The San Diego Museum of Art occupies the central building at the heart of Balboa Park's museum row — a 1926 Spanish Renaissance structure whose elaborate Plateresque facade is itself worth the walk over. The collection is encyclopaedic in ambition: European old masters, South Asian art, American art from the colonial period through the twentieth century, and a particularly strong collection of Spanish paintings.
The Spanish art collection is the museum's genuine strength — works by El Greco, Zurbarán, and Murillo in a depth unusual outside the major East Coast institutions. The decorative arts galleries and the photography collection fill in the rest of the building. The outdoor Sculpture Court hosts works in a garden setting between the museum and the Timken.
The Timken Museum of Art next door is technically separate and free to enter — its collection is small but includes a genuine Rembrandt and several other major European works. Both can be covered in a single morning.