The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled a selection of must-see works within its new David Geffen Galleries, marking a radical departure from traditional museum curation. Moving away from rigid chronological and geographic silos, the museum has organized its encyclopedic collection around four major bodies of water—the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea—to highlight the historical movement of resources, ideas, and cultures. The single-level, fluid architectural space encourages visitors to meander through evolving installations that include high-profile acquisitions like Francis Bacon’s "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" alongside intricate Kuba ceremonial textiles.
This shift matters because it represents a significant institutional pivot toward a more globalized and interconnected narrative of art history. By using water as a central metaphor and organizing principle, LACMA is challenging the Eurocentric and medium-specific structures that have long defined major encyclopedic museums. The new layout emphasizes the agency of the visitor and the dynamism of cultural exchange, signaling a broader trend in the art world to make massive collections feel more accessible, integrated, and reflective of a complex, mobile history.