The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is one of the most important art museums on the west coast of the United States. Its history dates back to the 1960s, although the institution's roots can be found as far back as the 19th century.

History of the museum

The museum officially opened on 31 March 1965, although its history can be traced back to 1910, when the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science, and Art was founded. In the 1960s, due to the growing collections and the need for more space, it was decided to create a separate institution dedicated solely to art. In 1961, construction began on a new museum complex on Wilshire Boulevard, within Hancock Park.

The original complex designed by William Pereira included three buildings: the Ahmanson Building, the Bing Center and the Lytton Gallery (now the Leo S. Bing Center). Since then, the museum has been expanded several times. In the 1980s, the Pavilion for Japanese Art designed by Bruce Goff was added. In 2008, the first phase of the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, designed by Renzo Piano, was completed, significantly increasing the museum's exhibition space. A further phase of expansion is currently underway to modernise and upgrade the entire complex.

Collection characteristics

LACMA has an impressive collection of more than 150,000 works of art, from antiquity to the present day. The museum is known for the diversity of its collections, which represent art from almost every corner of the world. It consists of:

- LACMA's collection of American art, which is one of the most important in the country. It includes works from colonial America to the present day, including works by artists such as John Singer Sargent, Georgia O'Keeffe, Grant Wood and Edward Hopper;

- a collection of European art, featuring works by masters such as Rembrandt and Titian, as well as Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Paul Cézanne. This collection is particularly valued for its diversity and wealth of works;

- the collection of Asian art, comprising works from China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia. The collection includes ancient artefacts as well as contemporary works of art, from sculpture to painting and ceramics;

- the collection of Islamic art at LACMA is one of the richest in the United States. It includes works from various periods and regions, including textiles, ceramics and illuminated manuscripts. Of particular note is the collection of carpets and textiles, which is one of the most important in the world;

- the collection of Latin American art, which includes both ancient pre-Columbian cultures and contemporary Latin American art. Among the artists represented in the collection are Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Rufino Tamayo.

The museum's collection includes seven works by Polish women and men artists:

Magdalena Abakanowicz, 'Androgyn I', 1984, sculpture

Mieczysław Berman, collage, 1927

Marek Cecuła, sculpture, 1996

Louis Marcoussis, 'Composition: Figs, Bottle, and Pipe', c. 1920-1921, oil on canvas

Louis Marcoussis, 'Still Life with Pail and Scoop', c. 1926-1927, oil on canvas

Elie Nadelman, 'Marie Scott', 1919, sculpture

Elie Nadelman, 'Le Boulevardier', 1909, sculpture

Aleksander Orłowski, 'A Wagoner Tightening a Load of Wood on a Horse-Drawn Cart', 1820, lithograph

Unknown author, Polish women's shoes, c. 1930, leather and wool