ART.

Only the most jaded would see Southern California museums as merely a way to get in out of the summer heat.

This year's attractions offer escape in the broader sense, to a time when each and every book was precious, to a place where you can float with a butterfly and watch a bee get busy, to the peaks of the Himalayas and the Andes and to the cafes of Paris.

One of the biggest draws - and therefore tester of one's patience - will be the Pushkin Museum exhibit opening July 27 at LACMA. Many of the paintings in the visiting collection have never been seen in the United States.

ONGOING

Galka Scheyer and the Avant-Garde and a companion exhibit of 20th-century Mexican and California artists. Norton Simon Museum. Through Sept. 8. Admission $3-$6. [phone].

The Making of a Medieval Book shows how illuminated manuscripts were made during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Getty Center. Through Sept. 28. Free admission, parking $5. [phone].

Pavilion of Wings: A Live Butterfly Experience, a chance to get up close and personal with a wide variety of the beautiful creatures. Wearing white attracts them - and watch your step, please. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Through Sept. 1. Museum admission $2-$8, butterfly exhibit admission $1-$3 additional. [phone].

Jungle Island, Yutaka Sone's massive marble renderings of four Los Angeles freeway interchanges emerging from their urban and suburban jungles. Also on view, room-size installations, sculptures, drawings and paintings by Spanish artist Juan Munoz. Geffen Contemporary. Through July 27. [phone].

Friday

Treasures From the Himalayas: Sacred Images From Tibet, Nepal and Northern India, 15 masterpieces from the permanent collection. Norton Simon Museum. Through Oct. 27. Admission $3-$6. [phone].

Saturday

Orkin Bug Fair, probably the most ironic corporate sponsorship ever. Pet a scorpion, get scared by a scarab and overcome arachnophobia. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Through Sunday. Admission $2-$8. [phone].

Sights Unseen: The Photographic Constructions of Masumi Hayashi, collages depicting notorious places such as Manzanar Relocation Camp and a Superfund site, idyllic landscapes and affectionate portraits. Japanese American National Museum. Through Sept. 14. Admission $3-$6. [phone].

Sunday

Christian Marclay's art and experimental music get their first in-depth museum retrospective. UCLA Hammer Museum. Through Aug. 31. Admission $3-$5. [phone].

June 6

Blast From Your Past: What Gen X Watched: 1969-1985, an homage to everything from ABC ``Afterschool Specials'' to that Oscar Mayer bologna jingle. Museum of Television and Radio. Through Oct. 5. Free admission. [phone].

Abby Donovan's exhibit of mixed-media sculptures of words, and the kids-created animated short ``City,'' Santa Monica Museum of Art. Through Aug. 9. Suggested donation $3. [phone].

June 7

Picturing the Natural World, centered on one of the Getty's most popular manuscripts, the ``Mira calligraphiae monumenta,'' known as a fine example of natural life illustration of the 16th century. Getty Center. Through Sept. 7. Free admission, parking $5. [phone].

June 8

California's Native Grandeur: Preserving Vanishing Landscapes, oils and photos of natural vistas from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Through Sept. 1. Admission $2-$8. [phone].

June 17

Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe, a close look at the lavishly detailed illustrations created in Flanders from 1467 to 1561. Getty Center. Through Sept. 7. Free admission, parking $5. [phone].

June 20

Judy Garland's TV specials and appearances will be highlighted. Museum of Television and Radio. Through Sept. 21. Free admission. [phone].

June 22

Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas, with more than 400 15th-century artifacts, many crafted in silver and gold, from the retreat of Peruvian royalty. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Through Sept. 7. Admission $2-$8. [phone].

June 29

Modigliani & the Artists of Montparnasse puts Amodeo Modigliani's works in the context of his avant-garde contemporaries Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse and others. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Through Sept. 28. Admission $1-$7. [phone].

July 6

Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, six acres of photographs, ceramics, paintings, drawings, jewelry, furniture, sculpture, weaving, even musical instruments to buy or simply admire. [phone].

July 9

Pageant of the Masters, where volunteers strike poses replicating famous artworks such as Norman Rockwell's ``First Day of School'' and Currier & Ives' ``The Road Winter,'' nightly through Aug. 30. Saturdays were sold out at press time, as were most areas on Fridays and Sundays. Weeknight tickets in the $15 to $25 range remain, as do $50 to $300 tickets for the Aug. 30 closing gala. [phone].

July 27

Old Masters, Impressionists and Moderns: French Masterworks From the State Pushkin Museum, Moscow spotlighting works by Monet, Picasso, van Gogh, Cesanne, Ingres, Renoir and Pisarro to name a few. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Through Oct. 13. Admission $1-$7. [phone].

Aug. 14

Salvation: Images of the Buddhist Deity of Compassion, a showcase of sculptural images of the deity Avalokiteshvara and a curtain-raiser for the fall exhibition of Buddhist meditational art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Through Jan. 18. Admission $1-$7. [phone].

Aug. 21

Transmitting Culture: Korean Ceramics From Korean-American Collections in Southern California, spanning first- through seventh-century unglazed stoneware pieces of the Three Kingdoms through precious celadons and Choson porcelains. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Through Feb. 1. Admission $1-$7. [phone].

Staff Writers Sandra Barrera, Fred Shuster, Evan Henerson and Valerie Kuklenski contributed these reports.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Matisse's ``Nasturtiums and the Dance,'' on loan from the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, will be on display starting July 27 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.