The Norton Simon Museum: One of the Great Private Art Collections

Pasadena is the home of one of the world's greatest private art collections: The Norton Simon Museum. It's a wonderful thing when an ambitious and successful businessman turns his attention to art. He collects art with the same systematic and aggressive approach that he uses in business, and he has so much money to put into play. And then, the most wonderful part is that he feels an urge, a necessity, to share his treasure with the general public. And the result is that for a mere $12 adult admission, any ordinary person can live like royalty for an afternoon, experiencing one masterpiece after another. Norton Simon said that an art museum is like a substitute for a church, and I agree: a place to worship beauty, truth, and creativity.

As you enter the parking lot (parking is free), this dominating work by Barbara Hepworth, one of the foremost sculptors of the mid-20th century, announces that this place is about Art.

Barbara Hepworth
Four-Square (Walk-Through), 1966
I took this photo and all the photos
in this post with my iPad

You might recognize the museum's façade: it is the first building on the route of the Rose Parade down Colorado Boulevard.

The grounds of the museum features some extraordinary trees.

The front garden has several important works by Auguste Rodin, the foremost sculptor of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Auguste Rodin, 1840-1917
Saint John the Baptist, 1878-1880

Behind the museum is a glorious sculpture garden, where iconic sculptures are placed with gorgeous trees and plantings in a spectacular setting.

A serpentine waterway complements the shape of the museum.
Across the pond is a sculpture by Maillol.

Aristide Maillol, 1861-1944
The Mountain, 1937

The presence of sculptures brings out the sculptural qualities of the trees and plants.

Ancient tree trunk has a sculptural quality.

This smoke tree complements the brick facing.

The presence of trees brings out the organic qualities of the sculpture.

This sculpture by Henry Moore blends in with the tree behind it.

Here's another work by Henry Moore that is less abstract.

Henry Moore, 1898-1986
Draped Reclining Woman, 1957-58

While we're talking about Henry Moore, let's move inside for another example. You can see that he had quite a broad range stylistically.

Henry Moore, 1898-1986
Family Group #1, 1949

There is also another work by Maillol inside.

Aristide Maillol, 1861-1944
Three Nymphes, 1930-1937

And there is another great work by Barbara Hepworth as well.

Barbara Hepworth, 1902-1975
Assembly of Sea Forms, 1972

The day of our visit, the special exhibit, Tête-à-tête, featured three masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. This generation of painters, born in the 1830s and 1840s, was moving away from painting traditions that were formal and self-important toward pictures that were more intimate and casual.

James Whistler, 1834-1903
Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1
(Portrait of the Artist’s Mother), 1871

Édouard Manet, 1832-1883
Émile Zola, 1868

Paul Cézanne, 1839-1906
The Card Players, c. 1892-1896

The Museum complemented this set with other works by these artists and their contemporaries from their own collection.

Paul Cézanne, 1839-1906
Vase of Flowers, 1880-81

Henri Fantin-Latour, 1836-1904
White and Pink Mallows in a Vase, 1895

Some of the painters of this time developed a style with loose brushstrokes, natural light, and vibrant color that became known as Impressionism.

Claude Monet, 1840-1926
The Artist’s Garden at Vétheuil, 1881

Camille Pissarro, 1830-1903
The Poultry Market at Pontoise, 1882

The next generation, born in the 1850s and 1860s, took these ideas even further in Post-Impressionism.

Vincent van Gogh, 1853-1890
The Mulberry Tree, 1889

Vincent van Gogh, 1853-1890
Portrait of the Artist’s Mother, 1888

Pierre Bonnard, 1867-1947
Portrait of Leila Claude Anet, 1930

The same generation was also the first to develop abstract painting. One of the earliest abstractionists, Vasily Kandinsky, was arguably the greatest. These examples show his wide range of styles.

Vasily Kandinsky, 1866-1944
Open Green, 1923

Vasily Kandinsky, 1866-1944
Heavy Circles, 1927

The foremost artists of the early part of the 20th century were Matisse and Picasso. Both were searching and experimental throughout their long careers.

Henri Matisse, 1869-1954
Nude on a Sofa, 1923

Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973
Woman with a Book, 1932

Here is a beloved image by one of their contemporaries from Mexico. Art trends are international.

Diego Rivera, 1886-1957
The Flower Vendor (Girl with Lilies), 1941

It is not uncommon for a museum to have a collection of European painting from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Several museums in this country have works by these artists and their contemporaries. What really gives the Norton Simon depth is the number of Old Masters, meaning painters from the 18th century and earlier.

Here are a few outstanding works from the 1700s. Notice how polished they look, as though the human hand were not involved.

