Retired industrialist Norton Simon was reported to be resting at his Beverly Hills Hotel bungalow Thursday after an emergency hospitalization coinciding with the announcement that he has relinquished the presidency of his Pasadena-based museum and its fabled art collection.

Simon, 82, who has suffered for years from Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disease, was treated at UCLA Medical Center for an unspecified "emergency," according to Norton Simon Museum of Art spokeswoman Victoria Rogers. Other sources said he had been hospitalized twice since March 2.

His decision to turn over control of the museum to his wife, former actress Jennifer Jones Simon, 70, has renewed speculation over the future of the institution and its renowned collection of Old Masters and European paintings.

"As far as we know, there are no plans for any changes," Rogers said. "But things are happening fast, and it's not clear what the direction will be."

Mrs. Simon was not available for comment Thursday.

Local art authorities said their major concern was keeping the collection intact and in Los Angeles.

"It is embedded here and it is part of the patrimony of Los Angeles," said John Walsh, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, often mentioned as a possible future home for Simon's collection. "We all hope that a way will be found to keep it here."

The most intense questions about the museum's fate are likely to center on the qualifications and expertise of Jennifer Simon, an Academy Award winner and prominent fund-raiser for medical charities who has chaired the museum's board of trustees since 1977.

Several prominent local members of the art world described Mrs. Simon, who by her own admission had little exposure to art before her 1970 marriage, as the person most likely to carry on her husband's vision.

"She's well-schooled in what he would like," said Henry Hopkins, director of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation. "Probably nobody's better versed than Jennifer as to what his wishes are."

One art expert said Jennifer Simon is likely to give the museum a higher profile than her husband had allowed by encouraging educational programs and attempting to make the collection, which is open only four days a week, more accessible to the public.

'More Friendly'

"Under her I think we'll start to see the museum become a bit more friendly," said this expert, who did not want to be named. Norton Simon, he added, has been "single-minded" about building his collection.