Getty Research Institute Opens 'Stendahl’s World' Exhibition on Pre-Hispanic Art Market
On June 23, 2026, the Getty Research Institute opened the exhibition “Stendahl’s World: Marketing Ancient Mexico and Modern Art in Los Angeles,” on view through October 18, 2026. Drawn largely from the Stendahl Art Galleries Archive, the show traces dealer Earl Stendahl’s (1887–1966) shift in the mid-1930s from California Impressionism and European Modernism to the promotion of pre-Hispanic art through traveling exhibitions, department store partnerships and celebrity collectors. The exhibition also documents the resulting increase in looting at Mexican archaeological sites and the networks of dealers, collectors and museums that moved objects across borders.
The Signal
The presentation stems from the Getty Research Institute’s Pre-Hispanic Art Provenance Initiative, which has produced freely accessible databases of Stendahl Gallery inventory books and family letters from 1940–1970. Curators Mary Miller and Khristaan Villela examine how attitudes toward collecting and cultural heritage have evolved, while an accompanying Getty Publications volume, “Artifacts to Art: Collecting Ancient America in Midcentury L.A.,” extends the research into museum and collecting practices.
- Artists: Diego Rivera, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso
- People: Earl Stendahl, Mary Miller, Khristaan Villela
- Galleries: Stendahl Art Galleries
- Museums: Getty Research Institute
- Locations: Los Angeles
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