The Norton Simon museum in Pasadena offers free admission on the first Friday evening of the month and I had been meaning to go there for months. Well — rats! By the time I actually did go the ‘Duchamps to Pop’ art exhibition had come down and the new Picasso exhibition had not yet opened. So I went to the sculpture garden surrounding the pond in the rear of the museum.
A private collection now in a public museum
The Norton Simon museum is filled with the art collected privately by Mr. Simon in the middle of the 20th Century. When he ran out of space for his art, he worked out a deal with the Pasadena Museum of Art, renamed it after himself, and placed his collection in it. The Asian art in the basement of the museum had been part of the Pasadena Museum of Art’s collection.
Van Gogh, Degas, Rodin and more
There are certain artists he liked and bought a lot. Degas was one. He purchased several Degas paintings of ballerinas and a collection of small sculptured models for ballerina paintings he did. The museum also has quite a few works by other Impressionists including a remarkable portrait by Van Gogh.
Another artist’s work that Mr. Simon collected were the statues of Rodin including the famous Burghers of Calais which stands near the museum entry. In the rear garden the sculptures of British artist Henry Moore dominate along with a couple by Aristide Maillol.
Adjacent to the sculpture garden is a cafe whch was quite busy the Friday evening I visited. What you do not see in all these photographs is the roaring noise of traffic rushing by on Colorado Blvd. and the 210 freeway which ‘sandwich’ the museum. All that noise certainly detracts from the garden and the cafe.
