celebrating LA art, it was monumental, overwhelming, and slightly

tedious in its academic intention to miss nothing, no matter how minor.

When last week the Orange County Museum of Art opened its exhibition

celebrating California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury, it

turned out to be not too big, not too small – just right in size. With

about 150 objects, including paintings, photographs, TV footage,

furniture, and architectural pottery, this exhibition tells the

captivating story of how California -– thousands of miles from New York

and light-years from Europe –- came, artistically speaking, into its

own...