Norton Simon Museum - Collections

Collections

The Norton Simon Museum, which comprises more than 11,000 objects, contains a significant permanent collection which is highly regarded internationally. Most of the art is on long-term loan from The Norton Simon Foundation and the Norton Simon Art Foundation. No more than 800 or 900 of those pieces are on display at any one time. The Museum also mounts temporary exhibitions that focus on a particular artist, an art movement or artistic period, or art that was created in a specific region or country. For more than three decades after it was founded in 1975, the Norton Simon Museum maintained a no-loans policy. In 2007 the board agreed to circulate select works to museums including the National Gallery in Washington, saying it wanted the museum to become better known. In 2009, it entered into a reciprocal loan agreement with the Frick Collection, New York. The museum's collection has been valued at over $750 million.