THE BROAD IN LOS ANGELES

The Broad in Los Angeles: A Museum for the 21st Century

The Broad is a contemporary art museum in Downtown Los Angeles. Founded by Eli and Edythe Broad, the museum houses 2,000 works of art in over 200,000 square feet of space, making it one of the largest collections of contemporary art in the world. The museum is free to the public, and its galleries feature work by some of the most celebrated artists of our time, including Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The Origin Story
In 1984, Eli and Edythe Broad bought their first piece of contemporary art: a painting by Susan Rothenberg. They were so taken with the work that they began to build a collection of their own. As their collection grew, so too did their passion for contemporary art. In 1999, they founded The Broad Art Foundation, a nonprofit organization that loans artwork to museums around the globe. And in 2002, they purchased a vacant lot in Downtown Los Angeles with the intention of building a museum to house their growing collection.

The Building
The Broad is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. The museum was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, an award-winning architecture firm based in New York City. The 120,000-square-foot building features two floors of gallery space and is topped with a podium that houses educational facilities and administrative offices. The exterior of the building is covered in a ” veil” made up of 2,500 fiberglass reinforced concrete panels. The veil provides shade and filters sunlight into the gallery space below, creating a soft natural light that is ideal for viewing art.

The Collection
The Broad’s collection includes more than 2,000 works of art by over 250 artists. Highlights include Andy Warhol’s “Monroe Diptych,” Roy Lichtenstein’s “B Statue,” Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #96,” and Jeff Koons’s ” Tulips.” In addition to paintings and sculptures, the collection also includes works on paper, photographs, videos, and installations.

Whether you’re an art lover or just looking for something different to do on a weekend afternoon, The Broad is worth checking out. With free admission and a constantly changing selection of exhibitions, there’s always something new to see at this world-class contemporary art museum.