Like we count our real friends on one hand, I have a very limited number of museums that are truly special, especially good at a focused mission, committed to the best-of-its-kind art in a handsome, welcoming setting. But I’ve added two new favorites over the last couple of months, places where I’ve had a good time. The one I’ll write about today is the fantastic Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. I visited it for the first time in late April, and odysseys are in the news. Let’s skip Ithaca, unless we’re hankering for the Finger Lakes. The Petersen shows us how to hit the road in style.
Cars are as much art — heavy on design — as they are mechanical, but I’m not a car nut so the Petersen, founded in 1994, had lots of educating to do. It’s got to be the best museum on the history of the car, more or less divided among mechanics, design, and lore. It’s across Wilshire Boulevard from both the new Los Angeles County Museum of Art opus and the LaBrea Tar Pits, near the Screen Actors Guild headquarters and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Or, I should say, it’s at the center of L.A. culture, high, middling, and Jurassic.
Comments