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The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, USA, is the current home of the J. Paul Getty Museum, as well as a research institute (the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI)), a grant program, and a leadership institute. The museum opened on December 16, 1997. It is owned and operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust.
The Getty Trust
The Getty Trust administers four programs: the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Foundation, and the Getty Museum.
The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI)
The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), part of the Getty Trust, was conceived in 1982 and began operation in 1985. Its central objective is to advance the conservation of the visual arts, in all their dimensions. It achieves this objective through four key strands: international model field projects; scientific research and analysis into materials; educational initiatives for the conservation professional; and by sharing the results of its activities and the activities of others in the field.
The GCI tackles unanswered questions in both immovable and movable heritage. At any one time it is engaged in a number of projects, ranging from site management to collection care. Its work is necessarily interdisciplinary. The primary audience for the GCI is conservation professionals, and those working in allied fields such as art historians, curators, archaeologists, architects, scientists, and government officials.
The GCI is distinct from most other conservation-focused organisations in that it is independently funded and has no political affiliations. In its activities, the GCI adheres to the principles that guide the work of the Getty Trust: service, philanthropy, teaching, and access.
In addition to the work of the GCI, the J. Paul Getty Trust contributes to the conservation field through the Getty Museum conservation departments, conservation grants provided by the Getty Foundation, and the conservation collection located in the library at the Getty Research Institute.
Getty Museum Collection
The museum collects and exhibits classical sculpture and art, European paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture, decorative arts, and photographs. In respect to Getty's collecting inclinations, the museum does not generally collect twentieth or twenty-first century art, with the exception of photography.
In 1974, J. Paul Getty opened his second museum, in a re-creation of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, on his property in Pacific Palisades, California. In 1997, the museum moved to its current location in Brentwood; the Pacific Palisades museum, renamed the "Getty Villa", was closed for renovation until 2006. At present, the Getty Villa holds the Greek, Etruscan and Roman sculptures once housed in the Getty Center.
The Getty Center houses such paintings as Irises by Vincent Van Gogh and King of France and Navarre by Hyacinthe Rigaud.
The controversies with Italy and Greece
The Getty is involved in a controversy regarding proper title to some of the artwork in its collection. The Museum's previous curator of antiquities, Marion True, was indicted in Italy in 2005 (along with famed dealer Robert Hecht Jr.) on criminal charges relating to trafficking in stolen antiquities. Similar charges have been addressed by the Greek authorities. The primary evidence in the case came from the 1995 raid of a Geneva, Switzerland warehouse which had contained a fortune in stolen artifacts. Italian art dealer Giacomo Medici was eventually arrested in 1997; his operation was thought to be "one of the largest and most sophisticated antiquities networks in the world, responsible for illegally digging up and spiriting away thousands of top-drawer pieces and passing them on to the most elite end of the international art market".
In a letter to the J. Paul Getty Trust on December 18, 2006, True stated that that she is being made to "carry the burden" for practices which were known, approved, and condoned by the Getty's Board of Directors. True is currently under investigation by Greek authorities over the acquisition of a 2,500 year old funerary wreath. The wreath, along with a 6th century B.C. statue of a woman, have now being returned to Greece and are now exhibited at the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum.
On November 20, 2006, the director of the museum, Michael Brand, announced that twenty-six disputed pieces were to be returned to Italy, but not the Victorious Youth, which is still claimed by the Italian authorities. In 2007 the Los Angeles J. Paul Getty Museum was forced to return 40 artifacts, including a 5th century B.C. statue of the goddess Aphrodite, which was looted from Morgantina, an ancient Greek settlement in Sicily. The Getty Museum resisted the requests of the Italian government for nearly two decades, only to admit later that "there might be 'problems'" attached to the acquisition." In 2006 Italian senior cultural official Giuseppe Proietti said: "The negotiations haven't made a single step forward." Only after he suggested the Italian government "to take cultural sanctions against the Getty, suspending all cultural cooperation", did the J. Paul Getty Museum return the antiquities.
In another unrelated case in 1999 the Getty Museum had to hand over three antiquities to Italy after determining they were stolen. The objects included a Greek red-figure kylix from the fifth-century B.C., signed by the painter Onesimos and the potter Euphronios as potter, looted from the Etruscan site of Cerveteri; a torso of the god Mithra from the second-century A.D., and the head of a youth by the Greek sculptor Polykleitos.
On September 26, 2007, Sarcona Center signed a contract with the Italian culture minister, Francesco Rutelli, to return stolen arts from Italy. Forty ancient art works will be returned including: the 5th Century BC Aphrodite limestone and marble statue, in 2010; fresco paintings stolen from Pompeii, marble and bronze sculptures and Greek vases. Dr. Marion True (former curator) is on trial in Italy on conspiracy charges in the looting.
