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The museum was split off in 1961 from the Natural Science Museum, which is just south of downtown, and moved to its current home on the Miracle Mile (at Wilshire and Fairfax Boulevards.) Naturally they've got their share of European masterpieces, including some exceptional sculptures like Rodin's She Who Was the Helmet-Maker's Beautiful Wife, Andrea Della Robbia's The Annunciation, and Feuchere's Satan. You have to travel to France to see the brother piece of that last one, which is kind of fitting.

The Art of the Americas building houses the LACMA's North and Latin American galleries, the latter of which finally reopened last year after endless renovation. The collections are some of the most substantial on the planet, with over 2,500 works of Latin America art and a bevy of priceless American masterpieces.

There are pieces stretching back to pre-Columbian times, through the Spanish conquest and up to contemporary artists. The US section has iconic paintings from the 1700s - Smibert's Portrait of Major General Paul Mascarene - the 1800s - Thomas Cole's L'Allegro - and the 1900s - Bellows's Cliff Dwellers.

We could go section by section on highlights: the Egyptian section has over 2,000 works including a complete sarcophagus; the Chinese section goes back to the Neolithic period, etc. But these are things better seen in person, which you can do from noon to 8pm every day except Wednesday and for extended hours on weekends. Admission fees are optional after 5pm and $12 the rest of the time. One last note though: when you do go, don't miss the photography section. They've got a couple pieces of paper going back to well before the Civil War.

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