The present whereabouts of the Berthouville Treasure are not a mystery. In December 2011 this priceless hoard of ancient Roman artifacts discovered by chance in the French countryside over 180 years ago was temporarily transferred from its permanent home in the… More»
It’s official—abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock’s seminal work Mural (1943) will be undergoing technical study and conservation at the Getty Center as part of a new collaboration between the Getty and the University of Iowa Museum of Art. The painting… More»
Intimate relationships visualized: the work and love of Sylvia Sleigh and Lawrence Alloway. More»
UPDATE: The screening of the 1911 film L’Inferno, scheduled for Saturday, June 23, at 3:00 p.m., has been cancelled. We apologize for the inconvenience. The other two films will screen as planned. The Museum’s Department of Manuscripts recently opened the… More»
What’s the top hit when you google Louise Nevelson, Dorothea Lange, or Betye Saar? Wikipedia, of course. The online encyclopedia anyone can edit, Wikipedia features 22 million articles edited by 1 million+ volunteer editors in 285 languages. Of those editors,… More»
Some time ago, I saw a headline in the Wall Street Journal that read “In Retreat, Sears Set to Unload Stores.” It seems that Sears is cash strapped and needs to raise over $700 million, so selling its stores is… More»
Roman poetry is filled with entertaining rants against urban evils, which I revisited with glee while preparing for a gallery class I taught at the Getty Villa last month. Some of the most illuminating diatribes come to us from D…. More»
Students in the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program recently dug up ancient wall paintings buried on the grounds of the Getty Villa. Not real ones, of course—it was all part of a classroom exercise for us conservators-in-training to better understand how conservation… More»
This is the second in a series of conservators’ reflections on artworks in Pacific Standard Time. In 1964 Judy Chicago created this wall-mounted sculpture, Car Hood, from a steel car hood and traditional automotive paint. The work was on loan… More»
Horses have been the subject of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and other renderings for thousands of years. They have been depicted as companions of man, within picturesque landscapes, and in dynamic races, chases, and battles. Anne Woollett, curator of paintings at… More»
Nature, a powerful force out of the control of man. Storms can be a depiction of anxiety, heroism, drama, and beauty, but also can provide a context for an artist to explore the emotion behind color, form and texture.
Long Ship’s Lighthouse, Land’s End, 1834-1835, Joseph Mallord William Turner, watercolor and bodycolor. J. Paul Getty Museum.
A Storm on a Mediterranean Coast, 1767, Claude-Joseph Varnet, oil on canvas. J. Paul Getty Museum.