Early Hours at the Pike, Edward Arnold Reep (1918 – 2013), 1950, Oil on canvas, The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University, Gift of Susan Reep and Mark Smith
Sodaro South Wing
Seen Anew: California Modernist Art from The Hilbert Collection
September 30, 2026 – March 7, 2027
Modernism transformed twentieth-century art around the world, but California artists made it distinctly their own. Rather than embracing the darker anxieties that often characterized European modernism, they developed a fresh visual language rooted in the light, openness and optimism of the Golden State. Seen Anew: California Modernist Art from The Hilbert Collection is the first exhibition to explore this uniquely Californian approach through the lens of modern stylization—the simplification of form, expressive color and bold design that became one of the defining characteristics of 20th-century California representational art.
Curated by noted California art historian Gordon McClelland, the exhibition presents paintings and works on paper by artists including Eduoard Vysekal, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Mary Blair, Ken Potter, Keith Crown, Ed Reep and others. Inspired by McClelland’s groundbreaking new scholarship, Seen Anew reveals how California artists, critics and collectors embraced a distinctly modern aesthetic that continues to define the state’s artistic identity.