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The Getty
by JoEllen Coen
Born the son of an oil-man in 1892, Jean Paul Getty, (aka J. Paul Getty, or Paul Getty) was named "The Richest Man in the World" by "Fortune" magazine in 1957. His passion
for acquiring oil did not surpass his love of art. In fact, it was his most avid interest. In the first part of the 1930's Getty began to purchase
serious pieces of European furniture, sculpture, paintings and tapestries. In 1939 he acquired his first antiquity in London.
He is quoted as saying "My love of fine art increased - the more of it I saw, the more of it I wanted to see." Getty also believed that art could act as
a "civilizing influence" on society. His goal was to make art accessible to the public for viewing and for education.
In 1953 the J. Paul Getty Museum opened to the public at Getty's ranch house in Malibu, California. The original, small museum housed a unique
collection of Greek and Roman antiques, European paintings and period furniture. The museum was open only in the afternoons, just three days a week. As
the collection grew, Getty realized the need for a new space, and decided to expand upon the fabulous landscape of the ranch's property.
Getty wanted the new museum to resemble the "Villa dei Papiri", a large country home built on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius in Pompeii. Villa dei Papiri,
named for the massive collection of paper scrolls discovered in its' ruins, was first excavated in 1750, and beautifully preserved in volcanic rock The architectural plans of the original structure (thought to be constructed around 79 AD) were also discovered in the ruins, Getty was adamant that these plans be followed precisely in the construction of the new "Getty Villa". The museum opened in Malibu in 1974, unfortunately Getty died before seeing it's completion; it has since become his final resting place.
After Getty's death, his collection continued to expand and the "Villa" saw many more renovations and additions. It is now the permanent home to most of Getty's major antiquities. The space is a wonderful mix of indoor and outdoor space that provides the perfect setting for Gettys' incredible collection of over 40,000 pieces. The Getty Villa also offers the UCLA/Getty Master's Program on the Conservation of Ethnographic and Archaeological Materials, the only graduate-level program of it's kind on the West Coast and the only U.S. program with its sole focus on archaeological and ethnographic materials.
In 1990 the trustees of the J. Paul Getty collection decided that they had outgrown it's home in Malibu. Architect, Richard Meier was hired and construction began on the new 110-acre, stunning "Getty Center" in Northern Los Angeles. The Getty Center sits dramatically on a hilltop, and has become a well known center for permanent collections and changing exhibitions of comparative art, archaeology and cultures in America. The architecture of the museum stays faithful to Getty's love of antiquities, the walls of it's exterior are covered in ancient travertine revealing fossils of feathers and birds. The campus is home to the Central Garden, the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute, and the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present.
Getty's collection, and its' curators have experienced their fair share of scandal. In 2005 Marion True, the former curator of antiquities for the J. Paul Getty collection, was indicted by the Italian government for conspiracy to traffic illicit antiquities. The case was later dismissed against Ms. True, but it brought to light serious questions as to the integrity of these acquisitions, and the origins, or "patrimony" of works not only at the Getty, but many other museums throughout the United States. The investigation led to stricter laws regarding antiquity acquistions worldwide and also resulted in the return of over 40 works from the Getty collection to Italy and Greece.
More than 1 million visitors pass through The Getty Villa and The Getty Center each year. "My works are vividly alive. They are the embodiment of whoever
created them - a mirror of their creator's hopes, dreams and frustrations...their worlds have long since disintegrated, yet they live on- and, for the
most part, they are as beautiful as ever." J. Paul Getty, 1892-1976.
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