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California

Art Collectors and Their Collections

Program No. 1183RJ
Discover the beauty of Southern California’s best museums, enjoying lectures, docent-led walks and a close look at the life and collections of local art enthusiasts.

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Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Jan 14 - Jan 19, 2024
Starting at
1,749
Jan 28 - Feb 2, 2024
Starting at
1,749
Feb 11 - Feb 16, 2024
Starting at
1,749
Mar 3 - Mar 8, 2024
Starting at
1,749
Mar 24 - Mar 29, 2024
Starting at
1,749
Apr 21 - Apr 26, 2024
Starting at
1,749
May 19 - May 24, 2024
Starting at
1,749
Jun 23 - Jun 28, 2024
Starting at
1,749
Sep 1 - Sep 6, 2024
Starting at
1,899
Sep 22 - Sep 27, 2024
Starting at
1,899
Oct 20 - Oct 25, 2024
Starting at
1,749
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Jan 14 - Jan 19, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Filling Fast!
Jan 28 - Feb 2, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Feb 11 - Feb 16, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Filling Fast!
Mar 3 - Mar 8, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Mar 24 - Mar 29, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Apr 21 - Apr 26, 2024
Starting at
2,149
May 19 - May 24, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Jun 23 - Jun 28, 2024
Starting at
2,149
Sep 1 - Sep 6, 2024
Starting at
2,299
Filling Fast!
Sep 22 - Sep 27, 2024
Starting at
2,299
Oct 20 - Oct 25, 2024
Starting at
2,149

At a Glance

Be treated to several of Southern California’s finest art museums and leave the driving to us! The Los Angeles area’s distinguished collections are on display in several grand museums. Daily in-depth lectures prior to the visits provide an orientation to the museums that enriches your appreciation of their visionary collectors.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Four museum field trips involve several blocks of walking at a time and standing up to one hour on docent tours. Must be able to easily get on/off bus.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Study the life of J. Paul Getty and examine his collections of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present against a backdrop of dramatic architecture, tranquil gardens and breathtaking views of the city.
  • Experience the museum of Arabella and Henry Huntington, with 207 acres of gardens.
  • Discover Norton Simon’s collection of art from Europe and Asia on a docent-led walk.

