Sodaro South Building

Sunlight and Shadows: Emil Kosa Jr. Art from the Hilbert Collection

March 22, 2025 – August 9, 2025

Curated by Gordon McClelland

Emil Kosa Jr. (1903-1968) was a prominent California fine art painter and a key figure in the development of special effects art for the Hollywood motion picture industry during the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. His unique special effects paintings, created while he headed the art department at Twentieth Century-Fox Studios, earned him an Oscar for the movie Cleopatra. His matte painting of the Statue of Liberty sunk in the sand during the finale of Planet of the Apes is considered the most famous matte shot in movie history.

Concurrently, Kosa produced fine-art paintings, primarily using watercolors and oil paints. His prolific output of high-quality art surpassed that of many full-time painters. This exhibition presents more than 40 of Kosa’s fine art pieces—watercolors, oils and drawings, from landscapes to genre scenes to portraits, all selected from The Hilbert Collection.