Synopses & Reviews
"Los Angeles as a cultural capital did not exist in 1960 when Franklin D. Murphy, M.D., rode into town. Over the ensuing thirty years, more than any other single individual, it was he who put it on the cultural map. In a brilliant work that includes a set of now-it-can-be-told institutional histories, Margaret Leslie Davis writes the history of an exceptional city at an exceptional time through the life story of a little-known but utterly exceptional man."and#151;Jack Miles, Pulitzer Prize winner and Distinguished Professor of English, University of California, Irvine
and#147;Rarely has a city and a man been better suited to one another. In this fascinating biography, Margaret Leslie Davis tells us how one manand#151;as chancellor, corporate leader, and cultural entrepreneurand#151;supercharged the transformation of a regional city into a world-class metropolis.and#8221;and#151;Kevin Starr, Professor, University of Southern California, and former California State Librarian
"Once again, Margaret Leslie Davis has chosen a fascinating subject and produced a compellingand#151;and revelatoryand#151;biography. Franklin D. Murphy may not have been the most visible architect of the and#145;newand#8217; Los Angeles but he may well have been the single most influential figure of his time, leaving his fingerprints on everything from the expanded UCLA to the Getty Center. Anyone who lives in 21st century L.A. should learn about the man who shaped the cityand#8217;s culture as we know it.and#8221;and#151;Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian
"Franklin D. Murphy left an enormous imprint on Los Angeles because he touched so many different spheres. Thankfully, Murphy has a biographer whose protean knowledge rivals her subject's. Margaret Leslie Davis's fluency across topicsand#151;medicine and education; art and architecture; industry and media; philanthropy, politics and civic affairsand#151;is absolutely stunning."and#151;Rick Wartzman, Los Angeles Times columnist and author of The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire
"At the height of his cultural and educational authority, Franklin Murphy was everywhere in Los Angeles. In this fine biography, Margaret Leslie Davis has traced his extraordinary influence and legacy. The Culture Broker is a careful tracing of the life and work of arguably the most important cultural figure in all of 20th century Los Angeles."and#151;William Deverell, Director, Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West
Synopsis
Franklin Murphy? It's not a name that is widely known; even during his lifetime the public knew little of him. But for nearly thirty years, Murphy was the dominant figure in the cultural development of Los Angeles. Behind the scenes, Murphy used his role as confidant, family friend, and advisor to the founders and scions of some of America's greatest fortunesand#151;Ahmanson, Rockefeller, Ford, Mellon, and Annenbergand#151;to direct the largesse of the wealthy into cultural institutions of his choosing. In this first full biography of Franklin D. Murphy (1916-994), Margaret Leslie Davis delivers the compelling story of how Murphy, as chancellor of UCLA and later as chief executive of the Times Mirror media empire, was able to influence academia, the media, and cultural foundations to reshape a fundamentally provincial city. The Culture Broker brings to light the influence of L.A.'s powerful families and chronicles the mixed motives behind large public endeavors. Channeling more than one billion dollars into the city's arts and educational infrastructure, Franklin Murphy elevated Los Angeles to a vibrant world-class city positioned for its role in the new era of global trade and cross-cultural arts.
Synopsis
Paul Klee experienced his 1914 trip to Tunisia as a major breakthrough for his art: and#147;Color and I are one,and#8221; he famously wrote. and#147;I am a painter.and#8221; Kandinsky and Klee in Tunisia sets the scene for Kleeand#8217;s breakthrough with a close study of the parallel voyage undertaken in 1904and#150;5 by Wassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Mand#252;nter, who would later become Klee's friends. This artist couple, then at an early stage in their celebrated careers, produced a rich body of painting and photography known only to specialists. Paul Kleeand#8217;s 1914 trip with August Macke and Louis Moilliet, in contrast, is a vaunted convergence of cubism and the exotic. Roger Benjamin refigures these two seminal voyages in terms of colonial culture and politics, the fabric of ancient Tunisian cities, visual ethnography, and the tourist photograph. The book looks closely at the cities of Tunis, Sousse, Hammamet, and Kairouan to flesh out a profound confrontation between European high modernism and the wealth of Islamic lifeways and architecture. Kandinsky and Klee in Tunisia offers a new understanding of how the European avant-garde was formed in dialogue with cultural difference.
