From left: Sara Berman’s Closet courtesy Mmuseumm; Maira Kalman, Sara Berman on the Terrace in Rome with Bougainvillea (2018). Gouache on paper. © Maira Kalman. Courtesy Julie Saul Gallery, New York.
Take a look inside Sara Berman’s Closet—an exhibition by illustrator-author Maira Kalman (b. 1949) and curator-artist Alex Kalman (b. 1985) inspired by the life of Maira’s mother and Alex’s grandmother, Sara Berman (1920–2004).
The meticulously organized, modest closet in which Sara Berman kept her pristine all-white belongings tells the story of her liberation: At the age of sixty, she ended a thirty-eight-year marriage and relocated to New York from Tel Aviv. She edited everything to the essential and in this editing found happiness. Previously exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a recreation of Sara’s closet is now on view at the Skirball along with twelve new paintings by Maira Kalman. The works intimately explore identity, feminism, family, and memory.
Exhibition-Related Program
On Wednesday, January 23, join artists Maira Kalman and Alex Kalman at the Skirball for a conversation about the exhibition and their new family memoir of the same name with Paul Holdengräber, former director of public programming at the New York Public Library and curator of public curiosity. A book signing of Sara Berman’s Closet follows the program. Tickets for this program are on sale now.
This Skirball Cultural Center is located at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA. Museum hours are Tuesday–Friday, 12–5 pm and Saturday–Sunday, 10–5 pm. Admission is FREE to all on Thursdays.
Don’t miss the LA engagement of this exhibition, on view now through March 10. To learn more, visit skirball.org/sara-berman.
