We pulled anchor from Malibu, decided not to ride the silly buses again, and drove through Beverly Hills to get to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. We were going especially to see the Heeramaneck Collection.
"Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck were considered by art dealers, collectors, scholars, and curators to have owned one of the finest private collections of South Asian and Himalayan art in the world. The purchase by LACMA of 345 masterpieces from their collection, in 1969, was thus a great coup for the institution. This initial purchase was followed over the years by numerous additional Heeramaneck acquisitions. Today, LACMA holds more than 2500 works of art formerly in the couple’s possession. These range far beyond the South Asian subcontinent and include ancient West Asian ceramics and metalwares; Persian paintings, calligraphies, and decorative objects; Chinese and Korean ceramics and porcelains; and Mesoamerican ceramic vessels and sculptures, among other things."
In India, Nicole had befriended a Heeramaneck family member, who regaled her with stories of the family's collection. The first thing we did when we reached the museum was visit the administrative offices, to get some information about how to locate the pieces. Mr. Robert Brown, Curator of Asian Art, came down to meet us and inform us, regrettably, that the Heermaneck collection had just been dismantled the previous week! They were sending it all to Mexico for a big exhibition. . .
Mr. Brown could sense our disappointment, so he invited us into the closed gallery to see the few pieces remained, waiting to be packed. He apologized, and told us the collection was indeed, one of the most impressive collections of Southeast Asian Art in the country, and he was sorry we couldn't see it. He invited us into the curatorial offices (full of shelves holding boxes, fragments of sculptures, tagged and rolled paintings, books on everything related to Southeast Asian culture - much to Nicole's delight) to meet all the associate and assistant curators. They were very interested in Nicole's work in India, and told her that they would be happy to help her network with museum connections on the East Coast.
We did find some beautiful Heeramaneck pieces in the Islamic Art gallery, before we made our way to the Contemporary gallery. Specifically, the Jeff Koons gallery. All we could really ask ourselves was, "I wonder how much they paid for this stuff."
We had one more art museum to visit the next day, so headed to the nearest RV park up in Lancaster to spend the night. As we checked in, the attendant said, "If you hear any strange noises in the night, don't worry, it's coming from the big cat game reserve up the road." Nicole decided to surprise Mary Lou and go on safari! We drove about a mile up the road, saw the tigers and lions napping in the sunshine (it was Tippi Hedren's ranch) and hopped back in the RV. It wouldn't shift out of park! The engine would turn on, but it just wouldn't shift out of park. We waited three hours for AAA, but the very friendly driver found the problem, a broken cable from the steering to the transmission.
It was closing time at the Ford garage, of course. They told us that we could sleep in the RV if we agreed to be on lock down. They didn't want us to scare the security staff. This sounded familiar to us, so. . . we opened a bottle of red wine and pulled out Trivial Pursuit. It's amazing, after traveling across this country, how much better we've gotten at the People and Places questions!
Well, Ford didn't get the part in the next day, so, we slept overnight in the parking lot again. The next day, the cable was replaced after three RV labour hours, but. . . But! For some reason, the tail lights weren't working. Ford told us we would have to go to an RV specialist across town, because they didn't have the schematics. Resigned, we said our goodbyes, and were already on the road when we realized that not only did we not have tail lights, we had no lights at all. No turn signals. No hazard lights. No brake lights. Mary Lou was anxious and told Nicole to drive, since she didn't have insurance on which to incur any moving violation ticket points.
We slept overnight at the RV garage and had the lights fixed in the morning. It was now Easter weekend and we were happy to have an invitation to Sunday dinner. Facebook had recently connected Mary Lou with a favorite art student, Sarah Lapenna. Sarah is an animator and worked on the movie Happy Feet, the video game Red Dead Redemption, and made a film with her fiance that's winning awards at international film festivals. The Italian food was delicious and the company, Sarah's family, friends, and crazy cats, were delightful. We ate a lot, laughed a lot, and colored Easter eggs.
Next day, more art! We drove into Pasadena and found a parking spot on the hill in front of the Norton Simon Museum. The signs said to turn the car wheels into the curb, and luckily, Mary Lou actually read them and did that. Mary Lou went to the back of the RV to touch up her make-up and Nicole sat at the table to take some notes before meeting another curator. Both of their hearts sank into their stomachs and they cried out in alarm before they even realized what was happening. . . The RV was rolling backwards down the hill! Luckily, with the wheels turned, it hit the curb after only a foot. Mary Lou had left the RV in reverse. Uh huh. Nice one.
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