What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Not really a vacation; we were just out of town for a few days to visit some museums in Los Angeles and the grandchildren in Long Beach.

Of course, we had to visit the Los Angeles County Museum (aka LACMA). Their old wing with the 20th-century painting and drawings has traditional galleries showing their wonderful collection in depth. Particularly notable were all the Giacometti sculptures, with even a few that were not his usual skinny individuals. The Picassos from early till late, paintings and drawings, are extraordinary, even with a large painting from his Blue Period which is not shown much in museums anymore. Here is his portrait of his friend Sebastià Junyer Vidal.

The new Geffen wing has very interesting concrete architecture that spans the nearby thoroughfare. The galleries are all on the upper level with the continuous glass walls curtained with a UV-protective material invented to protect the art from fading. There are a few small, enclosed galleries in the center,  but the entire perimeter is flowing open space occupied by sculpture and objects, with paintings relegated to the interior cement walls. Varied works from different aspects of the permanent collection are presented, and it is hard to follow any storyline.

I did find one object that my gallery had sold to LACMA many years ago, a gilded terracotta bust of Pope Alexander VIII by Domenico Guidi (Rome 1625-1701). Created in 1691. One advantage of the installation is free-standing pieces without plexiglass cases. One can see the works from all sides, including, as with this bust, the back, but one often sees the front against the light from the glass walls.

We wanted to see 18th-century paintings and French decorative arts. Couldn’t find them. The guard explained that the galleries were arranged by Ocean! We tried the area designated on the map as Atlantic with no luck.

We got our fill, however, at the Getty Center. Unfortunately, much was closed for renovation and updating, such as the air-conditioning system and wiring for new technology. There was, however, plenty to feast our eyes on. We had a special treat in that we met up with an old friend, Charissa Bremer-David, who was for many years the curator in the Getty Department of Sculpture and Decorative Arts. I enjoyed seeing a lot of other old friends (objects that is) that we had sold to the museum and Mr. Getty personally. If you want to know my Getty stories, just type his name into the search engine and scroll down.

We then went to a new museum called DATALAND. It describes itself as “the world’s first Museum of AI Arts and digital ecosystem where human imagination meets the creative potential of machines”. No, I cannot explain it further. They do put a watch of sorts on your wrist, and some contraption around your neck to add sensory odors, and the watch measures your biometrics. Here is a still photo from one of the rooms and a s 3-dimensional video I found effective in another. (Image Still and Video choice 1 or 2)

Needless to say, it was great being with the grandchildren in Long Beach, and we got to go with the family to a museum that was new to us, the Bowers in Santa Ana, Orange County. It was so well done. They have expanded from the original 1932 building, which houses their early 20th-century California artists' paintings, to a modern wing of Asian and Pacific art. Each object is sensitively presented with clear, understandable labels. I found their Art of the Pacific Islands most interesting, particularly because I know so very little about it. The object, however, that I found haunting loomed out of the darkness in the gallery of Chinese art. It was a Tomb Demon from the Warring States period to the Western Han Dynasty (1475BCE-9CE). These were placed inside tombs to ward away malevolent spirits, protect the deceased’s soul, and deter tomb robbers. Unfortunately, I did not take a photo there, so here is an image without the magic of its installation.

We packed a lot into an exhilarating few days!