Museum Expansion New

North Wing Galleries

California Art from The Permanent Collection

Curated by Gordon McClelland

Eight galleries in the North Wing will be dedicated to showcasing the vast variety of oil and watercolor paintings, prints and drawings in The Hilbert Collection, from the late 1800s through the Depression-era rise of the California regionalist Scene Painting style to the works of contemporary Golden State artists working today. These galleries will regularly rotate new works into the mix. Featured artists in the opening round include Emil Kosa Jr., David Hockney, Phil Dike, Sueo Serisawa, Vanessa Helder, Rex Brandt, Serena Potter, Francis de Erdely, Frank Romero, Jesse Arms Botke, Edgar Payne, Burr Singer, Wayne Thiebaud and others.

South Wing Galleries

Millard Sheets

Curated by Jean Stern from The Hilbert Collection and other collections

Millard Sheets (1907-1989), perhaps the most celebrated of California 20th-century artists, could do it all: he was a superb painter, muralist, mosaicist, designer and teacher. His extraordinary work is represented here by 40 original paintings selected from The Hilbert Collection and other collections – and simultaneously honors Sheets’ gloriously restored “Pleasures Along the Beach” mosaic on the museum’s west-facing façade.

South Wing Galleries

A Matter of Style: Modernism in California Art

Curated by Gordon McClelland from The Hilbert Collection and other collections

This selection of works by California artists Agnes Pelton, Roger Kuntz, Helen Lundeberg, Conrad Buff, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Susan Hertel, Keith Crown and others chronicles the groundbreaking impact of Modernism on California painting in the early 20^th century.

Cinema Arts Galleries

Mary Blair’s Wonderland: Imagining Disney’s Alice

Curated by Mary Platt from the Hilbert Collection

Curated from The Hilbert Collection’s rich animation holdings is this ultimate Alice tribute to Disney artist Mary Blair (1911-1978), encompassing both Blair’s Alice in Wonderland movie concept art and original Alice art by other Disney illustrators created for picture books, record albums and advertising.

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North Wing Galleries

Same Place, Another Time: Views of Orange County

Curated by Gordon McClelland from the Hilbert Collection and other collections

Since the early 20th century, Orange County has been a favorite location for artists to portray, from its shorelines and beaches to its farmland, towns and cities. These paintings, by such artists as George James, Helen Hafer, Joseph Kleitsch, Kerne Erickson, Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill, Bradford J. Salamon, Phil Dike and others, showcase the beauty of OC and the cultural and historical shifts that occurred in California from the 1930s to today.

James L. and Lynne P. Doti Gallery of American Illustration

Curated by Mary Platt from the Bank of America Collection and the Hilbert Collection

Norman Rockwell: Capturing the American Spirit

The beloved illustrator and classically American visual storyteller (1894-1978) is feted through original paintings, drawings and artist prints selected from The Hilbert Collection and on loan from the Bank of America Collection.

Founders Gallery of Native American Art

Eye Dazzlers: Marvels of Navajo Weavings from the Hilbert Collection

Curated by Mary Platt

These “eye dazzler” blankets woven by Navajo women in the late 1800s and early 1900s were known for their vibrant colors, intricate patterns and bold, geometric forms – many of which seem to anticipate the work of later color-field artists and modernist painters.

South Wing Galleries

Emigdio Vasquez: Works from the Fred Ortiz Collection

Curated by Fred Ortiz

Emigdio Vasquez (1939-2014), the acclaimed Chicano artist, muralist and teacher who started his career capturing scenes of everyday life in Orange’s historic Cypress Street Barrio District, is saluted with this selection of his social-realist paintings, curated by his longtime friend and local resident Fred Ortiz.

Founders Gallery of American Design

Art of the Airwaves: Radios from the Hilbert Collection

Curated by Clark Silva

Vintage radio takes on a bold new meaning with this collection of Bakelite and plastic shelf and tabletop radios from the 1930s to the 1950s. From Art Deco wonders to modernist pieces in rich colors and textures, these radios were designed by some of the top industrial artists in the world.