On a completely different note….
On the way back I had a few hours to kill so I stopped at the Getty Museum.
I remember thinking when it opened in 2002 that it sounded impossibly
cool and grandiose to be built in this day and age. If you aren’t
familiar with it, it is a huge art museum built from scratch on a
mountain overlooking downtown LA. It looks almost like a modernist
castle. You park at the bottom of the mountain and go up on a fancy
electric tram.
The museum has a very extensive collection of 17th to 19th century
paintings and also big collections of illuminated books, sculpture and
furniture type things. They focus on the older stuff and they have lots
of the big names from Rembrandt to Van Gogh and everyone in-between. I
used to really like the impressionists, but I found that the earlier
stuff was much more compelling. Their collection (other than the
impressionists) seemed to be almost photo-realistic painitings. There
is probably a style name for that, but I liked it. The impressionists
seemed crude by comparison. The museum is definately worth a visit if
you’re in the area!
The grounds of the museum are also spectacular — although it was too hazy & smoggy to see much of the view.
Going
there must have made me feel swanky because I sprang for the upgrade to
first class. (only $75). I’m glad I did because it saved me a solid
hour of standing in the security line. First class gets to jump to the
front.
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