What do you do at the Getty? I’m a designer. My work includes graphics, or 2-D design, as well as 3-D design-such as furniture, interiors, and architectural drawing. Our department, Design, is unique for a cultural institution because we create… More»
We continue our look at intriguing but lesser-known works from the Getty’s collection with two more off-the-beaten-path tips from Museum educators. In a previous post we looked at three relief sculptures; now we turn to two lovingly detailed paintings that… More»
I talked to Louis Marchesano, curator of prints and drawings at the Getty Research Institute, about the exhibition Printing the Grand Manner: Charles Le Brun and Monumental Prints in the Age of Louis XIV, now on view at the GRI—how… More»
You might have a hard time answering that question as you first stroll through the galleries of the exhibition The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme. But as you exit the hall featuring Gérôme’s later works, the answer lies before you… More»
Digging for fire at the Getty Research Institute’s recent symposium Vivísimo Muerto: Debates on Surrealism in Latin America, I recalled Guillaume Apollinaire’s thoughts on what I believe to be the essence of Surrealism: “When man wanted to make a machine… More»
Many first-time visitors to the Getty Center disembark the tram at the top of the hill, take one look around, and wonder out loud, “What’s in all of these buildings?” Our new orientation film—also available in Spanish here—aims to answer… More»
During a tour of the new exhibition The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme, curator Mary Morton stopped in front of Gérôme’s Snake Charmer and asked the audience, “What do you see?” Murmurs spread through the crowd. One brave little girl… More»
June 28th was an unusual Monday for me as an intern at the Getty Foundation. Instead of heading toward the Foundation offices as I would on a typical work day, I reported to the Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the… More»
Now that the Leonardo exhibition has closed, as co-curator—along with Anne-Lise Desmas, associate curator in the Department of Sculpture and the Decorative Arts—I can take stock of some of the things I’ve learned. I’m sad to see the exhibition go,… More»
This is the second in our series of Q&As on arts careers. We return from conservation in the field to discuss the behind-the-scenes work of a preparator. What do you do at the Getty? I’m a preparator—I set up and… More»
Remarkably realistic for medieval illuminated beasts, which were often fabulous admixtures of fantasy and fur. The unicorn is clearly drawn from life, for example.