[photo credit: The Norton Simon Museum]
“Gold: Enduring Power, Sacred Craft,” which explores the artistic and cultural significance of gold in approximately 60 works drawn from the museum’s collections, closes February 16, according to the museum’s website. Tonight’s Free First Friday — a monthly program requiring no reservations or advance tickets — waives the museum’s usual $20 adult admission.
The exhibition spans objects from South and Southeast Asia, Europe, North Africa and North America, with sculptures, paintings, jewelry, tapestries and photography dating from 1000 BCE to the 20th century, according to a museum press release. It is organized into three thematic sections: power, devotion and adornment.
“As we were looking at the objects in our collections, a theme emerged and we realized we talk about gold across mediums — tapestries, sculptures, painting, works on paper — as an opportunity to get to know and celebrate the collection,” said
Maggie Bell, the museum’s associate curator, who co-organized the exhibition with Assistant Curator Lakshika Senarath Gamage.
The exhibition opened October 24, 2025 — 50 years to the date of the museum’s renaming from the Pasadena Art Museum — and is displayed in the lower-level exhibition wing. Technical analysis conducted during the show’s preparation revealed that some objects that appear to be gold are crafted from other materials such as bronze, silver, silk thread or paint, according to the museum.
The Norton Simon Museum, at 411 W. Colorado Blvd. at Orange Grove Boulevard, houses more than 12,000 objects, according to the museum. Regular hours on Fridays are noon to 7 p.m. Free parking is available in the museum lot and on adjacent streets. Pasadena Transit lines 10 and 33 and Metro bus line 180 stop in front of the museum. The closest Metro Rail station is Memorial Park on the A Line, at 125 E. Holly St. The café and store close at 6:45 p.m., and final entry is 6:15 p.m. For information, call (626) 449-6840 or visit nortonsimon.org.
After “Gold” closes, the museum’s next exhibition,”Dear Little Friend: Impressions of Galka Scheyer,” opens February 20. It examines the legacy of the German-born art dealer who helped bring European modernism to the United States, according to a museum press release. The next Free First Friday is March 6.
