Claire Falkenstein

From Venezia to Venice, California, Claire Falkenstein (1908-1997) proved herself to be a versatile and pioneering artist, in three and more dimensions.

- Maren Henderson

In her modest studio on the Giudecca in Venice, Italy, in 1961, Claire Falkenstein finished and readied for installation the now iconic Gates to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

In 1963, the artist moved to Venice, California, bought a house on Ocean Front Walk, and went to work. It was a risky move, but smart.

When Falkenstein left Europe in the early 1960s for Los Angeles, she was coming to a place without particular distinction in the arts. However, a transformation was underway. Incomplete but under construction, and gradually becoming visible, was the Music Center. The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion opened in 1964. The Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theater were nearing completion. The newly independent Los Angeles County Museum of Art opened on Wilshire in 1965—albeit with only one building for exhibition space. Regarding transportation, neither the 405 or 10 freeways had been completed. And downtown LA, still without its signature high rise buildings, was hard to find even on a map. Additionally, the Cal State University system, recently created in 1960, was expanding in the area with several new campuses.