François Boucher, 1703-1770
The Beautiful Country Woman, c. 1732

Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1755-1842
Theresa, Countess Kinsky, 1793

Marie-Geneviève Bouliar, 1763-1825
Self-Portrait, 1792

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1780-1867
Baron Joseph-Pierre de Mortatieu, 1805

Moving backwards in time, the 1600s is the age of Rembrandt.

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669
Portrait of a Bearded Man in a Wide-Brimmed Hat, 1633

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669
Self-Portrait, c. 1636-1638

Here's a wonderful painting by an Italian contemporary of Rembrandt's.

Baciccio, 1639-1709
St. Joseph and the Infant Christ, c. 1680

During the 1600s, floral still lifes became an important type of painting.

Jan Brueghel the Younger, 1601-1678
Flowers in a Gilt Tazza, c. 1620

Rachel Ruysch, 1664-1750
Nosegay on a Marble Plinth, c. 1695

Continuing to turn the clock backwards, the generation born in the late 1500s included Frans Hals and the incomparable Peter Paul Rubens.

Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640
The Holy Women at the Sepulchre, c. 1611-1614

Frans Hals, 1580-1666
Portrait of a Young Man, 1650-1655

In the 1500s, art was still largely dominated by religious stories.

Jacopo Bassano, 1510-1592
The Flight into Egypt, c. 1544-1545

Jan Massys, 1509-1575
Susanna and the Elders, 1564

In the 1400s, when artists first gained the stature to be known by name, most of the art that has come down to us was commissioned by some church or religious organization. The Madonna was the most popular subject. Even if religion turns you off, you can appreciate the warmth of feeling expressed, the balanced compositions, the harmonious colors, the tender shapes and lyrical lines, and the contemplative mood.

Botticelli, 1444-1510
Madonna and Child with Adoring Angel, c. 1468

Raphael, 1483-1520
Madonna and Child with Book, c. 1502-03

All of which brings us back to the idea of museum as a place of worship. A visit to the Norton Simon is uplifting and restorative.

Descanso Gardens: The Original California

What was California like originally, before the advent of pavement? What was the land like for the native people who first lived here?

You can find the answer at Descanso Gardens, a 160-acre parkland located 20 minutes north of Pasadena, in the foothills of the steeply rising San Gabriel mountains. Much of this land preserves the original forest of Coast live oaks, a reminder of a forest that once blanketed the region from Mondocino County along the Coast Ranges down to northern Baja California. The Tongva people who made this region their home relied on acorns as an important food source. Some of the oaks at Descanso are hundreds of years old, and gigantic in size, forming a lofty canopy stretching for acres. The name Descanso means 'rest' in Spanish, and it is very restful to the spirit to wander in the shade of these giants.

These giant Coastal oaks are breathtaking.

Notice that the shapes are taller than the oaks commonly seen inland,
and the trees grow closer together.

There are several other sections of the gardens. Importantly, one huge section, that would require a serious hike to appreciate, is an oak woodland—a mix of woodland, meadow and chaparral plants that recreates the heritage landscape of the Los Angeles Basin. This undeveloped area is important for the ecology of Descanso.

One of the most fully realized sections is the Japanese Garden. A lengthy section of a natural stream has been planted in the Japanese manner and stocked with koi. It has the usual arched bridge and wooden tea-house.

The children are fascinated by turtles swimming among the koi.

Turtle and koi

A zen garden within the Japanese Garden

Some of the other gardens are less impressive. Granted the area is going through a drought, and admittedly our visit was not the ideal timing for roses, lilacs, or camellias, nevertheless the flower gardens were in much better shape at the nearby LA County arboretum, which we visited a few days later. Still, it was pleasant to stroll from the California Natives Garden to the edible garden, and Descanso is a favorite spot for friends to meet for a peripatetic chat. There is also a popular café, which we didn't visit, and a cutesy gift shop.

Descanso Gardens was founded in the late 1930s by E. Manchester Boddy, former owner of Los Angeles Daily News. He commissioned a prominent architect to build a 22-room mansion for his family on a hillside in one corner of the property, with a panoramic view of the San Gabriel mountains. Boddy sold the property, including his house, to Los Angeles County in 1953, and  his home became a small museum for his life style.

E. Manchester Boddy, publisher

This desk is carefully composed, but the typewriter
 would have been an antique, even in the 1930s.

Wider view of Boddy's pleasant home office.

The living room is nice but not fancy.

Descanso Gardens is important as a record of life in Los Angeles, both for preserving sections of land in their original state, and for recording a gracious life-style that is now history. Its also a very satisfying place to tramp around. Wear your walking shoes.