Hopkins imparts wisdom through art history lectures series

Wednesday, May 1, 1996

Experience of California art scene of 1950s adds unique twist to
teachingsBy Mimi Yiu

Daily Bruin Contributor

Henry Hopkins may have devoted his life to art, but he would
never disdain those who merely dabble in it. That respect is why
Hopkins, director of UCLA’s Armand Hammer Museum of Art and
Cultural Center, is teaching a series of Saturday lectures aimed at
educating a general audience on art history.

"When I was a grad student at UCLA in the late 1950s, I taught
several courses in art history and art appreciation through the
Extension program," Hopkins explains. "There were both formal and
informal classes ­ just any 15 people who wanted to learn
about art ­ and important collectors of modern art grew out of
that program."

Hopkins hopes to generate that same lifelong affinity for art
with his current classes at the Hammer Museum. This art history
program, established two years ago, follows the development of
Western art to the present and repeats cyclically. The series will
carry through into the summer with lectures on modern art.

"It’s like painting the Golden Gate Bridge," Hopkins jokes. "You
paint it up one end, then you cross over and paint it down to the
other end."

The metaphor could just as easily apply to Hopkins himself.
Educated at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and UCLA,
Hopkins has run the gamut of art-related occupations ­ artist,
educator, critic, curator and administrator.

Hopkins’s impressive art credentials began with a bachelor in
art education from Chicago. His career seemed to be momentarily
derailed when he was drafted in the army in 1952, the year that he
graduated. The two years that he served as an army photographer in
Europe, however, proved to be an artistic stimulant.

"It was a fortuitous assignment because I got to see so much
art, so much history there in Europe, even though there was all
that devastation," Hopkins says. "As a result, I became much more
involved in art history."

After his stint in Europe, Hopkins continued his studies at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago ­ obtaining a master’s
degree in art education there ­ before coming to UCLA for his
doctorate. Working under Fred Wright, Hopkins specialized in
20th-century art at a time when hardly anyone took a scholarly
interest in the subject.

Hopkins not only studied modern art, but also created it. As an
accomplished painter who exhibited in Los Angeles, he was caught up
in the fast-moving art scene of the time.

"When I was a graduate student in the late 1950s, there was a
real sense of excitement in L.A. and San Francisco," Hopkins
remembers. "Artists here were moving in an exciting, new direction.
It was like a baby boom in art."

Hopkins’s true passion, however, lay in art history and
museology. Although Hopkins enjoyed teaching at UCLA, he decided to
pursue a career in museums instead.

"In a museum, you deal with real objects, not slides, and living
artists, not art history textbooks," he explains.

Hopkins worked at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for seven
years, eventually becoming head curator of exhibitions and
publications. He left in 1968 to take up the position of director
at the Fort Worth Art Center Museum, which focuses on contemporary
art. In 1974, Hopkins became director of the San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art.

After working as director of the Frederick R. Weisman Art
Foundation, a post that he assumed in 1986, Hopkins returned to
UCLA and joined the Department of Art in 1991.

"At that point in my career, I had been working for thirty years
in the museum world," he points out. "I wanted to go back to
teaching, and I felt that I would have something valuable to impart
to my students. After I arrived at UCLA, however, there was a
change-over in the department, and because I had administrative
experience, I became the chair."

His administrative duties left him little time to teach. Then in
1994, Hopkins was appointed director of the Armand Hammer Museum.
The lecture series that he is offering is a way for him to keep in
touch with art education before his return to teaching next
year.

Hopkins believes that educational opportunities are integral
components of a museum’s agenda. The Hammer Museum attempts to
reach out to the community with a variety of learning
experiences.

"The role that we’ve picked for ourselves is that of cultural
center," Hopkins says. "It’s an avenue that has not really been
explored by other museums in the city. We want to offer a diverse
range of programs ­ from weekend programs for children and
adults, to poetry readings and lectures, and so on."

The Hammer Museum, still in its infancy, does not mount
blockbuster exhibitions with big names, but rather smaller-scale
exhibitions that center around social issues. In this way, the
museum addresses the concerns of both the community as well as
contemporary artists, who are increasingly driven by social
issues.

"In the 50s and 60s, we had art for art’s sake," Hopkins says.
"Then in the 70s, a lot of issues became rampant in the art world
­ the art of women, of different ethnic groups. In the 80s,
artists became even more involved in political and social issues.
We developed a lot of content-laden art as artists began to strike
out. Art became a political tool."

Message-driven art, obviously, cannot fulfill its purpose
without an educated audience to appreciate it. Stressing the third
dictum of the traditional definition of a museum as an entity
dedicated to collection, preservation and education, the Hammer
Museum tries to create a general public well-versed in art.

For those still unconvinced that art is relevant to their lives,
Hopkins offers this incentive to learn art history.

"Eli Broad is an extremely successful business leader, he has a
major collection of art and he donates a lot of money to the arts,"
Hopkins says. "I asked him what business people talk about over in
Europe and Asia, and he told me, ‘In Europe and Asia, people are
always talking about art.’"

ART: Art history lecture series with Henry Hopkins. Five
Saturdays, beginning May 4, 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Armand Hammer
Museum. TIX: $10 at the door or $40 for entire series. For more
info., call (310) 443-7000.

ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin

Henry Hopkins, director of UCLA’s Armand Hammer Museum, gives a
lecture on art history each Saturday.