50 masterpieces at LACMA

For any art museum, the permanent collection is the thing. Here are 50 works, all terrific, chosen from among hundreds of possibilities gleaned from LACMA’s encyclopedic spectrum. It is not — repeat, not — a “50 best” list. That impossibility is a fool’s game. Listed in chronological order, the works stick to centuries before our own, and the year LACMA acquired it is in parentheses. All but five, marked with a white "X," are currently on public view.