Page 26 - 2023-2024 Travel Guide to California

MUSEUMS & ART
BY LAURIE WEED
A THRIVING SCENE
Art, science and culture flourish on the Left Coast
FINE ARTS MUSEUMS
OF SAN FRANCISCO
The Legion of Honour museum
commands a dramatic setting
atop Lincoln Park with views of
the grand Pacific Ocean.
Combined with the de Young
museum in Golden Gate Park,
they form the largest public arts
institution in San Francisco.
Whether you prefer to ogle modern art
or antiquities, Ice Age fossils or space
shuttles, the Golden State’s wealth of
world-class museums awaits. With more than
1,000 museums of all sizes across the state,
there’s a lifetime of fine art, science, history
and culture to explore, as well as weird and
wonderful collections for every imaginable
niche-interest, from Star Wars memorabilia
to the legends of Bigfoot. While it’s impos-
sible to do them all justice here, we’ve
attempted to highlight the best of the best.
The Arts
Visiting LA? It’s easy to spend hours in the
West’s largest art museum, the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art (LACMA). Down-
town, the Museum of Contemporary Art
and Geffen Contemporary (MOCA Grand
and MOCA Geffen, respectively) showcase
the best in art created after 1940 in all
media. The Institute of Contemporary Art
(ICA LA) is housed downtown to great
acclaim. The renowned Getty Center in the
Brentwood district includes art from the
Middle Ages to today set amid modern
architecture and gardens. Getty Villa in
Malibu focuses on Greek and Roman clas-
sical art. Pasadena’s Norton Simon displays
European and Modern artists amid a serene
sculpture garden. In nearby San Marino,
The Huntington features an impressive
24 2023-24 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
BONDROCKETIMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: TANER MUHLIS KARAGUZEL/SHUTTERSTOCK; NOAH SAUVE/SHUTTERSTOCK