Best museum in Southern California?

Are there any museums in Southern Cali that even come close to the museums in Europe?

what european museums were you thinking of? MoCA is often very good, Hammer has one of the best contemporary programs in the country, and the Santa Monica museum although it is the size of a large gallery puts on really good shows as well.

the getty is stagnant garbage as far as collections go, but i suppose it is european in that it's probably the closest thing we have to the acropolis.

One of the best unknown museums in Southern California that houses some real "gems" is the Huntington Museum, Library and Gardens in Pasadena. Their collections are stunning and diverse.

Norton Simon in Pasadena.

Originally Posted by pocketsquareguy

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One of the best unknown museums in Southern California that houses some real "gems" is the Huntington Museum, Library and Gardens in Pasadena. Their collections are stunning and diverse.
same problem as the getty (stagnant collection) but i regardless. getty and huntington are also kind of interesting in that they are two of the biggest holders of LA's insanely large archival collections of films, books, and other printed matter. As a whole, the institutional holdings of the city are like Ancient Alexandria's but nobody really knows it outside of academia

Originally Posted by Fred49

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Norton Simon in Pasadena.
another bunch of pretty buildings that hold a collection that never changes...

lacma, particularly the south and southeast asian stuff, the getty though stodgy, really is a treasure (sorry mharwitt) ... the photography collection alone is amazing, huntington is great, but the norton simon is really amazing.

Originally Posted by foodguy

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lacma, particularly the south and southeast asian stuff, the getty though stodgy, really is a treasure (sorry mharwitt) ... the photography collection alone is amazing, huntington is great, but the norton simon is really amazing.
i'm trying to address the question posted by the OP, but still waiting for clarification. are European museums known for having the same artwork on display for 40 years? if so, then please ignore my posts. everyone else is correct and you can add the old Natural History Museum to the list. (i like LACMA a lot but it's got to be one of the worst-run museums in the country and i question the level of taste in some of their exhibits)

The european museums I was thinking about were the Prado, Louvre, etc. I mean, when I went through those museums, my mind was blown! Just the whole experience of spending the whole day there, viewing amazing painting after amazing painting, many of which were the size of an entire wall. These paintings gave you a glimpse into how people lived back then, like a National Geographic on a much grander scale.

The Getty, from what I remember, had a few interesting pieces but just didn't compare. Perhaps I need to go back and refresh my memory though.

MoCA, just wasn't my cup of tea I guess. Too many abstract pieces for me (teddy bears nailed on a piece of wood, that type of thing). Not enough paintings (I was expecting more graffiti art pieces, pop-art, etc.)

I've been meaning to check out the Huntington, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

LACMA, it's probably been too long for me to remember anything about it. I have a feeling it might be the closest to what I'm looking for though.

Anything in San Diego? I went by the SD Museum of Art before, but didn't get a chance to go in. It looked impressive from the outside though.

Perhaps it would be too much to expect something like the Louvre or Prado in California, but it seems kind of sad being that Los Angeles is considered one of the biggest cities in the world but does not seem to have a world-class museum. I understand the European countries have had a lot more time to build their collections but still, I don't know if our museums even come close to New York's.

blow it out your ass

+1 considering it sounds like you haven't been to one in a decade (never been to the huntington! never heard of norton simon!), it's probably intemperate to make any judgements about their quality, don't you think?

you are my LA booster buddy

the ****?? Man, calm the **** down. I'm not dogging the quality of LA museums. I want more than what I've seen, and I'm just looking for opinions on what place I should check out next. ****!

Originally Posted by jussumguy

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The Getty, from what I remember, had a few interesting pieces but just didn't compare. Perhaps I need to go back and refresh my memory though...

I've been meaning to check out the Huntington, but haven't gotten around to it yet...

LACMA, it's probably been too long for me to remember anything about it. I have a feeling it might be the closest to what I'm looking for though...

Perhaps it would be too much to expect something like the Louvre or Prado in California, but it seems kind of sad being that Los Angeles is considered one of the biggest cities in the world but does not seem to have a world-class museum.

Originally Posted by jussumguy

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the ****?? Man, calm the **** down. I'm not dogging the quality of LA museums. I want more than what I've seen, and I'm just looking for opinions on what place I should check out next. ****!
if you had simply asked about good museums, that would be one thing; if you had gone to all the major museums ... or even 3-4 of them ... and dogged them, that would be another. but to dog them without even having done the basic homework is just covering up laziness with attitude.

"I just visited Paris. I'll bet LA is nothing like that. LA sucks"

"Last week I had an amazing Chinese dinner in NYC. Soooo much better than the meal I had at Wockano a few years ago in Redondo Beach. Man, why doesn't LA have good Chinese food?"


LA seems to be very prone to strange generalities like this, and I'm not sure why. Whatever the reason, it's very irritating to those of us who enjoy living here.