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One Traveler's Opinion: LA Museums

I had the opportunity this past weekend to spend two days museum hopping in Los Angeles. Herewith some notes. The Norton Simon museum is a testament to what someone of wealth can do if they turn their attention to art, as opposed to, say, buying a football team. Once known as the Pasadena Museum of Art, the industrialist (Hunt Wesson, Canada Dry) transformed the museum into a home for his personal collection of European art and Asian sculpture. The building and grounds were extensively rebuilt this year. Simon specialized; he liked Italian art of the 16th century, and so there is lots of it, all very good. He liked Van Gogh, and there is a gallery largely devoted to that artist. The Modern collection is also strong, with lots of Matisse and Picasso. The organization of the collection is intelligent, with individual galleries built around logical themes. The renovation of the museum has resulted in the lower level being turned over to the large collection of Asian art, principally from the Indian subcontinent. The displays are dramatic, the pieces are exquisite, but the explanations are maddeningly uninformative. “Shiva (14th Cen.) Nepal” is about average. Conversely, the wall cards for the impressionists upstairs carry paragraphs of information on each painting, and even seek to relate different paintings to one another. The new outdoor garden is a pleasure. There’s a pond as a central element, with color themes running through the plantings. In a few years, when the gardens reach maturity, this place has the potential to be a knockout. Seeing the new Getty Center was the catalyst for the trip and it’s impossible not to have a strong opinion of the place. The site is 600 acres perched above Bel Air, reachable only by tram. Parking requires an advanced reservation (which a three-week head start could not get me), although I observed that, from the time you made the turn off of Sepulveda to get into the Getty’s garage until you passed through the security area, a half an hour or more could elapse. Conversely, you can park at a lot on the grounds of the VA Hospital near Sepulveda and Wilshire (take a left turn off of Sepulveda onto Constitution and follow the signs) and take a shuttle bus that runs continuously ($5 to park, $5 per person for the shuttle). The Getty is designed as theatre; six buildings, each devoted to a style of art, each cloaked in Travertine marble (chunks of the marble are for sale in the gift shop). There are dozens of balconies and terraces from which to view the city below you, enough that it makes you wonder whether the primary purpose of the Getty is to display art or to provide vistas of LA. The Getty’s holdings are exquisite. John Paul Getty spent hundreds of millions to build his collection; he left the Getty Foundation $5 billion to maintain and expand it. The Greek and Roman antiquities collection (which will move back to Malibu in 2002) is second to none. Each piece is explained in detail, and additional information is available on placards. The European decorative arts are housed in rooms that have been designed around the pieces in them. The Getty’s holdings in paintings are jewels: a pair of Van Haysum florals, for example, separated by a Dutch armoire. Viewing art doesn’t get any better than this. But eventually you go back outside and things get disturbing. There are multiple gardens, reached by paths designed to “provide an experience for the visitor” (the Getty’s words, not mine). There are cafes, restaurants, and shops. I applaud the latter because museums need to be inviting places. The Getty pushes the envelope, perhaps a little too far for my taste. But you gotta see the place. LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, was the disappointment of the trip. There’s a special exhibition on called “Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town” on view through January, and the museum had told me that, while advance timed tickets were available, they weren’t crucial. What I found was a two-hour-long line for unticketed entry, and only three hours before I had to leave for San Diego, so I reluctantly took a pass. That exhibit includes 400 objects from the Naples archeological museum, and divides its focus between art and technology. The permanent collection at LACMA pales in comparison to that of the Getty and Norton Simon. It’s strength is in Italian Baroque, a little of which goes a long way, and late 20th Century American, a little of which goes an even longer way. There’s a decent collection of Japanese art. On the whole, LACMA appears to be a museum that lacks the funding to keep itself looking current, the result is a kind of dowdy place. Lodging notes: The Park Hyatt in Century City caters to business executives Monday through Friday; on weekends, they practically give away rooms. For $219, I had a 10th floor suite with all the trimmings an a view of the 20th Century Fox studio complex. It’s a beautiful hotel with full gym, indoor and outdoor pools, and uncommonly attractive public areas. The Sunday brunch is a laid-back affair, but served in a bright, cheerful setting. The valet parking is a bit of a pain, but it comes with the territory. Cautionary note: I rode in the tram to the Getty with a couple who were staying at the Holiday Inn Bel Air, a circular, 15-story hotel near the Getty’s entrance. They pronounced the place “a dump.” Take it for what it’s worth. Food notes: My thanks to all who responded to my query. Taiko in Brentwood lived up to its reputation for quality Japanese cuisine. Jake’s Grill in Old Town Pasadena was a relaxing place for sidewalk dining as well as people watchig, and is convenient to the Norton Simon. Baja Fresh, a local chain of Mexican restaurants, is as good as its name suggests.

Thanks for posting this!

