At first glance masters will share the space with a sweeping range of 19th to 21th century artists including Max Klinger, Alison Saar and Ed Ruscha. Patrons can get an up-close look at the sculptures of more than 30 artists created over a 125-year period and collected by Jack Rutberg, the gallery founder and owner.

Settling into Pasadena after nearly four decades on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, Jack Rutberg Fine Arts is now planning for the future with a new exhibition featuring a wide range of established modern and contemporary artists. The new exhibition, “Collector’s Choice,” which will hold its opening reception on Sunday, September 10, is a collection of paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures from some of the world’s most recognizable artists, along with some lesser known, but no less important works.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Rutberg. 

Jack, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My evolution as an art dealer took an illogical course. Having no background or formal education in the arts, my interest evolved by frequent visits to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in my late teens. It was a place to spend time alone and engage in impressive works of art, and then there were those works that completely confounded me, for which I had no interest but I kept going back to see. Perhaps I was hoping that they would somehow reveal more with each visit. I can’t really say they did, but familiarity had its benefits. Looking back, that experience was a sort of seed planting and a life lesson. In terms of art and aesthetics, initial impressions can betray us, and I often say that you “get” wallpaper with a snap of the fingers but most great art can reveals itself over time.

In a recent ceremony in celebration of International World Art Day, the International Art Association USA bestowed its first Lifetime Achievement Award to Pasadena’s Jack Rutberg, owner of the Jack Rutberg Fine Arts gallery at South Lake and California avenues. 

The International Art Association USA acts as an arm of the international body L’Association Internationale des Arts Plastiques, a nonprofit partner of UNESCO comprised of professional artists working with painting, sculpture, printmaking and other forms of creative practice in the visual arts. Rutberg described the honor as a humbling surprise.

The showcase is an exclusive exploration of Francis’ rarely-seen monochromatic graphic works. The monochrome is mesmerizing. Far from blanketing sameness, the works beckon the viewer to discover their nuanced beauty. The Rutberg exhibition complements the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s present Sam Francis exhibition which runs through July 16, keying upon Francis’ profound intercultural dialogue between Western and Eastern aesthetics.