Utagawa Kuniyoshi, In the Ruined Palace at Sōma, Masakado's Daughter Takiyasha Uses Sorcery to Gather Allies (detail), c. 1844, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Joan Elizabeth Tanney Bequest, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Get into the Halloween Spirit with the Spookiest Highlights from Our Collection

October 30, 2024
Alexander Schneider, Associate Editor

Tomorrow is Halloween, but there are no tricks this year at LACMA. As a treat, we’re sharing some of the spookiest pieces haunting our collection, with subjects ranging from witches to cat ghosts to giant skeletons that will get you in the spirit of things.

LACMA is open tomorrow, and you’re always invited to lurk through our galleries. Visit the museum to explore the magic of the cosmos at Mapping the Infinite: Cosmologies Across Cultures, get enchanted by the power of color at We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art, and be charmed by the rest of our exhibitions on view. For some family fun throughout Los Angeles, two Communities Create LA! sessions are happening this Saturday, November 2, at Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park and A C Bilbrew Library, where kids can take part in free drop-in workshops and create their own art inspired by the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead. Check out our full calendar of programs for more. 


Utagawa Kuniyoshi, In the Ruined Palace at Sōma, Masakado's Daughter Takiyasha Uses Sorcery to Gather Allies, c. 1844, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Joan Elizabeth Tanney Bequest, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Georges de la Tour, The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame (detail), c. 1638–40, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of The Ahmanson Foundation, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Takahashi Hiroaki, Black Cat Hissing, second quarter of 20th century, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Felix Juda, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Albert Krüger, Arnold Böcklin, Böcklin's self-portrait with Death, c. 1899, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, purchased with funds provided by Anna Bing Arnold, Museum Associates Acquisition Fund, and deaccession funds, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Alexander McQueen, Woman's Ensemble from The Girl Who Lived in a Tree collection, Fall/Winter 2008–9, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift from the Collection of Regina J. Drucker, Headpiece by Michael Schmidt, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Marco Dente, Baccio Bandinelli, The Skeletons, 1518–25, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mary Stansbury Ruiz Bequest, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Demon with Two Chained Men (recto), Man Bitten on the Arm by a Tiger (verso); Folio from a Jain Karma Series, c. 1850–1900, India, Rajasthan, Marwar, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, from the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


John Singer Sargent, Man Wearing Laurels, 1874–80, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mary D. Keeler Bequest, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), Shirasuka (Onoe Kikugorō III) as a Cat Ghost, 1852, 3rd month, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Barbara S. Bowman, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Human Skull Pendant, Mexico, Aztec, 1350–1520, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Constance McCormick Fearing, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Ernst Barlach, Paul Cassirer Verlag, Pan-Presse, Witches' Ride, 1922, published 1923, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, purchased with funds provided by Anna Bing Arnold, Museum Associates Acquisition Fund, and deaccession funds, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Demon Mask, Japan, Meiji period (late 19th–early 20th century), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of the Robert and Helen Kuhn Family Trust, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Henri Charles Guérard, Dance of Death, c. 1888, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Graphic Arts Council Fund, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Francisco Goya y Lucientes, The sleep of reason produces monsters, 1799, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Paul Rodman Mabury Trust Fund, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA


Jean-Baptiste Clésinger (called Auguste), Owl and Skull, c. 1871, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by J. B. Koepfli by exchange, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA