Buddha heads – Ben Hills-Jones

The city of Pasadena, east of Los Angeles is blessed with three world class art museums, and I journeyed here to visit all of them!

The USC Pacific Asian Art Museum in Pasadena

The USC Pacific is in what I think is known as the old town of Pasadena. The collection is housed in a revivalist Chinese style building which is a fantastic backdrop to the collection.

The highlight were the buddhas and bodhisattvas. A beautiful collection, from all over Asia. They also have some of the 19th century Mount Fuji series of pictures by the Japanese’s artist Hiroshige.

The gallery is not huge, I would say 90 minutes would allow you to see everything. There is a beautiful courtyard in the middle, and the cafe sells nice objects, lots of Asian gifts.

I visited on a Thursday and it was pay-as-you-like.

Fuji seen across Edo from the Ryoguku Bridge 19th Century, Hiroshige

Head of a bodhisattva from Tibet — A bodhisattva from Tibet

Amoghasiddhi buddha, Tibet, 13th century

Enthroned buddha, Thailand, mid 19th century

Embracing bodhisattvas — Enthroned buddha, Thailand, mid 19th century

The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena

This impressive gallery has 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th & 20th century western art, as well a superb South East Asian art collection, occupying the entire ground floor.

It costs 20 dollars to enter and it is well worth it. Impressive modern building with great natural light and exhibition spaces. There are 5 galleries, one for each century and the 5th is the SE Asian gallery.

The 19th and 20th century collections are my favourite. They have some wonderful Cezannes and Van Goghs. The SE Asian floor is amazing, I have rarely seen so many excellent buddhas and bodhisattvas, from countries including Japan, Thailand, Tibet and India. There were few people in this gallery so I felt I had the place to myself!

There is a lovely little outdoor cafe with tables overlooking the central garden. The garden is full of sculptures too, including lots by Henry Moore and some very old Asian statues in a separate garden area connected to the Asian gallery. Parking is easy and free.

All in all this a 5* world class gallery. In my guide to California it does not even get a mention! Outrageous!

Gardens of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena

Three paintings in the Norton Simon collection, from left to right Cezanne, Van Gogh, Cezanne

Portrait of a peasant by Vincent Van Gogh — Portrait of a peasant, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Brittany landscape by Emile Barnard, 1888

Farmhouse and chestnut trees by Cezanne — Farmhouse and chestnut trees, Cezanne, 1884

Vase of flowers by Cezanne — Vase of flowers, Cezanne, 1880

Tulips in a vase by Cezanne — Tulips in a vase, Cezanne, 1888

In a villa by the seaside by the artist Berthe Morisot — In a villa by the seaside, Berthe Morisot, 1874

Woman with a book by the artist Picasso — Woman with a book, Picasso, 1932

Vishnu statue — Vishnu, West Bengal, 1100AD

Parvati & Shiva statues — Parvati & Shiva, Tamil Nadu, India, 1000AD

Shiva statue — Shiva, Tamil Nadu, India, 1150AD

Three carved bodhisatvas, including Ganensha

The Huntington Gallery, Library and Gardens

What an amazing place to end my trip to Pasadena. A glorious combination of art and nature.

It costs about ¢29 to enter but it is worth. It is located actually in the small town of San Marino, so technically not Pasadena. There are two separate buildings for both American and European art.

The European gallery

The star of the European gallery is ‘The Blue Boy’ by Thomas Gainsborough.

I have never seen this painting before and it really does live up to the hype, a very striking portrait. The European gallery also has some lovely early religious paintings from the 1400s. It also has many paintings by Antony Van Dyke, Constable and Turner.

View of The Stour at Dedham, by Constable, 1822

The Grand Canal, JMW Turner, 1836 — View of The Stour at Dedham, by Constable, 1822

The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough, 1770

Detail from 'Saint Ausanns', 1470s — Detail from ‘Saint Ausanns’, 1470s

Vase of flower with lemony Duncan Grant — Vase of flower with lemon, Duncan Grant, 1913

The American gallery

I really enjoyed the American gallery too. There was a great John Singer Sargent, and paintings by Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase and many other artists I have not heard of.

