Norton Simon Museum

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Norton Simon Museum

Overview: For your museum bang for the buck, you can’t beat the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. The museum is located on the west side of Pasadena off the 134 Freeway on the corner of Colorado Bl and Orange Grove.

The Norton Simon Museum pales slightly in breadth of works compared with the Getty Museum and especially the LACMA. But, if you get yourself caught up on the history of the Norton Simon Museum, you will greatly appreciate the museum’s offerings. Originally founded in the early 20th century by the Pasadena Art Institute, the museum struggled to find space and monetary backing. In the middle of the 20th century, the Pasadena Art Institute merged with the Pasadena Museum. Still struggling with debt, the museum came to terms with industrialist Simon Norton, who in took on the museum’s debt, combined his collections and renamed the museum after his name.

Though the Norton Simon Museum is smaller than the Getty and LACMA, it does have quite an extensive collection of works. The museum’s collection includes European, Asian and American art, with some dating back over 2000 years.

There are two levels to the museum and a beautiful sculpture garden between its main wings. The main or ground level primarily consists of American and European art that spans back to the 14th century, including an extensive collection by Pablo Picasso and some by Vincent van Gogh and some by Claude Monet. The galleries are presented in chronological order, with the north wing starting its 14th through the 16th century displays. Adjacent to the museum’s north wing is the Norton Simon Museum’s theater which presents a couple of documentaries on Simon Norton every couple of hours. The entrance to the museum is lined with sculptures and the rear of the museum – or between the long halls – consists of a garden with more sculptures. The lower level is reserved for its vast Asian and Southeast Asian collections, including sculptures and paintings from Tibet, Vietnam, Pakistan, Japan and much more.

Contact: 411 W. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105
Site: www.nortonsimon.org
Ph: (626) 449-6840

Hours: Mon – Thur and Sat – Sun, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, Fri, 12:00pm – 9:00pm, Tues closed

Cost: $8.00/adult, $4.00/seniors, Free for students and under 18 years old

Accessibility: The Norton Simon Museum is completely wheelchair accessible. The gardens in the back of the museum do have dirt paths.

Getting There: www.metro.net