Daylight savings time ended yesterday morning, prompting the punctually minded to wheel the hands of their analog clocks back one hour. No such fussing is needed for the clocks in the Museum’s collection, which hold court in the Getty Center’s… More»
A delightfully jaunty visitor has alighted for a long-term visit at the Getty Center: François-Henri, Duke of Harcourt (1726–1802), in a portrait by Fragonard. Dashing in sea-green velvet, with a white ruff and red cape, the duke holds a feathered… More»
Students are often lectured at, asked to receive information and not question what is being said. As a college student, I’ve experienced this first-hand. This summer, I got to explore more creative approaches to learning as part of the team… More»
This summer I’ve been helping to facilitate Family Art Lab, a weekend program at the Getty Center that combines a gallery exploration with hands-on art making in the Museum Courtyard. Through September 2, we’re offering a two-part experience centered around… More»
In this time of uncertainty, art can bring pleasure to the eye, nourishment to the mind, and also solace to the heart. A work that does just this is Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s Making Fritters (Les Beignets), an enchanting drawing from about… More»
The Getty Museum’s most recent painting acquisition, Jean-Antoine Watteau’s The Italian Comedians, is now on view at the Getty Center. It’s installed in Gallery S202 with an array of other 18th-century paintings in the collection, including one by Nicolas Lancret…. More»
Antoine Watteau is famous for his theatrical pictures of the 18th-century French megarich at their elegant balls and fêtes galantes. Theater of a different kind figures in The Italian Comedians, a beautiful and poignant painting that has just joined the… More»
This is not your run-of-the-aristocratic-mill cupboard. J. Paul Getty, who had a passion for French decorative arts, listed this cabinet—our current Masterpiece of the Week—among his eight favorite pieces of furniture in the world. This sumptuous cabinet epitomizes that great… More»
Do artworks have an inner life? You might think so when you visit a new exhibition opening today at the Getty Center. The Life of Art: Context, Collecting, and Display presents the life stories of four objects made to serve… More»
Museum-quality paintings by Édouard Manet still remaining in private hands are exceptionally rare, and the Getty Museum is extremely fortunate in its most recent addition to the paintings collection: Manet’s Portrait of Madame Brunet, which goes on view at the… More»
Alchemical manuscript. [box 04]
> From Manly Palmer Hall’s Collection.
Alchemy never quite panned out, but it really seems like they were onto something here.