Suzanne Muchnic for the Los Angeles Times reports that despite economic troubles, 2008 turned out to be a surprisingly good year for museum-collection growth in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art gained 4,747 works, including 3,500 photographs amassed by collectors Marjorie and Leonard Vernon. The J. Paul Getty Museum expanded its art holdings with 894 acquisitions, including photographs by Irving Penn and Carleton Watkins. The Hammer Museum added 169 pieces to its fledgling contemporary art collection; the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts gained 192 works, including donations of contemporary photographs from the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Foundation. At the Museum of Contemporary Art, the grim economy compounds a long-festering financial debacle that led to the recent departure of director Jeremy Strick. Still, the collection grew by 141 works.