What Has Been and What Could Be: The BAMPFA Collection

June 7, 2023–July 7, 2024

What Has Been and What Could Be: The BAMPFA Collection inaugurates a year-long presentation of the BAMPFA collection, bringing a contemporary perspective to the museum’s global art holdings.

Read full description
  • Romare Bearden: Final Study for Berkeley - The City and Its People, 1973; collage on board; 21 1/8 x 32 1/8 in.; University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of Dr. and Mrs. David Dragutsky © 2023 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

  • Margo Humphrey: Crying ain't gonna help none, baby, 1972; color lithograph; 14 x 14 1/8 in. (composition); University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Purchased with the aid of funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the H. W. Anderson Charitable Foundation (Selected by the Committee for the Acquisition of Afro-American Art)

  • Christina Quarles: Small Offerings, 2017; Acrylic on canvas; Overall: 48 x 60 in.; University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Purchase made possible through a gift of an anonymous donor

  • Albert Bierstadt: Yosemite Winter Scene, 1872; oil on canvas; 32 1/8 x 48 1/8 in.; University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of Henry D. Bacon

  • Michiel Simons: Still Life, c. 1652; Oil on panel; 18 x 29 1/4 in.; University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of SB Master

  • Photo: Whit Forrester

  • Photo: Whit Forrester

  • Photo: Whit Forrester

  • Photo: Whit Forrester

  • Upcoming
    Films
  • Past
    Films
  • Past
    Events

Past Events

  • Sunday, September 17, 3 PM

    Artists’ Talk: Masako Miki & Stephanie Syjuco

    Berkeley-based Japanese artist Masako Miki discusses Ichiren-bozu (Animated prayer beads blue), a new work in BAMPFA’s collection that reflects her interest in reclaiming the power of myth making. Artist and UC Berkeley professor Stephanie Syjuco talks about her Raiders (Selections from the Asian Art Museum), a collection of flat, laser-cut, life-size images of antique Asian vessels downloaded from the Asian Art Museum’s online databases and adhered to wooden backings, investigating how we participate in the construction of culture.

  • Thursday, September 7, 12 PM

    Curator’s Talk: Anthony Graham on What Has Been and What Could Be: The BAMPFA Collection

    BAMPFA Senior Curator Anthony Graham discusses selected works from each thematic section of What Has Been and What Could Be, highlighting artists with ongoing relationships to BAMPFA, the UC Berkeley campus, and the Bay Area.

  • Select Wednesdays, Sundays, and First Free Thursdays

    Guided Tour: What Has Been and What Could Be: The BAMPFA Collection

    Tours of What Has Been and What Could Be: The BAMPFA Collection take place on selected Sundays at 2 PM and Free First Thursdays at 1:15 PM

  • Sunday, June 11, 2 PM

    Julie Rodrigues Widholm on What Has Been and What Could Be: The BAMPFA Collection

    BAMPFA Executive Director Julie Rodrigues Widholm, who organized What Has Been and What Could Be, offers a curatorial walkthrough of her new collection-based exhibition, addressing selected works from each thematic section, as well as sharing perspectives on curating from the museum’s collection.