General Notes

Select dates are designated for small groups and are limited to 24 participants or less.
Featured Expert
All Experts
Profile Image
Paul R. Spitzzeri
A California historian and author of numerous works on such topics as railroad development and regulation, overland emigration, and criminal justice, Paul R. Spitzzeri received his bachelor’s and master’s in history from California State University, Fullerton. He is Museum Director of the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum near Los Angeles and an Award of Merit recipient from the American Association for State and Local History for his biography of the Workman and Temple families.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Paul Spitzzeri
Paul R. Spitzzeri View biography
A California historian and author of numerous works on such topics as railroad development and regulation, overland emigration, and criminal justice, Paul R. Spitzzeri received his bachelor’s and master’s in history from California State University, Fullerton. He is Museum Director of the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum near Los Angeles and an Award of Merit recipient from the American Association for State and Local History for his biography of the Workman and Temple families.
Profile Image of Donna Granata
Donna Granata View biography
Donna Granata is the founder and executive director of Focus on the Masters (FOTM), a highly respected nonprofit archive and educational program documenting contemporary artists. An accomplished artist in her own right, Granata is an internationally published portrait photographer. Her photographs have been displayed across the United States. Selected works from her FOTM portrait series are housed in the Smithsonian's Archive of American Artists; in the photographic collection of the George Eastman Museum and other public institutions housing the personal archives of the artists documented.
Profile Image of Simon Kenrick
Simon Kenrick View biography
A 23-year veteran of Road Scholar, Simon was previously a political journalist, neighborhood artist and kindergarten teacher. He teaches art history at San Francisco State University and Osher Lifelong Learning in Berkeley. Widely traveled in the U.S. and Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, he brings to life his personal knowledge of works and sites in his Road Scholar talks, museum and architectural tours—from Classical Greece and Rome to medieval Morocco, Impressionist Paris and the cutting-edge arts of the contemporary city.
Profile Image of Manuel Marquez
Manuel Marquez View biography
Manuel Márquez came to Road Scholar after a rewarding career in medical practice management. He has led groups to Cuba and his native Los Angeles. As an undergraduate in Boston, he was introduced close-up to the wonders of western art, the colonial and revolutionary history of the United States, and a love of learning about planet Earth and all its inhabitants. Manuel has explored nearly fifty countries on five continents. He enjoys music, reading, movies, and his beautiful cat Pearl.
Profile Image of Dawn Spare
Dawn Spare View biography
Dawn Spare is an avid traveler with a deep love of nature, history, and culture who enjoys both the city and country life. She earned her BFA magna cum laude from the University of California, Irvine, and attended graduate school at Temple and the University of Wisconsin. She lives on California’s Central Coast underneath pine trees at the beach, where she walks in nature daily. She belongs to a book club and has sung for the past 20 years with the award-winning Vocal Arts Ensemble.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Fodor's Los Angeles
by Maria Burwell (Editor)
A practical guide in the popular series, saturated with valuable information on accommodation, shopping, sights, and dining.
The Story of Art
by E.H. Gombrich
Comprehensive and introductory without being elementary, this celebrated work is essential reading for anyone with any interest in art, architecture or aesthetics.
The Getty Center: Richard Meier & Partners
by Text by Michael Brawne
A photographic tour of the Getty Center.
Sidewalking, Coming to Terms With Los Angeles
by David L. Ulin
Growing out of a series of strolls, this smart, deeply affectionate portrait peels back the many layers of L.A., revealing a great city that's much more interesting than its sunny beaches, gridlock and movie stars.
Where I Was From
by Joan Didion
Supreme essayist Didion's personal history of California spanning the 18th to 21st centuries. More than a family chronicle, it's also a provocative cultural critique that attacks the myth of the Sunshine State.
The Art Book, Mini Edition
by Phaidon Press
A mini edition of the Phaidon classic. Marching through all periods and schools, the editors at Phaidon juxtapose salient examples of paintings, photographs, sculptures, video, installations and performance art with brief explanatory text.
Ask the Dust
by John Fante
Fante's oft-forgotten classic novel of Arturo Bandini, a confused young man trying to make it as a writer in L.A.
Water to the Angels, William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles
by Les Standiford
In this powerful, beautifully-told biography, Standiford narrates William Mulholland’s drive to bring water from the Sierra Nevadas to Los Angeles, one of the greatest civil engineering feats in history.
Los Angeles City Center Map
by Berndtson & Berndtson
A map of the center of L.A.
William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles
by Catherine Mulholland
A biography of William Mulholland, the man who led the project of bringing water to Los Angeles. Written by his granddaughter, who seeks to dispel what she believes are common misconceptions about him.
As I See It: The Autobiography of J. Paul Getty
by J. Paul Getty
The famous L.A. tycoon recounts his life in his own words in this timely autobiography: it was published right before his death in 1976.
California the Beautiful
by Galen Rowell (Photographer)
Rowell's exquisite photographs are accompanied by excerpts from Joan Didion, M.F.K. Fisher, Jack London, William Saroyan and many other luminaries in this celebration of the nature and spirit of California.
Art in Time, A World History of Styles and Movements
by The Editors of Phaidon Press
In this innovative compendium, art scholars reveal fascinating connections between great works of art, art movements and historical progress. Moving from present to antiquity, they highlight 450 paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, video and new media from around the world.
Building the Getty
by Richard Meier
An account of the construction of the Getty Center, written by its architect.
California: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)
by Kevin Starr
Arguing that America’s most populous state has always been blessed with both spectacular natural beauty and astonishing human diversity, Starr unfolds a rapid-fire epic of discovery, innovation, catastrophe, and triumph. For generations, California’s native peoples basked in the abundance of a climate and topography eminently suited to human habitation. By the time the Spanish arrived in the early sixteenth century, there were scores of autonomous tribes were thriving in the region. Though conquest was rapid, nearly two centuries passed before Spain exerted control over upper California through the chain of missions that stand to this day. The discovery of gold in January 1848 changed everything. With population increasing exponentially as get-rich-quick dreamers converged from all over the world, California reinvented itself overnight. Starr deftly traces the successive waves of innovation and calamity that have broken over the state since then–the incredible wealth of the Big Four railroad tycoons and the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906; the emergence of Hollywood as the world’s entertainment capital and of Silicon Valley as the center of high-tech research and development; the heroic irrigation and transportation projects that have altered the face of the region; the role of labor, both organized and migrant, in key industries from agriculture to aerospace.
Ways of Seeing
by John Berger
Art critic, painter, essayist and Booker Prize-winning novelist Berger concentrates on how we look at art in this eye-opening and influential classic.
L.A. Confidential
by James Ellroy
James Ellroy's modern noir thriller, a densely plotted yarn in the style of Raymond Chandler. Made into a critically acclaimed film.
Creating the Future: Art and Los Angeles in the 1970s
by Michael Fallon
Fallon contests the standard assumption that art in L.A. declined after the 1960s through this cultural and social history that highlights the innovative and independent voices and interesting, sometimes bizarre artwork that came out of the 1970s.





Important registration tip:
If you want to attend the live lecture, please do not wait until the last minute to enroll.
If you enroll after a lecture is complete, we’ll send you a recording of the event.