I was born in Los Angeles and lived there until the age of twelve. Nonetheless, I am incredibly unfamiliar with the area, I simply don't know much about the sights and attractions there. I have been to many of the museums in the Los Angeles area, but only in the last few years, now that I don't live in Southern California.
We went to visit a friend who lives in a suburb in the San Fernando Valley. Our first night there she took us to Canter's, which has very good pickles and knishes.
On Saturday we went to the Getty. Apparently one does not need a parking reservation on the weekends anymore. When it first opened my mother had to get a reservation months in advance, and it was for 4:30 in the afternoon, which gave us all of an hour and a half at the museum. The crowds were smaller than the two previous times I've been at the Getty. There wasn't even a line for the tram, so the amusement park aspect was diminished.
The museum itself is situated on a hilltop in the Santa Monica Mountains. It is a modern group of buildings made of beige stone, and it has a open and clear quality to it. There are extensive gardens that look very lovely, but I haven't managed to wander them yet. The galleries are lit naturally, but with a complex filtering system.
They had 3 interesting temporary exhibits. The first was a small exhibit on the process of creating a Renaissance painting, with a focus on the Netherlandish painter Joachim Beuckelaer. The exhibit shows the step-by-step process of how wood panels were selected and prepared and how paint was made. The second was an extensive look at the German portraits of August Sander. The 125 photographs on display were from the Weimar period, and depict the German people, a portrait of the nation. I found the photographs of beggars, the unemployed, and the blind especially disturbing and beautiful. The third exhibit was on English, French, Italian, German, Byzantine, and Armenian illuminated manuscripts from the 12th to the 16th century. They had just 23 works on display, all of which were remarkably lovely. The works were all taken from the Getty's permanant collection. The focus of the exhibit was colour, how it was used and why.
Of course, we also ventured into the permanent collection galleries. The Getty has a rare Frans Hals of Saint John the Evangelist. The painting is done a lot tighter than many of his other paintings, the brushstrokes are less wild. The colours are warm and bright but soft. The painting is not as dark as the reproduction on the Getty Web site. The Pieter de Hooch painting of A Woman Preparing Bread and Butter for a Boy is in the same room. The textures of the cloth, wood, glass, brick, and tile are so clear and perfectly rendered.
My favourite room in the Getty has to be the Rembrandt and his circle gallery. I admire both his tronie of a Man in Military Costume and his Saint Bartholomew. The last time I was at the Getty, they also had Titan as a Monk on loan from the Rijksmuseum, which was a pleasant surprise. I am less fond of the Abduction of Europa, which is just a touch melodramatic and reminds me of the Rape of Proserpina at the Berlin Gemaeldegalerie because of its small scale and mythological content. Daniel and Cyrus Before the Idol of Bel is better, but I am partial to Rembrandt's portraits. Other paintings of note in that room include Gerrit Dou's Astronomer, with its strong use of chiaroscuro, and Cornelis Bega's Alchemist, depicting clutter and chaos. Both paintings are small and have vanitas undertones.
Another painting that is especially fine is Bouguereau's Young Girl Defending Herself Against Eros. It is charming but not cloying.
After the Getty, we headed over to the Olive Branch, an Armenian restaurant in La Crescenta. The food was good, as was the baklava and coffee.
At night we went to Bar Sinister. The venue is very cute but very tiny, and it had a courtyard. The music was okay, but it was crowded. I sat and drew pictures.
On Sunday we wandered around Melrose and looked at tiny shoes for bound feet, skulls, dried bats, gowns, Moroccan lamps, and other such bizarre objects. We also went to Caffe Luna for a hectic but tasty lunch. Good foccacia, salad, ice cream.