When: Oct. 4–5

Where: Various museums in Los Angeles

What: This year’s free-for-all features 23 Los Angeles museums granting free admission to all visitors. Some museums are free on both days, while others are free on either one or the other.

Scoop: For museum lovers, it doesn’t get much better than seeing the masterworks of Van Gogh, Goya, Lichtenstein and Warhol — except if it’s free. It’s a chance to catch favorites such as the Natural History Museum or the Hammer Museum without opening your wallet. For a complete list, visit www.museumsla.org.

The Naked at the Getty Scavenger Hunt (Adults Only)
Saturday, Aug. 9 - 4:30 p.m.

Go on a humorous, mind-tingling search for nudity at the Getty Center this Saturday. Put on by Watson Adventures, “you don’t need to know anything about art or the museum—or nudity—to solve our tricky questions. After the hunt, linger in the mountaintop gardens for a great view of the sunset. This hunt is rated PG-13.”

Price: $17.50 per person

Meeting Place: After you park, take the monorail up to the museum “campus.” In the plaza near where you get off the monorail, look for a group of people and the MC in a burgundy cap that says Watson Adventures.

*Advance purchase is required!

More info, click here.

For tickets, click here or visit watsonadventures.com

Thanks to the acquiring minds of Los Angeles-based tycoons such as Eli Broad, J. Paul Getty, Armand Hammer, Henry Huntington and Norton Simon, many of history’s great masterpieces are located right here in LA.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) houses 150,000 artworks spanning five continents from the prehistoric to the present day. LACMA boasts one of the most comprehensive Korean art collections and a stunning Japanese art pavilion filled with screens, scrolls and a remarkable collection of netsuke. Among LACMA’s many famous paintings are Rivera’s Flower Day and Magritte’s Treachery of Images.

The Hammer Museum in Westwood is best known for its cutting-edge exhibitions of provocative works by leading and emerging living artists. Equally impressive, however, is its small but world-class permanent collection, containing works by Rembrandt, Gauguin, Monet, van Gogh and Wyeth, among others.

No tour of the world’s greatest paintings in LA’s permanent collections would be complete without a visit to the Getty Center. In addition to stunning architecture and gardens, the Getty Center is distinguished by a far-reaching collection of exceptional paintings by European and American masters from the 14th to the 20th century. Although the collection contains many famous works by the Old Masters, the most popular painting at the Getty is van Gogh’s Irises.

The Huntington Library, Art Galleries, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino is a required destination for anyone who admires artists’ ability to bring canvas, pigment and oil to life. Perhaps the most famous paintings in the collection are the masterpieces The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough and Pinkie by Sir Thomas Lawrence.

In addition to the famous masterpieces contained in LA’s permanent collections, many important works are on view in the ever-changing major exhibitions curated and presented by LA’s leading museums.

Several new buildings have been completed in Los Angeles within the last 10 years, earning worldwide accolades for achievement in design. Several more are either in development or on the drawing board.

All of the architects mentioned below have earned the Pritzker Prize. Additionally, the following buildings are all located Downtown, within easy walking distance of one another.

Caltrans District 7 Headquarters
Architect: Thom Mayne/Morphosis
Opened: 2004
Address: 100 S. Main Street
Features: This building is guaranteed to elicit strong reactions from viewers. But love it or hate it, the building can’t be ignored. Perforated metal panels create a skin that covers exposed structural elements, visible from inside the building’s walkways and interior spaces. At night, the
exterior panels open up to reveal windows. The south wall has a photovoltaic system capable of producing up to 5 percent of the building’s energy. Many of the building’s features are meant to evoke the state’s highway system, including the environmental art installation by Keith Sonnier in the outdoor lobby. The area consists of red and blue neon lights meant to suggest automobile
head and tail lights.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
Architect: José Rafael Moneo
Opened: 2002
Address: 555 W. Temple Street
Features: A contemporary cathedral designed with virtually no right angles, this building breaks the mold of the classic European cathedral of the Middle Ages. And as the third largest cathedral in the world, the significance of this building is tied to more than just its architecture. It’s the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, serves more than 4 million Catholic worshippers and is the site of the Archbishop’s major liturgies. The exterior is sand-colored concrete, with an interior lit during the day by sunlight shining through thousands of alabaster panels. The large bronze doors by sculptor Robert Graham, the tapestries by artist John Nava and other works of art complete the building, making it well worth close inspection.

Walt Disney Concert Hall
Architect: Frank Gehry
Opened: 2003
Address: 111 S. Grand Avenue
Features: There aren’t many buildings in Los Angeles as recognizable as the Walt Disney Concert Hall at the Music Center. The stainless steel skin covers a framework of steel beams erected in the shape of billowing sails or flower petals, depending on your point of view. Inside, the building houses one of LA’s best concert venues, with an auditorium known as much for its
acoustics as its design.

U.S. Bank Tower (Library Tower)
Architect: I.M. Pei
Opened: 1989
Address: 633 W. Fifth Street
Features: The tallest building in the United States west of Chicago, this is one of LA’s most iconic pieces of architecture. With 1.3 million square feet, the U.S. Bank Tower is 73 stories tall and reaches a height of 1,018 feet. The design of the building features interlocking sets of granite planes and curves that step down in a series of terraces and ledges, creating a building that’s neither round nor square. A large glass “crown” on top of the building is illuminated at night, and in the lobby a giant mixed-media mural entitled Unity depicts the history of Los Angeles.

On Feb. 20, TripAdvisor announced the Top 10 most popular art museums in the world, based on traffic to the attractions on tripadvisor.com.

1. Louvre Affair: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
Once a fortified palace that was the home to kings of France, the Louvre is now the world’s most famous museum, renowned for some of the finest pieces of art in the world, including the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. According to one TripAdvisor traveler, “The world’s greatest museum-from its Italian Renaissance Masters, to its Dutch Masters and the exquisite collection from Egypt’s Pharaonic period. Each time I visit I always discover new treasures and I reacquaint myself with my favorites.”

2. Religious Experience: Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Rome, Italy
Spanning nearly nine miles, the Roman Catholic Church’s Vatican collection is one of the largest and most stunning in the world. Estimated to have more than four million visitors annually, the Vatican museums feature the art of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and, of course, Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. As one TripAdvisor traveler commented, “The amount of history and art that is located here is mind-boggling, from the frescoes to the statues, virtually every nook and corner (even the floor) is a treasure.”

3. Art in the Apple: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
From Picasso to Pollock, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on New York City’s Museum Mile, is one of the world’s largest museums with over two million pieces of artwork and enough variety for any enthusiast. Peruse the Greek sculptures, admire the armory or browse the 2,000 European paintings, all contained in a magnificent Beaux-Art façade building. As one TripAdvisor traveler said, “The building itself is a work of art. This would be a great place to spend a day alone!”

4. Grand Getty: J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, California
The Getty features a remarkable collection, including the works of Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne. The museum’s structure is a piece of art in itself, and the grounds also feature beautiful gardens, and views of Los Angeles. As one TripAdvisor traveler offered, “Prepare to be spoiled-from the free admission, gorgeous gardens, views, good food, unsurpassed attention to detail, and oh yeah, the art-this place is one in a million!”

5. d’Orsay d’Light: Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France
Enjoy Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” inside the Musee D’Orsay, a former train station built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, with a dramatic glass roof. Specializing in 19th and 20th century artwork, the museum displays a striking collection of Impressionism, including famous works by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Degas. As one TripAdvisor traveler said, “It is much less crowded than the Louvre and features wonderful pieces of art. The museum is just the right size to see everything, including famous painter Whistler and Van Gogh self-portraits.”