Irving Blum Gallery and Ferus Gallery announcements
name: label: Creator
content: Irving Blum Gallery
label: Names
content: Ferus Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)
label: Names
content: Altoon, John, 1925-
label: Names
content: Bachardy, Don, 1934-
label: Names
content: Bell, Larry, 1939-
label: Names
content: Bengston, Billy Al
label: Names
content: Irwin, Robert, 1928-
label: Names
content: Johns, Jasper, 1930-
label: Names
content: Judd, Donald, 1928-
label: Names
content: Kauffman, Craig, 1932-2010
label: Names
content: Lichtenstein, Roy, 1923-1997
label: Names
content: Moses, Ed, 1926-
label: Names
content: Noland, Kenneth, 1924-
label: Names
content: Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967
label: Names
content: Ruscha, Edward
label: Names
content: Stella, Frank
label: Names
content: Warhol, Andy, 1928-
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Mrs. Rochella Orchard donated the Ferus Gallery and Irving Blum Gallery announcements on February 22, 1979.
creator: label: Creator
content: Irving Blum Gallery
setName: label: See more items in
content: Irving Blum Gallery and Ferus Gallery announcements
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Irving Blum Gallery and Ferus Gallery announcements consist of 32 announcements for exhibitions at the Los Angeles Ferus Gallery (1957-1966) and its successor the Irving Blum Gallery (1966-circa 1972). Exhibition announcements are for many exhibitions of southern California contemporary and pop artists, as well as New York artists. Artists represented by announcements include John Altoon, Don Bachardy, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Robert Irwin, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Craig Kauffman, Roy Lichtenstein, Edward Moses, Kenneth Noland, Ad Reinhardt, Ed Ruscha, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol, among others.
bioghist: label: Historical Note
content: In 1957, Walter Hopps (1932-2005) and Edward Kienholz (1927-1994) opened the contemporary art Ferus Gallery on North La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Kienholz sold his share to Irving Blum (b. 1930) one year later. Hopps left in 1962 to become curator and, later, director of the Pasadena Art Museum. Ferus Gallery closed in 1966 and Irving Blum maintained sole ownership and changed the gallery's name to Irving Blum Gallery.

 Ferus Gallery was the first gallery in the Los Angeles area to show contemporary American art, and focused heavily on contemporary Southern California artists, such as John Altoon, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Wallace Berman, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, Ed Kienholz, Ed Moses, Richard Ruben, among many others. Likewise, Ferus Gallery helped to solidify the reputations of many established New York artists, including Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Richard Diebenkorn, Andy Warhol, and others. 

The inaugural exhibition at the Ferus Gallery was "Objects on the New Landscape Demanding of the Eye" (March 15 - April 11, 1957), a group show including the work of Frank Lobdell, Jay DeFeo, Craig Kauffman, Richard Diebenkorn, John Altoon and Clyfford Still. Los Angeles artists who had their first solo shows at the gallery included: Wallace Berman (1957), Billy Al Bengston (1958), Ed Moses (1958), Robert Irwin (1959), John Mason (1959), Kenneth Price (1960), Llyn Foulkes (1962), Larry Bell (1962) and Ed Ruscha (1963).

In 1957 the gallery was temporarily closed after LAPD officers arrested and charged Wallace Berman with obscenity over work in his exhibition. It was his first and last solo show. 

In 1962 "Andy Warhol: Campbell's Soup Cans" was Andy Warhol's first solo pop art exhibition and the first exhibition of the Soup Cans. Five of the canvases sold for $100 each, but Blum bought them back to keep the set intact. 

Irving Blum designed many of the exhibition announcements for the gallery with a graphic aesthetic. 

In 2007, "The Cool School" was released, a documentary film about the Ferus Gallery and its eccentric artists.
function: label: Function
content: Art galleries, Commercial -- California
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1961-1972
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.irviblum
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 2 series:

Series 1: Ferus Gallery Announcements, 1961-1965 (Box 1; 20 folders)

Series 2: Irving Blum Gallery Announcements, 1969-1972 (Box 1; 12 folders)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was microfilmed on reel 3002 upon receipt. Later, the collection was fully processed and described by Jayna Hanson in October 2008 and scanned in 2009 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: This site provides access to the records of Irving Blum Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.) in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2009. The records have been scanned in their entirety, and total 32 images.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The Irving Blum Gallery and Ferus Gallery announcements consist of 32 announcements for exhibitions at the Los Angeles Ferus Gallery (1957-1966) and its successor the Irving Blum Gallery (1966-circa 1972). Exhibition announcements are for many exhibitions of southern California contemporary and pop artists, as well as New York artists. Artists represented by announcements include John Altoon, Don Bachardy, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Robert Irwin, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Craig Kauffman, Roy Lichtenstein, Edward Moses, Kenneth Noland, Ad Reinhardt, Ed Ruscha, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol, among others. 

Although these announcements are scattered, they provide insight to and documentation of the southern California LA art scene and the Beat era. The exhibition announcements themselves are quite unique.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: Also found at the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Irving Blum conducted by Paul Cummings on May 31-June 23, 1977.