Which museum in LA?
 

We only have time to see one museum while visiting LA this summer. Our kids are teenagers. Should it be The Getty, The Huntington, The LA County Museum of Art, or the Norton Simon? Thanks!

It should be the La Brea Tar Pits. that place never fails to amaze and fascinate me. It won't take all day, so you could pop into the LACMA next door when you're done.

The Getty is wonderful. The LACMA is great, too, but the Getty architecture and grounds is an amazing attraction on its own. Make a full day of it and ENJOY!!!

How into art are you? In my humble opinion, the real treat of the Getty is the architecture, including the landscape architecture, the building itself, the view, and even the restaurant. The art exhibits are OK, but somehow almost seem secondary to the building which is the real show. If you are really looking for art, I'd think the Huntington or the Norton Simon might be better. But unless your kids are pretty knowledgeable, I'd think the Getty is still the best deal.

Does anyone know if the Getty Malibu is open again? If so, and you enjoy antiquties, it's fabulous. Again, the building and grounds of Getty's first museum are gorgeous. It's a replica of an ancient Roman villa with more colors of marble than you can imagine and a lovely reflecting pool.

The Getty in Malibu is NOT open.<BR><BR>My personal favorite is the Norton Simon primarily because of the sheer quality of great art, relatively small, and not boring. You can then head over to Old Town Pasadena for lunch, followed by the Huntington in the afternoon. By the way, the best part of the Huntington, in my opinion, is NOT the museum (although the kids will get a kick out of the Blue Boy and Washington painting), but the botanical gardens.<BR><BR>As for the Getty, Patrick is right. Getty was not known for having a great talent at collecting, although there's a couple of paintings that interest me. It's mostly for the view. I'm not fond of the architecture, but I'm in a minority. Somehow concrete has never inspired me.<BR><BR>LA County has its peaks and valleys. It periodically has truly great exhibitions, like the Van Gogh, the Caillebotte, and the Picasso. Having said that, it has a really neat atmosphere in the summer on Friday jazz nights.

Concrete? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the Getty is the largest single structure user of marble in the world. That entire building is clad in marble, not concrete.

When visiting the Getty we just happened upon a walking architectual tour started and it was just plain fabulous, just made our day special to understand why the museum was placed the way it was and the materials that were used in different areas....I think your kids would enjoy it also.....

The gardens at the Getty are worth a trip. The newly landscaped Norton Simon is also nice. I am fans of LACMA and the Huntington as well, but with teens, the Getty will probably be the most fun. The Huntington sometimes is way too hot in the summer. Do you have a particular artistic interest? Different museums focus on different types of art......

True, Patrick. The Getty's marble is from the same Italian mountains that the marble of the Sistine Chapel was derived. Just some trivia for you.<BR><BR>I think your kids would be bored at LACMA, although you could easily do LACMA and La Brea Tar Pits in one day. The kids would enjoy the pits.<BR><BR>I think your kids would be definetly be bored at the Norton Simon, but if paired with a stroll down Old Town, it might relight their fires a bit.<BR><BR>I think your kids would enjoy the Getty most, because of its precarious location and great views, and the relatively vast outdoor space to explore. The collection is small, but I think it was very nice with some very famous pieces, a few notable Van Goghs.<BR><BR>Hmmm, I'd say a toss up between LACMA/Tar Pits and the Getty.

PS: Your decision whether or not to go to LACMA might be heavily influenced by the current exhibition there. Exhibition space there is significant, so depending on the artist it might really swing your decision for or against. I'd check into it.

Actually, I saw the construction of the Getty and under the travertine stone panels (glued on), it is concrete, and even the travertine is not all over the structure. I thought travertine was a different stone than marble, but I'm not an expert.

Travertine is a type of marble, sometimes even called Travertine marble. Of course there is concrete underneath, as travertine is not a building material. I just thought it was an odd comment above about not being into concrete, when virtually the entire building (well anything I could see) is covered with the marble!

Patrick, mea culpa! My office building has a view of the Getty. From here (a mile down the road) it looks like a big fat concrete block. I haven't been there since shortly after it opened, and now that you mention it, there was a lot of stone. The stone they used didn't look like marble to me. It's a matte southwestern color. Still, from a distance, I don't like the look, whether concrete or marble or both. Maybe if it had some color, like the marble covering the duomo in Florence, I would have a different feeling about it.

Essenetially, you're all correct. But there is an aspect you've not mentioned: Meier's design goal was to use three different outer materials, including metal clad, plus white paint, to indictate the function of that part of the building. He and his design team made numerous trips to quarries in Italy to uncover just the right type of stone. He was so enamored with some &quot;wasteage&quot; in the quarry floor that he brought those pieces along and installed them &quot;randomly&quot; as visual points of beauty.<BR><BR>Now, lets also not overlook the gardens - designed not by an architect, but by an artist - and subect to many complaints by Meier, but standing there just the same, a brilliant addition.<BR><BR>All are correct, in my view, that the art inside is strictly secondary to the building and grounds.<BR><BR>May I also say that at their store, you can purchase one heck of a neat tee shirt.<BR><BR>If you go, take along a jacket - it can become cold up there.

I'd highly recommend the Getty. But as an alternative, you might want to consider spending part of the day at the LACMA, followed by a stop at the Peterson Automotive Museum (located just down the street). After touring a few museums, then you could stop at the Farmer's Market for dinner.

I agree with sightseer:<BR><BR>I would go for LACMA, then walk though the Tar Pits to the Natural Museum or the Petersen's Automotive Museum. They are all within walking distance to each other.<BR><BR>You can do it in a day and absolutely go to the Farmer's Market on Third and Fairfax for lunch.