The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has much to offer its visitors.

Whether you are a visitor simply exploring the hot spots of the city or you are a resident of Los Angeles looking for a quiet way to spend your afternoon, LACMA is truly the perfect place to visit.

I have been to the musuem several times and after every visit I feel like I have barely begun to scratch the surface. The number of works lining the walls that you could study for hours at a time is borderline overwhelming.

Although I try to force myself to explore new realms of this gigantic museum everytime, I am drawn to visit certain pieces or collections each time. Here is my list of must-sees during your next visit to the LACMA—warning this piece contains biased opinion.

1. Claude Monet’s Collection. I’ve been a fan of Monet since the third grade when I was first introduced to his work. I find his paintings captivating with the tiny details he can capture with a sloppy blotch of paint. Since visiting his home in France I have always loved his impressions of the water lilies within his Japanese garden.

One such painting is posted on the walls of the LACMA on the third floor of the Ahmanson Building beside other impressionists, including Degas and Camille Pissarro who is considered the father of impressionism.

Whether you are a fan of Monet or not, this room is impressive. The wall of windows casts the perfect amount of light onto the paintings and unlike the rest of this area it is not overwhelming with the number of similar pieces lining the walls. It is simply a taste of impressionism.

My favorite work that is featured of Monet’s is In the Woods at Giverny, which depicts two young women sitting in a wooded area painting.

 

2. Pavilion for Japanese Art. Personally I do not find the artwork within this structure very interesting. I go here for the serenity of the building that encompasses the artwork. This smaller exhibit looks like a building that was created from the genius of The Fountainhead’s Howard Roark.

Its dim lighting and twisted pathways that make it impossible to decipher what floor you are on makes it a sort of meditative maze. It is the perfect experience to accompany Monet’s paintings since he was heavily inspired by Japanese artwork and lifestyle. It is actually a nice break from the hundreds of paintings and sculptures you will see in the other sections of the museum.

3. Urban Lights. While this is a no-brainer must-see, the hundreds of streetlights collected outside of the LACMA have become a staple exhibit that distinguishes this museum from other L.A art museums.

The best part about this sculpture is that it is free to view and a great place for photographs. The cluster of 200 hundred streetlights maintains its beauty during the day and especially at night when it is fully lit.

4. American art. On the third floor of the Art of the America’s building is a collection of renowned American art. This was my first time seeing these artworks and was very impressed with the entire exhibition. Each piece takes you back to a different time in American culture and provides a snapshot into the daily lives of people.

One room contains a wall covered in photos from old America. It looks like the wall of a home covered in family photos with mismatched frames and various photo sizes. Beside this wall are paintings that capture mundane details of our previous lifestyle, from tending turkeys to working on farms.

My favorite part of this collection is in the room beside the one I just described, which is made known by the rather large, cartoon-like painting in the center of the room of a boy and his father hiking with their dog.

The piece titled, The Kentuckians, is noticeable not just for its centralized location, but also for the brilliant use of light the artist used.

This particular room held my attention for some time, with a variety of different artists from Norman Rockwell to Evelyn McCormick, using several different mediums including watercolor, oil paint or photography.

Each piece captures a different aspects of major American cities throughout several different years. My personal favorite is San Francisco by Tom E. Lewis, which, in so few colors, captures the chaos of San Francisco before 1936. This piece is refreshing after seeing dozens of “oil on canvas” paintings.

5. Baron Francois Gerard The 10th of August, 1792. The single piece is the most interesting of the hundreds of painting and sculptures you will find at the LACMA.

If you want a deep look at the meticulous work that goes into a painting, Gerard’s unfinished piece is one that exudes this notion. This was the greatest hidden gem I found on my latest trip and is located in the European Art section.

This rather large piece contains every step of an artist’s contemplation, from the planning and sketching to the actual execution of his work. I was dumbfounded by the amount of tiny detail that was reflected in the cross between a sketch and oil painting.

The description beside the piece explains that Gerard was exaggerating political events that did not unfold as he had anticipated. The event depicted takes place during the time of Louis XVI and reveals the different classes throughout that time. The painting as is draws your attention to the unfolding tension in the piece and as you leave the finished section and explore the areas of the canvas that went untouched, besides the touch of a pencil, you see the hierarchy within the political system at that time and the anger on the face of each person, which is captured sometimes in a matter of four lines. The most impressive thing is that even though this piece was so far from being finished, it is still highly regarded as one of the best pieces of art in history.

The next time you're at LACMA, be sure to check out my top five must-see attractions and do not forget your student ID to knock $5 off the price.

Reach reporter Kaysie here.