History in LA: Museums in Los Angeles

By Abby Simmon


Taking a look at LA today it is hard to believe that 40,000 years back Mammoths rambled the land and meteorites slipped from the sky. But beyond the "stars" and the "stores" that Los Angeles has become feted for the history that may be found in the Los Angeles museums is like exploring a new world.

The Page Museum

One of the most famous museums in LA is the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. Found in the middle of L. A. the Page Museum has one of the largest and oldest fossil collections all the way back to 40,000 years ago. Ever since 1905 scientists have been excavating ice age fossils and the asphalt seeps at the La Brea tar pits, it's the only active site left in the entire world. Outside the museum in Hancock Park is a Pleistocene garden complete with full scale reproductions of the mammals that lived in the Los Angeles Basin and paleontological excavators work daily. Within scientists can be studied working on identifying their most recent finedthat someday will join the other 3,000,000 ice age mammals that are already on show.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Located in Exposition Park the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County houses over 35 million cultural and systematic examples that include a meteorite that is 4 and a half bn. years of age to insect and plant species that have been discovered recently. Through biodiversity research the museum is able to share the experiences of how each exhibit was found, picked up and analyzed; explaining what role the exhibit has in the world. No other museums in LA or world wide has such a assortment of permanent exhibits like the ancient Latin American art, North American mammals, African mammals, dinosaurs and an insect zoo to name only one or two.

The J. Paul Getty Museum

Located in the Getty Center the J. Paul Getty Museum is probably one of the finest Los Angeles museums with an extensive collection of excellent quality and rare Etruscan, Greek and Roman masterpieces. It features such antiquities as Greek ritual vessels that date back to 470 B.C. And famous paintings like the Hare in the Forest a German painting that dates back to 1585. Exhibits include illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, Western european and American photographs.

The Museum of Contemporary Art

Found in the heart of LA the Museum of Contemporary Art is amongst the very few museums worldwide that specialises in just modern art. All the art work that's displayed has been produced from 1940 till present day. This unique museum features art pieces in assorted different mediums from paintings and pictures to sculptures and architectural designs. The Museum of Contemporary Art is understood world-wide for have one of the biggest collections with over 5,000 pieces of modern art. In fact , they have grown so much that there are currently three different and unique locations inside L. A..




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