Sidney B. Felsen and Gemini G.E.L. Research Guide

Roy Lichtenstein wearing a mask cut out from a proof for the Paintings Series, 1983, Sidney B Felsen. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Gift of Jack Shear

This library research guide accompanies the Getty Research Institute exhibition First Came a Friendship: Sidney B. Felsen and the Artists at Gemini G.E.L. (February 20, 2024–July 7, 2024) which chronicles the history of Gemini G.E.L., the Los Angeles artists’ workshop and publisher of limited-edition prints and sculpture, founded in 1966. This guide contains select resources related to the Sidney B. Felsen photographs of Gemini G.E.L. artists and the Los Angeles art scene archive.

For over five decades, Sidney B. Felsen photographed artists and printers working at Gemini G.E.L. His photographs also record friendships with artists and other cultural figures in and around Los Angeles. Comprising photographic prints, slides, negatives, lenticulars, Polaroids, and ephemera. The collection documents the vibrant art scene of Los Angeles in the last decades of the 20th century and early 21st century.

Included in this guide are:

• Archives, oral histories, photographs, video, works of art, books, and exhibition catalogs, focusing on the artists and impact of Gemini G.E.L. as well as the evolution of the art scene in Los Angeles. These archives reflect the GRI’s commitment to documenting the history of art and artists in Los Angeles since the 1960s.
• Interviews with Gemini co-founders, Gemini printers.
• A short glossary of printmaking terms.

The Library is open Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5pm. Contact us with questions or to make an appointment in the Special Collections Reading Room by calling (310) 440-7390 or emailing reference@getty.edu.

Please send any additions, corrections, or other suggestions for this research guide to reference@getty.edu.