Museums

Los Angeles has a couple of really nice museums. Although I believe the most outstanding works of art and works of famous European artists are in Europe, here the architecture of the museum buildings and the overall experience of a visit are astonishing. The focus of the museums on modern art is also interesting. Keep in mind; most museums are closed on Mondays and for most museums you can book a ticket online; for The Broad this is a must!

The Broad 

The Broad is a modern museum in Downtown LA (DTLA) with an awesome entrance of which I won't reveal the surprise. The entrance is free, but book your tickets online and in advance to avoid wasting half a day standing in line. Also, as long as there's a special exhibition, you might have to sign up to see this as soon as you enter the museum. At this moment, Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Rooms are temporarily closed due to the pandemic, but hopefully they will be open soon. Book your tickets well in advance at https://www.thebroad.org. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Getty Center

Photo: The garden of the Getty Center

This museum in Brentwood (West LA) has multiple galleries with a lot of different collections, but again; the entrance and the architecture are the most extraordinary parts. Plus… the view!!! Take a look from all the different sides of the building, to see Beverly Hills, Downtown, Century City, Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean! Don't forget to take a walk in the garden and look down from the south galleries balcony onto the succulent garden. Parking costs $15, entrance is free and the museum is closed on Mondays. Not to be confused with the Getty Villa, a little bit further up north.

The Huntington Library

This museum lies in the south of Pasadena. Although it's called a library, the most impressive about this museum are the gardens. My favorites are the Desert Garden, the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden. 

Photo: The desert garden

To see all of these gardens, start by walking straight through the lane after you got your tickets. Then walk past the café and art installation (in which you can hear sounds from space) to the left to start in the Desert Garden. After you've seen the all the different types of succulents and cacti, walk past the ponds and follow the signs up for the rose garden. Walk straight through the rose garden for a great view of the Japanese garden. Follow the paved road to the left to enter the Japanese garden through the bamboo forrest. Continue your walk through the Japanese garden to finally end in front of a keyhole entrance of the Chinese garden. Here you can also find a great restaurant for Chinese dumplings and you can take a seat to enjoy the beautiful view. 

For kids there is a special Children’s Garden, for which the shortest route is directly to your right after you bought your tickets.

The entrance is quite expansive ($25 per person), but worth it, especially if you take at least a half day. If you still think it's too expansive, try to take advantage of their free day on every first Thursday of the month. Tickets for this day sell out fast, so book them online and well in advance at https://www.huntington.org/free-day. The museum is closed on Tuesdays.

Norton Simon Museum

Another museum in Pasadena, this one closer to Old Town. The Norton Simon has a beautiful collection of European art; Rembrandt, Picasso and especially the works of Degas are outstanding here. Downstairs they have a collection of Asian art and outside a beautiful sculpture garden. Entrance is $15 and the museum is closed on Tuesdays. Also, the museum opens late; during the week at 12pm, Fri-Sun at 11am. Admission is free on the first Friday of the month from 5pm to 8pm.

Peterson Automotive Museum

This museum in La Brea lies close to LACMA (see below) and other fun things to do around La Brea and Fairfax (see blog about this neighborhood). Again, it's a museum that is especially attractive for its architecture. The collection of cars from movies is the most fun, in my opinion. Are you really interested in cars and want to see the more exclusive ones; buy a (more expensive) ticket for ‘The Volt’… Open every day, a regular ticket costs $16.

LACMA

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is across the street from the Peterson. At the moment it is being renovated, so a couple of the halls are closed and parts of the permanent collection are relocated in other halls. The exhibitions are very diverse; from antiques to Modern and from European to Asian. It will fully reopen in 2024. Closed on Wednesdays, tickets cost $25, $20 is your a LA county resident.

USC Pacific Asia Museum

Another museum in Pasadena, also close to Old Town. Before the pandemic they were showing the exhibition of Oscar Oiwa: Dreams of a Sleeping World. This very impressive 360 degrees dreamscape was made in 2 weeks with 120 sharpie markers. The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Entrance is $10, free admission on Thursday evenings 5-8pm.

Also check out this video of music composed by Chad Cannon especially for 10 of Oiwa's paintings:

I also have a pdf version of my LA guide available :) And don't forget to subscribe on this blog by clicking the 'subscribe' button on the top of my homepage.

Thanks!

Sarah
@sarahinlalala
sarainlalala@gmail.com