LACMA’s Modern art collection features strong holdings in German Expressionism, and important paintings and sculptures that span the 20th century by artists such as Jay DeFeo, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, René Magritte, Wifredo Lam, Claes Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha, Betye Saar, Kurt Schwitters, and Frank Stella. Important acquisitions have included David Bright’s bequest of 23 paintings by František Kupka, Fernand Léger, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and others; Robert Halff’s donation of 35 works including remarkable examples by Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and Miró; and paintings and sculptures from the Janice and Henri Lazarof Collection, with works by Constantin Brancusi, Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Barbara Hepworth, Léger, Henri Matisse, Henry Moore, and Picasso. The Modern art galleries also have works on view from the American art, Decorative Arts & Design, and Latin American art holdings, including examples by Ruth Asawa, Diego Rivera, Joaquín Torres-García, and Idelle Weber.

The Modern art galleries in the Ahmanson Building are anticipated to close to the public in phases for collection inventory and packing, with galleries featuring post-war art and German Expressionist art closing on June 2, 2019, galleries exhibiting Surrealists and Post-Surrealist work closing on August 4, 2019, and the galleries showcasing the Lazarof Collection and highlights of the Modern art holdings closing on September 2, 2019. This work is in preparation for the construction of the new proposed building for the permanent collection designed by Peter Zumthor, which is expected to open by the end of 2023. The Modern art galleries will reopen in BCAM, Level 3, in newly designed spaces in 2020.