Monday, August 14, 2006

Norton Simon Museum

One of my favorite places in LA is the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. It has a small and intimate art collection (read: manageable and not overwhelming) and hardly ever gets crowded. What makes this place a real gem, however, is its extensive Asian art collection (above and below). The bottom floor is devoted almost entirely to art from South and Southeast Asia. What's more, the space suits the collection beautifully-- it is very peaceful and spare, with lots of natural light.

Buddhas from different parts of Asia:

Nepal

India (I'm pretty sure)

India

Pakistan

6 comments:

Crystal said...

I have been to a LOT of musuems in my life and I definitely prefer the more intimate "boutique" musems to those of Louvre proportion. What a wonderful Asian art collection!

Octopus Grigori said...

I still want to try their snack bar.

Anonymous said...

i can't believe i still haven't gone there yet. shoot. maybe the third time i try, i'll finally make it in!

junebee said...

Oh, I would love to go there! The Buddhas look so peaceful.

When the Citizen lived in Miami, we drove to West Palm Beach to the Norton Museum to see an Asian art exhibit. Unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic so we got there an hour before the museum closed, which wasn't much time.

Creative-Type Dad said...

Totally agree!

I use to live in South Pasadena, in the single years, and just sit and draw there occasionally.

It's nice to be somewhere where it's quiet and nobody bothers you. And the collection isn't so bad either.

Octopus Grigori said...

The subcontinent is so awesome. It's given the world so much: Buddha, chess, mangoes, and zero.