Los Angeles or shorter L.A. is one of the largest cities in the United States. It is ranked second in the list of cities with the largest number of citizens. It is also one of the most visited destinations for tourists. Some of the symbols of this metropolis are certainly Theme Building, Griffith Observatory, Echo Park, Hollywood Walk of Fame and, of course, Hollywood Sign.
However, in addition to these very interesting places that you can see while visiting the City of Angels, there are other buildings that may not be so attractive to tourists, but certainly, deserve attention. We think of art museums. For this reason, we decided to introduce you to which top 10 best art museum located in Los Angeles and that we advise you to visit when you are in LA. So, if you’re ready, let’s start.
1. J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum is definitely one of the most visited museums in Los Angeles. Statistical data from 2016 tells us that this institution was visited by more than two million visitors that year. It is also important to say that the museum consists of two campuses, Getty Villa and the Getty Center.
2016. Paul Getty Museum has a very large collection of exhibits and antiques originating from different cultures. For example, in the Getty Center, visitors can see artworks of Western art dating back to the Middle Ages, as well as some exhibits from later periods. As for the Getty Villa, this building was opened on January 28, in the year of 2006. Like the Getty Center, Villa has a very large collection of exhibits, even more than 44,000 works of art, of which more than 1,200 works of art can be viewed and which originate from Roman, Greek and Etruscan cultures.
If you plan to visit the J. Paul Getty Museum and view their stunning collection of different antiques, you can do this every day from 10 AM to 5:30 PM at Getty Center, except on Monday when they are closed. Visiting hours during Saturday is from 10 AM to 9 PM. As for the Getty Villa, it’s open from 10 AM to 5 PM, except Tuesday. It is important to note that for both campuses, admission is free.
2. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
The next on our list of the best art museums in the City of Angels is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This institution is, just like the previous museum on our list, very much visited by tourists, and statistics say that visits are estimated on one million visitors annually. It is important to note that LACMA is the largest art museum in the western part of the United States.
As for the history of LACMA, it was established more than a century ago, in the year of 1910. At that time, this museum was part of the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art. After more than 50 years, in 1961, it became an independent institution. The building located at Wilshire Boulevard and which houses this museum was officially opened in the year of 1965.
As far as exhibits and artifacts are concerned, the collection is very large with over 150 000 works that include a historical period of 6000 years. If you want to visit this very interesting place, you can do it from Monday to Thursday when the museum is open from 11 AM to 5 PM, except Wednesday when it is closed. As for other days, LACMA is available for visitors on Friday from 11 AM to 8 PM, while it is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 AM to 7 PM.
3. Marciano Art Foundation
The Marciano Art Foundation is a museum whose exhibits include a period of contemporary art and artists that are known, but also those that have not yet been affirmed. The works of art, that are part of the exhibition, were created in the period from 1990 to the present day. Founders of this very interesting site are well-known personalities, co-founders of the fashion brand Guess, Maurice and Paul Marciano.
They presented their personal Marciano Art Collection in a building that has a great history. It’s about the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple located at the Wilshire Boulevard. The building was bought for $8 million and later completely renovated into a museum. The Marciano Art Foundation has officially opened two years ago on May 25, in the year of 2017.
As for the terms when you can visit this Museum of Contemporary Art, the Marciano Art Foundation is available for visitors from 11 AM to 5 PM on Thursday and Friday. It is also open on Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM, as well as on Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM. The museum is closed to the public on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
4. The Broad
The Broad is another museum of contemporary art that was founded in this decade. This institution was founded on September 20, in the year of 2015, and the founders of this museum are Eli and Edythe Broad. Most of the exhibits in The Broad are works that originated from the 1950s to the present day. The broad collection is quite large and includes over 2,000 artworks that belong to postwar and contemporary art. Also, significant information is that this is one of the largest collections of this type in the world.
As for the buildings, the area that represents the exhibition space is 120,000 square feet and is located at Downtown Los Angeles. The building is brand new and designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The cost of construction works was $140 million.
Statistics says that every year, The Broad Museum is visited by over 800,000 visitors from around the world. If you want to be among the visitors, you can visit The Broad on Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 AM to 5 PM, Thursday and Friday from 11 AM to 8 PM, as well as Saturday from 11 AM to 8 PM and Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM. The museum does not work on Mondays as well as Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
5. The Museum of Contemporary Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art or shorter MOCA is a museum of contemporary art that was founded in the year of 1979. Their collection is one of the largest collections of contemporary art and has over 7000 items. These exhibits originated in the period after 1940 and up to the present day, including the works of American and European artists.