Synopsis
"Roger Benjamin is an art historian and field researcher in the very best sense. Thanks to his intense study of sources in archives, libraries, and museums, he counts among the most profound experts on the material in his field. Benjaminand#8217;s work not only provides us with a wealth of new knowledge but also helps us better understand the significance that Islamic culture and art held in the paintings of Kandinsky and Klee."and#151;Michael Baumgartner, Head of Collection/Exhibitions/Research, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern
"Roger Benjaminand#8217;s study makes us examine againand#151;indeed, in many cases, for the first timeand#151;not just those works specific to Kandinskyand#8217;s and Kleeand#8217;s respective journeys to Tunisia but the lessons of those experiences and cultural encounters for modernist aesthetics as a whole."and#151;Luke Gartlan, Lecturer in Art History, University of St Andrews, Scotland
"Benjaminand#8217;s work is fascinating for an anthropologist of the Maghreb because his modest task (one carried out with prodigious erudition) is to gather the sum total of evidence on the conditions under which these excursions to Tunisia took place. His novel kind of postcolonial fieldwork, enriched with photographic documents, presents a persuasive new vision of art history."and#151;Franand#231;ois Pouillon, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
About the Author
Roger Benjamin is Professor of Art History at the University of Sydney. His notable publications include the prize-winning
Orientalist Aesthetics: Art, Colonialism, and French North Africa, 1880and#150;1930. In 1995 he co-curated
Matisse for the Queensland Art Gallery, and in 1997 his exhibition
Orientalism: Delacroix to Klee was held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He is former Director of the Power Institute at the University of Sydney.
Cristina Ashjian is an independent scholar based in New England, where she is chair of the Moultonborough Heritage Commission. She earned her MA in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, London, and as German Chancellor Fellow at the University of Munich in 1995and#150;96 she researched her doctoral dissertation, and#147;Representing and#145;scand#232;nes et typesand#8217;: Wassily Kandinsky in Tunisia, 1904and#150;1905.and#8221; She has collaborated on the research for Kandinsky and Klee in Tunisia.
Table of Contents
preface: the art of the trustee / xi
prologue: something to prove / 1
The Kansas Mission . The Mad Governor versus the Boy Wonder . Imprinted by the Heartland
part i: chancellor
one: into the pastel empire / 21
A City Rethinking Itself . The Three Powerful Southern Regents . Lure of an Adolescent City . The Investiture of Otis Chandler
two: ucla in worldwide terms / 42
Taking Command: Hail to the Hills of Westwood . Funding Culture in the Cold War . The Titan Chancellor . Symbols of Authority . The Scions Paul Mellon and Henry Ford II
three: turmoil and golden moments / 75
Opening Night, Los Angeles Music Center . Opening Night, Los Angeles County Museum of Art . The Shadow behind the Golden Glow: The Watts Rebellion of August 1965 . University in Turmoil . Colossal Construction . A Threat to Clark Kerr . The Rise of Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Clark Kerr
four: 1968and#151;year of crisis / 102
The Embattled Chancellor . Resignation . The Death of Howard Ahmanson
part ii: chairman
five: the chancellor becomes ceo / 119
and#147;A Beauty to Beholdand#8221; . The Interlocking Directorate . Politics and the Mighty Chandlers . Jubilant Republicans and the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board
six: the chandler empire in the watergate years / 138
A Time of Scandal . The Picasso Room . A Family Crisis . The Passing of Norman Chandler . and#147;A Cancer on the Presidencyand#8221; . Pressures and Prestige . The Forced Retirement of Dorothy Chandler
seven: power and philanthropy / 172
Pushing the New York Times off Its Perch . Henry Ford II versus Lee Iacocca .The Legacy of Howard F. Ahmanson . The Impact of the Ahmanson Foundation on Los Angeles . The Confirmation of Nelson Rockefeller . The Chairman of Times Mirror Retires . Golden Donors
part iii: trustee
eight: the los angeles county museum of art / 209
The Pursuit of Norton Simon and Armand Hammer . The Challenge for a New Director . The County Museum in Peril . Los Angeles in and#147;Art Heavenand#8221;
nine: the national gallery of art / 239
Joining Forces with J. Carter Brown . The Visit of Princess Diana . Courting Collectors Armand Hammer and Walter Annenberg . Trusteeship and Successorship
ten: the samuel h. kress foundation / 261
The Kress Brothers . Giveaways and Preservation
eleven: the j. paul getty trust / 273
Family Dynamics . An Afternoon with J. Paul Getty . The Getty Curse . The Richest Museum in the World . A Golden Moment for Harold Williams . An Acropolis for Los Angeles
twelve: three that got away / 319
The Deceptions of Armand Hammer . The Lost Treasures of Norton Simon . The Fateful Wounding of Walter Annenberg
part iv: steward
thirteen: changing of the guard / 347
A Time of Loss . New Era, New Leaders, New Priorities . Building a Multicultural City . Linking Los Angelesand#8217;s Libraries . Civic Pride and Civil Unrest . Rescue for the Huntington Library
fourteen: the doge of los angeles / 373
Chaos at the County Museum . Shifting Leverage . Final Bows
afterword: the mosaic city / 389
acknowledgments / 393
notes / 395
selected bibliography / 451
index / 463