The Inner Studio, Tenth Street, by William Merritt Chase, 1882

Woman seated in a garden, by Frederick Carl Frieseke (left), 'Apple Orchard' by Luther Emerson Van Gorder (top), 'Nettie reading', Theodore Robinson (bottom) — Woman seated in a garden, by Frederick Carl Frieseke (left), ‘Apple Orchard’ by Luther Emerson Van Gorder (top), ‘Nettie reading’, Theodore Robinson (bottom)

Mrs William Playfair by John Singer Sargent, 1887

Portrait of Arabella Huntingdon, by Oswald Birley

'Aster, Mullein, Bugloss, Bergamot', by Dawson Dawson-Watson, 1903 — ‘Aster, Mullein, Bugloss, Bergamot’, by Dawson Dawson-Watson, 1903

The gardens

There are various gardens to look round including a Chinese, Japanese sub-tropical, desert and Australian garden. The grounds are huge! My favourite was the Japanese garden, so well laid out with a large bonsai collection.

The library

If that wasn’t enough, there is also a large library with some stunning books! This Huntingdon family sure had some cash to spend!

The highlights of the collections are:

Shakespeare’s First Folio
The Gutenberg Bible
Principa by Isaac Newton
Birds of America by James Audobon

This last book I think is the most expensive book ever sold, fetching prices over ¢8m!

'Principa' by Isaac Newton — ‘Principa’ by Isaac Newton, 1687

Shakespeare's first folio — Shakespeare’s first folio, 1623

'Birds of America, by James Audubon, 1827 — ‘Birds of America, by James Audubon, 1827

I am only in Belgium for two days so am just seeing two galleries. I have visited Brussels a number of times and have visited most of the main galleries there. I have never been to Lieges and came here mainly to see La Boverie.

La Boverie, Liege

La Boverie is a fine arts gallery in La Boverie Park. In is the site of the 1905 World Expo, and has a lovely location on a small island on the Meuse river. It is not a huge gallery, but it does have some quality pieces. It was only 5 Euros to enter. As with lots of lesser known galleries, it was pretty quiet so I had some of the rooms almost to myself. Which I love!

People always head for the big hitter galleries, but I find the regional galleries often have some equally amazing artworks, it’s easier and cheaper to see them and much quieter too, win, win, win.

Belgian impressionism and neo impressionism

The gallery has range of artworks, but by far the most impressive is the impressionist and neo impressionist pieces. They have a couple of wonderful paintings by one of my favourite artists, the Belgian artist Théo van Rysselberghe. They also have some wonderful works by the Belgian artist Emile Claus, an artist I previously had not heard of. They also have some nice works by Rene Magritte, another Belgian artist. Here are my highlights from the gallery.

Théo van Rysselberghe

Les soeurs des peintre Schlobach, Theo Van Rysselberghe, 1884

Le dame en blanc, Theo Van Rysselberghe, 1904

Pin a la rosette, Theo Van Rysselberghe, 1919

Emile Claus

Signac, Magritte, Stevens, De Smet, Nicholson and McEwan

L'absente au jours de morts, Walter MacEwen, 1889

La Parisienne Japonaise, Alfred Stevens, 1872

La Chateau de Comblat, Paul Signac, 1887

La recherche de a'absolu, Rene Magritte, 1940

The Art & History Museum, Brussels

This museum is located in a huge building in the Jubelpark, Brussels. The collection is more history than art, I had expected paintings but alas no. I would say it is more an ethnographic collection of world objects that an art gallery.

The museum is split into geographical regions, think Africa, Indonesia, native America etc. And it is huge. massive. You could never see it all properly in a day. Good value at 10 Euros. The collection I enjoyed the most was unsurprisingly the asian art, specifically India, Japan, Vietnam and Cambodia. They have some super bodhisattvas. However I did rush through this museum somewhat, which is unlike me. particularly because it was very bereft of people. I think I have hit museum and gallery tipping point amazingly!

I was also thinking why I am drawn to certain art, such as bodhisattvas, but have little interest in ceramics and silverware. I think I just have no interest in utilitarian pieces, I cannot see the beauty in them. Whereas devotional objects such as bodhisattvas I instantly see the beauty in them.

One of the failings of this gallery is that there is not a single object label in English. Not one. Just Dutch and French. Which surprises me as this is clearly a collection of international importance and must attract lots of international visitors. I also thought the lighting was pretty poor at times, lots of objects are in glass cases and are hard to see properly and photograph. Therefore some of my photos do not have descriptions. Anyway here are my highlights of the museum (all asian artworks!).