My Favorites at LACMA

I love art museums. In the Los Angeles area, I’ve been to the Getty Center and the beautiful Getty Villa, the Norton Simon Museum, the Huntington Library Art Collection, the Bergamot Station arts complex and more. This time I visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). We only made it through a small section of the museum, but I found some personal favorites.

Of course everyone who visits takes pictures of “Urban Light” by Chris Burden. Here are some of the 202 street lights that make up the installation. They turn on at dusk, but they’re still wonderful during the day.

Here is a beautiful Archangel Raphael from 17th century Naples:

And some pop art by Idelle Weber, a fun piece called “Jump Rope”.

More pop art, a fun wooden sculpture by Joel Shapiro called “Dancing Man”. I also like “A Lawn Being Sprinkled” by David Hockney behind the dancing man.

My sister particularly liked this one. It’s called “Balloon Monkey (Orange)” by Jeff Koons, and it’s located outside the Ahmanson Building at LACMA. It sits in a reflecting pool, apparently at least partly to keep people from touching it. (I’ve linked an article below about the reflecting pool.)

Here’s a little more info about some of the pieces and artists above:

Everything You Didn’t Know about Urban Light, from the LA Times

Idelle Weber, “Jump Rope” from LACMA UnFramed

David Hockney (painter of “A Lawn Being Sprinkled”)

Koons Monkey Business at LACMA

The Monkey Gets a Moat

The LACMA Website

Flowers at the Norton Simon Museum

These Bird of Paradise flowers are part of the California Summer Border at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. They are so striking I couldn’t resist adding another flower picture to the blog.

Here’s a link to the museum’s page about the California Summer Border.

Details — Getty Villa Gardens

It was a chilly day by California standards, but since I was a refugee from the Midwest cold I really didn’t want to be inside any more than I had to. So I spent most of my time at the Getty Villa at the gardens, which are laid out to represent ancient Roman gardens.

The Villa is in a lovely setting by the sea. It has several gardens, one of which is a beautiful long formal peristyle with a pool. But of course I don’t have even one good picture of that view — instead, I focused on the details.

Fountain with theatrical masks -- East Garden, 2013 — Fountain with theatrical masks — East Garden, 2013

Autumn changes In the Outer Peristyle, 2013

No idea what this is: beautiful little plants in the herb garden

There is a lot more to these gardens. The Villa also has extensive exhibits inside the building which focus on ancient Greek and Roman culture and art. More info about the Getty Villa (which is distinct from the Getty Center in Los Angeles) is here.

Singing Beach Chairs

I didn’t hear these chairs when I visited the West Coast. Maybe it wasn’t windy enough for me to hear the tones they are supposed to sing under the right conditions. But I like public art, and I like these examples that seem to fit right into the Santa Monica Beach personality.