Blockbuster Art Is Back

It had been seven long years since there was a blockbuster at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Now, LACMA has a hit show of Picasso works and another winner in prospect, a Van Gogh exhibit that opens in January. This is a remarkable achievement for the once troubled institution, even though public enthusiasm over the revival has been dampened by criticism of ticket prices--as much as $20 for the Van Gogh.

The good news for art lovers is that LACMA has been able to bring spectacular shows back to a very convenient location--closer to downtown than the Getty and without the Westside facility’s parking hassles. This represents quite a change from the problems that engulfed LACMA just five years ago when it faced enormous financial hardship. It’s taken a lot of planning and discipline under LACMA President and CEO Andrea Rich to stretch a tight budget and raise funds to make the museum more accessible and attractive to a wider audience through its educational, film and music programs.

Los Angeles County provides only 27% of the museum’s revenues. Annual memberships make up the biggest funding source, 42%. Shows such as the Picasso and the Van Gogh help to sell annual memberships because they include tickets to each of the special exhibits. A membership drive that began before the Picasso show has brought in 12,000 new members.

The admission price to the Van Gogh has drawn attention because it appears to be the highest ever charged for a major-museum exhibit in the United States. (There are reduced rates for seniors, children and groups.) Special exhibits are expensive and the cost of big-name shows has skyrocketed since LACMA’s last ticketed show, 1991’s “Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries,” which had a $7.50 admission.

If the new shows make as much money as hoped, the funds will help other less celebrated LACMA programs. The arts education initiative, for example, is aimed at sparking children’s interest in the arts and getting the arts back into school curricula.

So let the blockbusters pay their way and more. It’s a welcome development that the big shows are back at LACMA, along with an ambitious remodeling and building program that will improve the display of its entire collection, increase performance space and attract more traveling exhibits. The lure of a reinvigorated museum complex to the whole region is a strong answer to critics of the Van Gogh price.