Norton Simon Museum facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids
Norton Simon Museum

Former name	Pasadena Art Institute, Pasadena Art Museum
Established	1969 (1969)
Location	Pasadena, California
Type	Art museum
Collection size	approximately 12,500 objects / approximately 800 objects on display
Architect	Ladd + Kelsey
Public transit access	Metro Local Bus 180,256 / Pasadena Transit Route 10

The Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California. It used to be called the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum. This museum shows many amazing sculptures on its grounds.

Discover the Norton Simon Museum
History of the Museum
Amazing Art Collections
Gallery
See also

Discover the Norton Simon Museum

The Norton Simon Museum has a huge collection of art from all over the world! You can see European paintings, sculptures, and tapestries. There's also a lot of Asian art, like sculptures, paintings, and woodblock prints.

Outside the museum, you'll find sculptures everywhere. Famous sculptures by Rodin are near the entrance. Other sculptures are along Colorado Boulevard and around a big pond in a beautiful garden. The museum also has the Norton Simon Theater. It shows films every day and hosts talks, music, and dance shows all year. The museum is right on Colorado Boulevard, which is where the famous Rose Parade happens. You can often see the museum's unique brown tile building on TV during the parade!

History of the Museum

The museum entrance hall

The museum started as the Pasadena Art Institute. In 1953, it received about 400 pieces of German Expressionist art from a collector named Galka Scheyer. Because of this big gift, the museum changed its name to the Pasadena Art Museum in 1954. It was in a different building until 1970. At that time, it was the only modern art museum between San Francisco and La Jolla. It was known for showing new and exciting art. It also supported local artists like Helen Lundeberg and Sam Francis.

In 1962, a new curator named Walter Hopps joined. He helped organize an early Pop art show in 1962. He also put together a big show for Marcel Duchamp in 1963. A new museum building was finished in 1969. It was designed by architects Thornton Ladd and John Kelsey. The building has a cool, curvy outside covered in 115,000 shiny brown tiles. These tiles were made by a famous artist named Edith Heath.

In the early 1970s, the museum faced money problems. Around this time, a very important art collector named Norton Simon was looking for a permanent home for his huge collection. He had over 4,000 art pieces! In 1974, the museum and Simon made a deal. Simon helped the museum with its money issues. In return, most of the museum's space would be used to show his art collection. The museum was then renamed the Norton Simon Museum. It was also updated and improved.

After Norton Simon passed away in 1993, his wife, actress Jennifer Jones, helped make more changes. In 1995, the museum started a big renovation. The architect Frank Gehry helped with the redesign. This made the galleries feel more welcoming and open. It also created more space for special exhibits. A whole floor was set aside for Asian art. The beautiful gardens were also redesigned. They now show off the museum's 20th-century sculptures. The new Norton Simon Theater was the last part of the renovation. It's used for talks, movies, dance, and music shows.

Amazing Art Collections

The Norton Simon Museum has over 11,000 art objects! It's known around the world for its amazing collection. Most of the art you see isn't owned by the museum itself. Instead, it's on long-term loan from the Norton Simon Foundation. This means the art stays at the museum for a very long time. Only about 800 or 900 pieces are on display at any one time. The museum also has special temporary exhibits. These shows focus on one artist, an art style, or art from a specific country.

For many years, the museum didn't lend its art to other museums. But in 2007, they decided to start sharing some pieces. This helps the museum become more well-known. In 2009, they even made a special agreement with the Frick Collection in New York City to share art.

Asian Art Treasures

'Digambara Yaksha Sarvahna' from Karnataka, India, around 900 CE

The museum has a world-famous collection of art from South Asia and Southeast Asia. You can see sculptures and paintings from countries like India, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia, and Thailand. There are also pieces from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Japan.

The collection is especially rich in art from India. This includes large stone sculptures from ancient times. There are also beautiful bronze statues from southern India. You can also see special Rajput paintings from India. And there are thangkas, which are Buddhist religious paintings from Tibet and Nepal. The museum also has a great collection of Japanese woodblock prints. Some of these used to belong to the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

8 Miraculous Events of the Buddha's Life from Myanmar, 13th century
Jain chaubisi
Water spout, central Java, 15th century
'Hindu Goddess' from Nepal, around 1700, made of gilt bronze

European Art: 14th–16th Centuries

The museum has a large collection of European art from the 14th to 16th centuries. This includes works from the Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, and Mannerism periods. You can see beautiful gold-ground paintings by artists like Paolo Veneziano and Giovanni di Paolo. There's also a special altarpiece by Guariento di Arpo.

Look for rich oil paintings of religious scenes by Jacopo Bassano, Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, and Raphael. The museum also has wonderful examples from Northern European masters. These include Lucas Cranach the Elder, Dieric Bouts, and Hans Memling. Portraits by Giorgione, Giovanni Bellini, and El Greco show how many different kinds of art are in the collection.

European Art: 17th–18th Centuries

Rembrandt, Self-portrait, around 1640

The museum's early Baroque paintings from Italy and Spain feature artists like Guido Reni, Guercino, Murillo, and Zurbarán. The Northern Baroque collection has amazing works by Peter Paul Rubens. There are also three famous portraits by Rembrandt.

You can also see Dutch paintings from the 17th century that show everyday life, portraits, and landscapes. From the 17th century, there are also still lifes from Flanders and Germany. And religious landscapes by French masters Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin. The 18th-century French collection includes paintings by Watteau, Fragonard, and Boucher. Italy is represented with city scenes and glimpses into daily life in Rome and Venice. These are by artists like Longhi, Pannini, Guardi, Canaletto, and Tiepolo.

European Art: 19th Century

Vincent van Gogh, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in the Snow, 1885

The 19th century art begins with paintings by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Francisco de Goya. Then you'll see great examples of Realism from the mid-century. These are by artists like Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, and Édouard Manet.

The museum has the best collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in Southern California. You can see works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas. Degas alone has over one hundred pieces here! Their art is displayed alongside the bright colors of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, and Paul Gauguin. Don't miss Auguste Rodin's huge bronze sculptures in the museum's front garden. Paintings by Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard lead you right up to the start of 20th-century Modernism.

Modern Art

The museum has a large collection of Modern art. You can see important works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, and Diego Rivera. The "Galka Scheyer collection" is special. It has paintings and drawings by the "Blue Four" artists: Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Alexei Jawlensky, and Wassily Kandinsky. Galka Scheyer was a German art dealer who represented these artists. She gave 450 works by the Blue Four and other modern artists to the Pasadena Art Institute.

Contemporary Art

The collection of art made after World War II is also very interesting. It includes many collages, assemblages (art made from different objects), and sculptures. You can see works by Joseph Cornell, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Nevelson, and Ed Kienholz. Pop Art and Minimal Art are shown through pieces by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, and Robert Irwin.

Art from California from the 1950s to the 1970s is a special highlight. This includes art by Sam Francis, Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, and Edward Ruscha. You can also see Color Field painting and Lyrical Abstraction. These styles are represented by artists like Kenneth Noland, Ronnie Landfield, and Frank Stella.

Sculpture Collection

The museum has many important sculptures from the 19th and early 20th centuries. These include works by Aristide Maillol, Constantin Brâncuși, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Isamu Noguchi. You can find their sculptures made of bronze, lead, and marble throughout the galleries. Many are also displayed outside the museum. Look for them in the Front Garden, on the Colorado Boulevard lawn, and throughout the large Sculpture Garden.