Guillermo del Toro

Mary and I belong to several Museums.  Some local, like the Orange County Museum of Art and Bowers.  Others far distant, like the Haggerty Museum on the Marquette campus. Several in Los Angeles, most, purchased because of a certain exhibit that we wanted to see or that we wanted our grandchildren to see.  That explains LACMA with Van Gogh and the Natural History Museum with the Space shuttle.  The Museum of Latin American Art also falls into that category.

And there are membership perks.

In September of last year, we received notice of a Member’s Only preview of an exhibit soon to open at the Los Angeles County of Museum Art (LACMA). The promotional images were exceptional.  It turns out that they were lifted from several of the films del Toro has directed.

While this might be expected to make the show a disappointment, the fact is anything but.

It turns out that Mr. del Toro is a bit of an eccentric, even by LA standards.  He lives in the Hollywood hills in a seventeen-room house with each room a virtual museum in its own right.  He collects and displays sketches, objects d’art; even costumes and set pieces from his many, unusual films.

Since he was a child in Mexico, he has been fascinated by horror, terror, and fantasy.  This might seem strange for a child raised in a very Catholic upbringing, but he may have been affected by the violence in his home state of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.  He is now a self-proclaimed involuntary exile from his native country.

My favorite film he produced is Pan’s Labyrinth but he is also singularly responsible for the Hellboy series and is co-credited for The Hobbit series, although he left the project when MGM had multiple delays from financing problems.

One of the things that made the display unique and memorable was the staging.  There were several stations, each with its own identity: One with costumes from his films, another with film clips of unique sets from his films, a third with clips from the actors in his films, several with artifacts from his home, including early figures of Frankenstein’s Monster.

His obvious love for his country and his Mexican heritage were probably responsible for the collection displayed.  Los Angeles is, after all an essentially Spanish speaking culture.

I was reminded, as we went through the collection, that Museums are changing, as are libraries from traditional collections to collections focused on more timely subjects.  Even libraries now have Curators, who conceive and collect for more interesting events.

I am dedicated to returning to writing my Posts on a more regular basis.  Join me soon for a look at vacations and what they might mean.