Created by the former chairman and CEO of Occidental Petroleum, the Hammer Museum has had a hard time winning the respect of critics and the public. Barbs are aimed at both the museum's relatively flat collection and its patron's tremendous ego. The Hammer is ensconced in a two-story Carrara marble building attached to the oil company's offices. It's better known for its high profile and often provocative visiting exhibits, such as the opulent prerevolution treasures of Russian ruler Catherine the Great. In conjunction with UCLA's Wight Gallery, a feisty gallery with a reputation for championing contemporary political and experimental art, the Hammer continues to present often daring and usually popular special exhibits, and it's definitely worth calling ahead to find out what will be there during your visit to L.A. The permanent collection (Armand Hammer's personal collection) consists mostly of traditional Western European and Anglo-American art, and contains noteworthy paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec, Rembrandt, Degas, and van Gogh.