King Tut L.A.: He’s Back!
King Tut has returned to Los Angeles.
Actually, “Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” – a two-year, four-city American tour opened today at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Its displays are theatrically lighted, sometimes choosing effect over clarity, but each gallery is given its own striking atmosphere. And the thematic organization skillfully surveys the generations preceding Tut and the burial customs of his time. And finally 50 objects from Tut’s tomb are presented, only 12 of which were seen during the previous tour.
One of the unusual effects of the exhibition is that, at least subliminally, it seems to undermine its promotional presuppositions. By not allowing the more elaborate pieces to travel – like the gold burial mask that became the icon of the first Tut show – and choosing some of the more intimate pieces to display and adding about 70 objects from the 18th dynasty to suggest a broader context, the Egyptian government altered the perspective: Tut, instead of being the climax of the exhibition, as he is meant to be, becomes something of an epilogue, a puzzle.
This exhibition is a fund-raiser, and Egypt has made clear that it wants to earn at least $10 million from each city visited – Los Angeles (through Nov. 15), Fort Lauderdale, Chicago and Philadelphia. The money is to be used for preserving antiquities.
One of four king Tutankhamun miniature coffins fashioned of gold and inlaid with colored glass and semi-precious stones.
Flap will be there.
Get your tickets here.
This wooden bust of Tutankhamun portrays the young king much more as a youthful figure than a divine being.
