Road Trip in Review: San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles

A little something from the Museum of Contemporary Art - I can just hear him saying, "Oh, puhleez!"



From the Collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art:

An eagle-headed deity from Nimrod, Assyria, palace of Ashurnasirpal II. I love the Assyrian bas reliefs.

The Beach of Honfleur by Claude Monet. Big Impressionist fan here.


This photo was taken across the street from the Los Angeles County museum complex. Once upon a time I lived on Spaulding Avenue a few miles north of this sign. I had dropped out of UCLA, been thoroughly indigent for a while, finally found a job that paid almost nothing (but was the beginning of my career in accounting), and roomed for a while with a friend while his partner was off doing summer stock in New England.

Later, at that same apartment on Spaulding, I met my best friend.

Blessings on Spaulding Avenue and its inhabitants past, present, and future.


But I jump ahead of our trip. Here is a hasty pic of the Pacific Ocean as we drove down the coast. No, we did not pull over and stop every few miles just so I could take photos. But I wanted to have at least one shot of the Pacific Ocean for my blog buddies.



This is a rather fascinating installation in front of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). It consists of lamp posts planted in close rows and all painted a flat neutral gray.

I am very fond of vintage lamp posts. I like the concept. And I am of the opinion that flat gray on lamp posts is just wrong.


A poignant scene at the tar pits, recreated to take us back to the ice age.

A look at the new facade (new to me, anyway) of LACMA.


Definitely the right place. It was, however, the wrong day. We had not planned ahead quite carefully enough and arrived on the one day of the week that LACMA is closed.

This is a great pity. It is not that LACMA's collection is all that stunning but Bill used to be a patron and we made many visits there. Many of the pieces are old friends. It was a great disappointment not to be able to visit them since they were the major item on our agenda for Los Angeles.

You may tour the collection online here.


Another shot of the new entrance to LACMA. I not only remember it before this addition and MOCA and taking on the Fairfax and Wilshire May Company but back when there were pools and really cool fountains in front. Exciting to arrive there at night back then (when I was a student).


Here is MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art. Alas, we did not get inside it either.

A look from another angle.

And, to close, back to earlier in the day as we drove through the coastal mountains of California and there was a bit of mist.

Enjoy!
--the BB