The Museum of Contemporary Art is located in two locations, on Grand Avenue where is the main branch of this museum, while the original building is Geffen Contemporary. MOCA Grand Avenue has a surface area of 45,000 m2, while the second location has an area of 55,000 square feet.
The museum is open to all visitors on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 AM to 6 PM, on Saturday and Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM, as well as on Thursday from 11 AM to 8 PM. The museum is not open to visitors on Tuesday.
6. Hammer Museum
The Hammer Museum is an institution that was established and opened for visitors in November 1990. The founder of this museum is Dr. Armand Hammer, an entrepreneur who used to be the President of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation and museum bears his name. The sad fact is that the founder of the Hammer Museum passed away just a month after the official opening.
As for the building that houses a collection of over 2,000 works of art that belong to contemporary art, it was designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. After the death of Mr. Hammer, the museum passed through a period during which the administration of this institution was taken over by a neighboring institution, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). This happened in April 1994.
Certainly, Hammer Museum is worthy to visit, and as an additional motive, it can be an admission which is completely free for all exhibitions and for all visitors. We must say that you can visit the museum from Tuesday to Friday when it’s open from 11 AM to 8 PM. You can also do this on Saturdays and Sundays when it’s open from 11 AM to 5 PM. The Hammer Museum is closed to all visitors on Mondays.
7. The Velveteria
The official name of the Velveteria Museum is The Velveteria Epicenter of Art Fighting Cultural Deprivation. This museum has a very interesting collection of exhibits that are actually velvet paintings and is the only institution of this type. The current location of the museum is Los Angeles, however, the original location of the Velveteria Museum was in Portland, Oregon and was opened in the year of 2005.
After 5 years of existence in Portland, the museum in this city was closed and relocated to the City of Angels, in Chinatown. Officially, the museum was opened at the new location in 2013. The main reason for this decision was financial problems.
The founders and owners of this very interesting place are Caren Anderson and Carl Baldwin. Their collection contains over 3000 artworks, and some of the most interesting are the portraits of Michael Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley, Anderson Cooper and even Jesus Christ. As for visits, the museum is open every day from 11 AM to 6 PM except Tuesday, when the museum is closed to visitors.
8. FIDM Museum & Galleries
The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising or FIDM is a museum that has a large collection of exhibits that are actually the clothes that emerged in the past three centuries. The museum was founded by Tonian Hohberg in 1969, but it was officially opened 9 years later, in the year of 1978. In addition to the large number of costumes, the museum also has a large number of accessories and textiles that were produced from the 18th century to the present day.
Their collection contains 15,000 items that are available to all visitors. The origin of these items is from all over the world, so everyone who comes to the FIDM Museum can see both folk dress and non-Western costumes. The main goal of this institution is to present to everyone the diversity and history of clothing design.
Certainly, FIDM Museum & Galleries is a place worth visiting when you are in Los Angeles. At the moment of writing this text, the museum is closed to all visitors so that no information about visiting hours is available, but when it is reopened, the admission will be free as before.
9. Museum of African American Art
The Museum of African American Art or Shorter CAAM is a non-profit institution that aims to educate as many people as possible of all ages. This museum was founded more than 40 years ago, more precisely in the year of 1976 by Dr. Samella Lewis who is an artist.
As you can conclude from the name of this institution, all items in the museum belong to African American art. All visitors are allowed to view works by artists around the world (especially from South America, Africa, South Pacific and the Caribbean) and exhibits such as carvings, ceremonial objects, batiks and various masks. However, the central exhibition in the large number of items this museum possesses is Palmer C. Hayden Collection which includes 12 oil paintings by this artist.
The museum is open to all interested visitors from Thursday to Sunday between 12 AM and 5 PM.
10. The Annenberg Space for Photography
The Annenberg Space for Photography is an institution whose exhibitions are focused on the art of photography. This museum was founded in March 2009. We must note that this is the only institution in Los Angeles that focuses exclusively on photography. Even the building where the museum is located is designed to resemble the camera lens. The Central Digital Gallery is an example of this type of design.
In addition to several digital galleries, print galleries are also available in this museum. The institution also has all the latest technologies related to photography such as 4K digital technology.
As for visits, the museum is available to all visitors from Wednesday to Sunday, in the period between 11 AM and 6 PM. The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. It is important to note that admission is free.