Getty Center architecture
The Getty Center, designed by architect Richard Meier, is the US$1.2 billion flagship location of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the largest arts endowment in history (at over US$3 billion).[9]It is located on a hill in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California overlooking Interstate 405 and Bel-Air. The museum is free to the public (although there is a parking fee imposed by the City of Los Angeles). The Getty Center is high enough that on a clear day, it is possible to see the snow at Big Bear as well as the Pacific Ocean and the entire Los Angeles basin.
Richard Meier has exploited the two naturally occurring ridges (which diverge at a 22.5 degree angle) by overlaying two grids along these axes. These grids serve to define the space of the campus while dividing the import of the buildings on it. Along one axis lie the galleries and along the other axis lie the administrative buildings. The primary grid structure is a 30-inch (760 mm) square; most wall and floor elements are 30-inch (760 mm) squares or some derivative thereof.
The buildings at the Getty Center are made from concrete and steel with either travertine or aluminium cladding.
The Getty Center houses four primary art collections: Greek and Roman antiquities, French decorative arts, European paintings before the 1900s and Photography from its inception through present day.
The five galleries, called pavilions, are North, East, South, West and the Changing Exhibit pavilion. The artwork is displayed throughout the pavilions chronologically: the North houses the oldest art while the West houses the newest. The first floor galleries house light-sensitive art, such as illuminated manuscripts, furniture or photography. Computer-controlled skylights on the second floor galleries allow paintings to be displayed in natural light. The second floors are connected by a series of glass enclosed bridges and open terraces, both of which offer views of the surrounding hillsides and central plaza.
Throughout the campus, numerous fountains provide white noise as a background. The initial design has remained intact, however benches and fences have been installed around the plaza fountains to discourage visitors from wading into the pools. Some additional revisions have been made in deference to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The museum has a seven-story deep underground parking garage with over 1,200 parking spaces. An automated, driver-less, three-car tram takes passengers to and from the museum. This serves to decompress the visitor and create an entirely pedestrian experience for the museum-goer.
The north promontory is anchored by a circular grass area which serves as a heliport in case of emergencies, and the south promontory is anchored by a succulent plant and cactus garden.
Getty Center Central Garden
The 134,000-square-foot (12,400 m²) Central Garden at the Getty Center is the work of artist Robert Irwin. The design of the Central Garden re-establishes the natural ravine between the Museum and the Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities with a tree-lined walkway. The walkway traverses a stream planted on each side with a variety of grasses and gradually descends to a plaza where bougainvillea arbors provide scale. The stream continues through the plaza and ends in a cascade of water over a stone waterfall into a pool in which a maze of azaleas floats. Around the pool is a series of specialty gardens, each with a variety of plant material.
The process of creating the Central Garden began for Irwin in 1992, when he started working with Harold M. Williams and Stephen D. Rountree of the J. Paul Getty Trust in consultation with Richard Meier. Irwin also worked closely with Richard Naranjo, the Getty's manager of grounds and gardens, and the landscape architecture firm of Spurlock Poirier, in finalizing all facets of the garden.
Getty Center Plants
- Trees:
o Platanus acerifolia - 'Yarwood' London Plane
o Lagerstroemia indica - 'Muskogee' Crape Myrtle
- Stream Garden:
o Helichrysum petiolatum - Cudflower
o Cotyledon orbiculata - no common name
o Kalanchoe - various species
* Tibouchina urvilleana - Princess Flower
* Geranium psilostemon - Cranesbill
* Cannas - no common name
- Terrace Bowers:
* Bougainvillea - no common name
- Meadow:
* Muhlenbergia rigens - Deer Grass
* Festuca mairei - Maire's Fescue
- Terrace Gardens:
* Hydrangea macrophylla - Garden Hydrangea
* Iris species - no common name
* Rosa species - Floribunda roses
* Tulips, South African and Mediterranean Bulbs - no common names
* Tropaeolum malus - Garden Nasturtium
* Erigeron karvinskianus - Fleabane
* Sempervivum tectorum - Hen and Chicks
* Penstemon species - Beard Tongue
* Salvia Species - Sages
* Cosmos species - no common name
- Azalea Pool:
* Three varieties of Southern Indica Rhododendron
GettyGuide
Detailed information about the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection at the Getty Center is provided on GettyGuide, a suite of interactive multimedia tools available at the Museum, as well as on getty.edu. At the GettyGuide stations in the Museum, visitors can get information about exhibitions, play with an interactive timeline, watch videos on art-making techniques, and more. Also available at the Museum, the GettyGuide audio player features commentary from curators and conservators on over 300 works of art. With GettyGuide on the Web, one may browse the Museum's collections and bookmark works of art to create a customized tour and printable map. More information about GettyGuide can be found on getty.edu. |
