Norton Simon Museum

Norton Simon was a very successful Los Angeles-based businessman -- he was the founder of Hunt-Wesson Foods -- with a great passion for art. His collections began with works from such masters as Renoir and Gauguin, and it expanded to include Western works dating from the fourteenth century to the present, as well as an amazing collection of Indian and Southeast Asian art.

In the 1960s, Simon joined forces with the Pasadena Art Institute to open the Norton Simon Museum. The spacious, contemporary building that houses the museum is a landmark backdrop to the televised Rose Parade. It was completed in 1969, the year that the museum opened.

Today the museum continues to acquire new works, and it showcases new, rotating exhibits in addition to its permanent collection. They also have an extensive lecture and class schedule, including guided tours of the museum that are free with admission, and adult art history classes given on Saturdays before the museum opens.

Lovers of Impressionism will especially enjoy a visit to the Norton Simon, as it houses one of the most impressive Impressionist collections in North America.

The museum is open from noon to 6 p.m. every day except for Tuesday and noted holidays.

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Address:
411 W. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91105-1825

Tel.: 626-449-6840

URL: http://www.nortonsimon.org