Neal, So glad you posted. Los Angeles and Pasadena have a lot to offer and you describe the highlights very well. ( I don't like the Getty's inaccessibilty, but it is a world class museum). If you are interested in architecture, take one of the many walking tours of downtown Los Angeles sponsored by the LA CONSERVANCY on your next trip. Downtown is amazing and few Angelenos know this.

It's a darned shame you don't just enjoy yourself, somehow, everywhere you go. Sure, there are plusses and minuses, everywhere you visit. But, why dwell on the minuses? Gee, but when I get home, I revel in the enormously positive experiences, and can hardly (and, surely, don't recall each and every minor detail for reporting to others) remember the less than appealing ones. You may consider your overly extensive and nit-picking "opinions" interesting and useful, but I, for one do not. One year, we went to Bar Harbor, Maine expecting positively glorious scenery. Unfortunately, it was completely fogged in the entire time. Even, so, we saw plenty and had a fabulous time. Shame on you for pointing out the minor deficiencies everywhere you've ever gone!

I, for one, find Neal's very detailed descriptions an absolute DELIGHT to read -- and very informative as well! Keep up the excellent reporting, Neal!

Neal's report is informative and well-written. When I first read Ralph's post I thought he had responded to the wrong post. Pointing out areas where improvements could be made is not "dwelling on the negatives". AND LACMA should inform visitors that purchasing tickets in advance is the only way to avoid long lines. ( I've heard this complaint before). Neal, great report. Is the Pompeii exhibit worth seeing? I was thinking of going , but I don't like mob scenes at musuems.

Michele, I had seen a review of the Pompeii exhibit before leaving for LA, and it sounded interesting for two reasons: 1) the source for most of the material is the Naples archeological museum, which has the world's most comprehensive collection of Pompeii art, and 2) the curators of the exhibit had determined to broaden the scope of the exhibit to include the Roman technology in use in Pompeii. So, worth a visit? Definitely. I called LACMA about timed tickets, and after spending ten minutes in touch-tone limbo, spoke with a real live human who said walk-up tickets had been readily available from the day the exhibit opened. That Sunday, however, was something called "Family Day" at LACMA, and there also was a separate Native American Crafts Festival taking place on the museum's parking deck. Whatever the reason, the guard with whom I spoke eyeballed the 2 - 300 person line and pronounced the wait "at least two hours." That's when I headed for the general collection. Ralph, I'm very sorry you could find only negative comments in my note. What's negative about "viewing art doesn't get any better than this"? My purpose in writing was to share an experience from a personal perspective. My biggest criticism of most travel writing is that it is so uniformly upbeat; nothing ever disappoints. Real life isn't like that; Bar Harbor is foggy five months of the year and the San Fernando Kumquat Festival is just fifty vendors selling overpriced nachos. I'd rather read those things ahead of time and make my own decision about whether to go.

Once again, Neal has provided travelers with a wealth of information which is sure to be printed out and placed in travel files everywhere. A valuable travel report contains both the negatives and the positives of an attraction. Otherwise, how can people make informed decisions on how to plan their trips? Thanks, Neal!

Once again, thank you Neal for a valuable "review."

The Pompei exhibit was certainly worth seeing. Two frescoes in the exhbit are among the most famous pieces in Naples and are always reproduced in any book on Pompei. One shows a man and woman looking at the viewer and the other shows a woman holding a pen, long thought to be Sapho. In addition there was a magnificent mozaic of martime animal life and other superb frescoes. There was one of the famous plaster casts of a body and there were exquisite bowls and plates. There were shop signs and tools and instruments. I never thought that I would ever in my lifetime be able to see the two frescoes I originally mentioned without going to Naples. I also enjoyed LACMA much more than Neal did. I thought it had very good American Art, oustanding Roman Sculpture, donated by William Randolph Hearst, a very good room with pieces by Russian modernists, particulalrly a piece by Larionov and a fine collection in general. While the presentation of pieces in the Getty and the architecture are outstanding, I did not think that this collection of masterpieces was superior to the other LA collections, with the exception that Neal noted of the period rooms and perhaps some of the Greek pieces that conserved their original color. If I had one room to go to in all of the museums, I would go the room in the Norton Simon with 4 Van Goghs and some terrific Degas pieces. Finally, no one mentioned the Huntington Library and, while I am not that partial to English portraiture, was incredible for its mixture of art, architecture and incredible gardens.

TTT (to the top, for you newcomers); this is the kind of posting we used to have here on Fodor's...back in the old days.

Two notes:

-- If one posts something like this now, one might get flamed for pretentiousness.

-- LACMA is working on improving their permament collection, and the traveling exhibitions it does get are pretty impressive (the Eames exhibition from the Smithsonian was outstanding, for example). Still, concentrating on smaller museums and galleries can be very satisfying too (Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, a gallery collective, is wonderful, and don't forget hitting Laguna Beach for their little downtown galleries).

Thank you for the great descriptions.