’s first printer, Agustín Vicente Zamorano, produced a list of what it considered to be the most important books documenting the history of the Golden State. This eclectic collection, known as the Zamorano 80, spans numerous genres, ranging from personal diaries and expedition logs to fiction and biographies. These rare books offer a comprehensive view of early California from the era of the conquistadores to the early twentieth century. At the same time, they reveal contrasting, often paradoxical images of a place that remains a romantic archetype for the new El Dorado.
Operas without Singing: the Film Music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
September 7—December 7, 2007
In 1910, a thirteen-year-old boy stunned a Vienna audience with his virtuosic performance of a classical piano piece he had written a few years earlier. Drawing comparisons to other child prodigies like Mozart and Mendelssohn, Erich Wolfgang Korngold was soon renowned among European classical-music circles for his operatic compositions. When the Nazis came to power in the 1930s, he fled Austria and settled in Southern California, where he began composing scores for the film industry. His works followed in the Romantic tradition of Wagner, Strauss, and Mahler. To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his death, Operas without Singing celebrated the film music Korngold composed during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The exhibition materials are drawn largely from the collections of the USC Cinematic Arts Library and the Warner Bros. archives.
Dean Catherine Quinlan's Opening Remarks
100 Artists' Books
January 26—May 15, 20067
Artists’ books are a fascinating departure from traditional media of art, such as painting, sculpture, or photography. They act more like three-dimensional poems, defying the accepted notion that books should function as linear narratives. This exhibition of 100 of the best works from the USC Libraries explored their continued relevance as an art form today.
The Face of Poetry
January 26—May 15, 2007
Dramatic portraits by photographer Margaretta K. Mitchell celebrated fifty of America’s leading contemporary poets. The poets range from those who came of age during World War II to a group of younger writers rapidly gaining prominence today.
The Music of Elmer Bernstein: An American Soundtrack
September 8–December 8, 2006
Elmer Bernstein (1922–2004) was a master of the art of film scoring. His six decades of work in Hollywood crossed cinematic genres, from Westerns to comedies, epics to quiet dramas and comprises an unforgettable soundtrack to the second half of the twentieth century. Honored with multiple Academy Award nominations for films as diverse as The Magnificent Seven, Trading Places, The Age of Innocence, and Far From Heaven, Bernstein’s compositions perfectly demonstrate how music holds the potential to profoundly heighten and transform the medium of film by evoking a depth and tension in the interplay between what is seen and what is heard in the movie theater. Handwritten music scores, photographs, correspondence, LPs, and awards, recently donated to the USC Libraries by the family of Elmer Bernstein, highlighted the remarkable career of this film legend.
Five Days of Freedom: Photographs from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
September 17–December 17, 2006
Soon after the end of World War II, the Soviet Union seized power in the recently defeated countries of Eastern Europe and instituted Communist rule. On October 23, 1956, thousands of Hungarians in Budapest took to the streets to demand political reform and an end to the occupation. After a few brief skirmishes with protesters, which included students, factory workers, and Hungarian soldiers, the Soviets withdrew across the border. Jubilant citizens took to the streets celebrating their newly found freedom. However, the Soviets counterattacked shortly thereafter, crushing this nascent revolution and forcing nearly 250,000 people to flee the country. Austrian photojournalist Erich Lessing documented the dramatic events leading up to, during, and after the conflict with images that show both a people’s desperate fight for freedom and the stark reality of life in Communist Europe in the middle of the twentieth century. This exhibition highlighted a selection of Lessing’s photographs from this era, and commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution.
The Curious World of Lewis Carroll
February 24, 2006–May 24, 2006
Lewis Carroll is known around the world as the author of two literary classics—Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. The books, which highlight Carroll’s sense of the absurd and love for logic puzzles, remain popular with children and adults. Today, much of the critical attention given to Carroll casts a wider net beyond his beloved Alice books to include his revolutionary nonsense poetry, remarkable photography, epistolary output, and scholarly work in mathematics. Carroll’s deeply religious nature, wideranging intellectual pursuits, and distinct fondness for entertaining children, make him an intriguing subject for study.
Rare books, pamphlets, artwork, films, and ephemera from USC’s Special Collections showcased the world’s continued fascination with Carroll’s creative output.
More information about the collection and our spring 2006 series of events related to Carroll is available here.
Fight On! Celebrating 125 Years of the USC Spirit
October 6, 2005–May 14, 2006
The triumphant first 125 years of one of America's premier institutions of higher learning were highlighted with rare artifacts from the university archives.
The display chronicled the history of the university—from its founding on the outskirts of the city of Los Angeles to its current preeminence in Southern California and the world. In addition, the university's academic achievements, sports heritage and the tight-knit Trojan family were profiled.
Setting the Stage: The Rise of American Popular Theater
September 9–December 9, 2005
America's rich heritage of popular entertainment for the masses was on display as photographs, playbills, stage props, sheet music, and archival film from USC’s Special Collections brought to life a world of diversions targeted for the common man. Traveling circuses, minstrel shows, vaudeville, burlesque, variety, radio, and silent films all competed for America's entertainment dollar in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, until the first "talkies" appeared and transformed the landscape.
The Best Seat in the House: Photographs of Classical Musicians by Jim Arkatov
June 14 – August 14, 2005
With subjects ranging from Midori to Isaac Stern, Jim Arkatov's images showcased many of the world's most recognizable and accomplished musical artists.
As both a cellist and photographer, Arkatov occupied the fabled "best seat in the house." He became acquainted with many of the great conductors and soloists of the last sixty years after playing with the Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Indianapolis symphonies as well as the Hollywood Bowl and Los Angeles Chamber orchestras.
