A Modern Look

Friday, January 16, 2026 - Sunday, March 29, 2026

A Modern Look presents paintings, drawings, and sculpture by modern and late modern artists drawn from the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art’s outstanding permanent collection. While not specifically thematic in nature, the exhibition rather presents a varied cross section of works that represent different styles typically associated with the modern and late modern period, a time in which artists sought to “invent new ways of seeing” in response to a rapidly changing world. Spanning the early 20^th century through the postwar decades, the exhibition highlights experimentation, innovation, and the ongoing redefinition of art itself.

Modern artists broke decisively with academic tradition, emphasizing the autonomy of form and the expressive potential of materials. Works in the exhibition reflect key modernist approaches such as abstraction, pop art, and color field painting, in which recognizable subjects give way to color, line, and geometry. Late modern art extends these concerns while sharpening focus on process, structure, and perception. Across these approaches, artists increasingly questioned representation, authorship, and the boundaries between art and everyday experience.

Together, the works in A Modern Look reflect modernism not as a single style, but as an evolving set of ideas—an ongoing commitment to experimentation and to redefining what art can be in the modern age. 

Pepperdine’s Frederick R. Weisman Museum is pleased to present these works for your enjoyment.