During breaks in the music he would often trade his cellist's bow for his camera and capture these twentieth century orchestral legends in their performing element. The result is an insightful collection of images of classical musical geniuses as seen through the lens of a fellow musician.
Don't Stop Moving: A Celebration of Modern Dance Pioneer Bella Lewitzky
January 15–May 22, 2005
Rare photographs, letters and ephemera chronicled the career of West Coast dance icon Bella Lewitzky (1916–2004).
When dance legend Bella Lewitzky passed away in July 2004 at the age of 88, the arts lost one of its most respected and dedicated champions.
"The rich legacy of Bella Lewitzky lives on at USC with the contribution of the archives of her work to our library," said Margo Apostolos, director of the USC School of Theatre's dance program. "Her collection will keep her spirit of modern dance alive for generations of young dancers."
Though Lewitzky was a renowned dancer, choreographer and master teacher, she may best be remembered as an arts advocate who challenged the United States government on more than one occasion.
She campaigned passionately for government support of the arts, yet was undaunted by its attempts to limit artistic freedom.
In 1951, she was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee to answer questions about possible communist activities in the arts.
AVODA: Objects of the Spirit / Ceremonial Art by Tobi Kahn
March 8–May 31, 2005
AVODA: Objects of the Spirit is a ceremonial arts project created by the painter and sculptor Tobi Kahn. Since 1985, when Kahn’s work appeared in the Guggenheim Museum’s national exhibition, New Horizons in American Art, his images have challenged the viewer’s eye and heart to find abstraction within nature.
AVODA expresses this interest in a groundbreaking medium.
Life As He Knew It: Photographs of Black Los Angeles from the Walter Gordon Collection at USC
February 15–May 15, 2005
Walter Lear Gordon, Jr., was born in Santa Monica on June 22, 1908. As a practicing attorney in Los Angeles for sixty-seven years, he became acquainted with many notable members of the African-American community.
Gordon opened his law practice in 1937 in the front office of the California Eagle newspaper. He befriended many of the staff photographers who, on assignment from the paper, shot numerous pictures of Black social life in Los Angeles.
Although these photographs typically were thrown away after being printed, Gordon regularly rescued from the discard pile the prints of people or places with which he was
familiar. But for his foresight, many of the photographs seen here would have been lost long ago.
These images depict leading members of the Black community within Gordon's social circle, including clergymen, entertainers, politicians, professionals, and "society" men and women. Interestingly, the snapshots portray a vibrant group of people clearly enjoying economic, social, and political success—achieved amidst pervasive racial segregation and discrimination.
The photographs on display represented only a small portion of the more than seven hundred collected by Walter Gordon from the 1920s-1950s. They reflect aspects of a Black social life in Los Angeles in danger of becoming lost to history.
The collection was given to retired Superior Court Judge William C. Beverly, Jr., in October 2002. Beverly, a close friend of Gordon, is the founder of Eighth and Wall, a nonprofit organization dedicated to recovering the Black community's collective memory. USC is collaborating with Judge Beverly to document and preserve for future generations these rare glimpses of a nearly forgotten time. The entire archive will eventually be cataloged and available for viewing online.
They Shall Not Perish: Relief Efforts of the Near East foundation, 1915-1920
September 17–January 30, 2005
This exhibition documents through letters, photographs, posters, books and other printed materials the Foundation's massive relief effort. Also included in the display was a multimedia presentation of the only known photographs of the genocide, taken by the German army officer Armin T. Wegner. On April 24, 1915, Armenian political, religious, educational and intellectual leaders in Constantinople (now, Istanbul) were arrested and murdered when a triumvirate of extreme Turkish nationals took control of the region in an effort to eliminate the Armenian people and create a Pan-Turkic empire that spread to Central Asia. In the years that followed, the Turkish government ordered the deaths or deportation of Armenians to "relocation centers" in the barren deserts of Syria and Mesopotamia.
The Foul and the Fragrant: Creating Perfume
September 17–December 17, 2004
This exhibition examined the history and methods of natural scent-making through books, photographs and rare objects from USC’s special collections and the personal collection of Berkeley-based perfumer Mandy Aftel.
Sacred Rattles and Sympathetic Strings: The Gale Collection of Instruments from the USC Thornton School of Music
February 27–May 17, 2004
Rare music books, scores and objects, including Western and non-Western musical instruments from the USC Thornton School of Music’s Gale Collection, De Lorenzo Collection and Early Music Ensemble Collection.
Town and Gown: A Centennial Celebration
October 2003–May 2004
The growth of this vital USC women's auxilary group was traced over the part one hundred years.
Out West: L.A.'s Influence on the Gay and Lesbian Movement
September 18 – December 18, 2003
Rare books, posters and ephemera from the ONE Institute and Archives, a University Libraries affiliate.
Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: The Discovery and Exploration of Antarctica
September 12 – December 12, 2002
A look at this cold and forbidding continent through materials from USC's special collections.
The Fantastic Menagerie: Art of the Russian Cabaret
April 5 – July 15, 2002
An exhibition highlighting early 20th century Russian cabaret and intimate theater.
Jacques Leiser: Portraits and Legends
February 1 – April 1, 2002
An exhibition of vintage photographs by photographer Jacques Leiser focusing mainly on portraits of musicians.
Trojan of an Ebony Hue: The Life and Work of Varnette Honeywood
February 1 – March 31, 2002
A exhibition of the work of local visual artist Varnette Honeywood, held as part of Black History Month celebrations.
Doheny Memorial Library: Heart of the University
October 10, 2001 – March 17, 2002
A look at this important cultural landmark's seventy-year history, coinciding with the library's grand reopening.