The Getty Research Institute (GRI) recently welcomed a delegation from the Center for Art & Archaeology (CA&A) of the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) for a weeklong series of presentations, demonstrations of digital projects, and brainstorming and strategy sessions…. More»
Art history is sometimes imagined as a discipline of solitary scholars, not unlike King Solomon as depicted in this Viceregal painting by Marcos Zapata: alone in a study, poring over texts, and waiting for the moment of inspiration (perhaps divine?)… More»
Art history, like most other professions, relies on acronyms. CIHA refers to the International Committee for the History of Art, which is one of the oldest organizations in the profession, founded in 1930. I recently attended CIHA’s 33rd Congress in… More»
This coming weekend, NASA’s latest Mars Rover, Curiosity, is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet to begin two years of scientific discovery, helping scientists unlock some of the planet’s as yet undiscovered secrets. Interestingly, the same technology being… More»
Thanks to a two-year grant from the Getty Foundation as part of the Getty’s ongoing Panel Paintings Initiative, the Museo Nacional del Prado is now conserving a magnificent series of six panel paintings completed in 1626 by artist Peter Paul… More»
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»
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»
Pacific Standard Time officially ended in Los Angeles on March 31, but it continues nearly 6,000 miles away in Berlin. Pacific Standard Time: Kunst in Los Angeles 1950–1980 opened at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin on March 15th. With double the… More»
We treasure our family photos because they are reminders of meaningful memories. The same can be said of the photographic collections held by institutions, for they represent who we are and where we have been. When photographs become damaged or… More»
The big news in the Getty Vocabulary Program is that around 3,150 records in the Art & Architecture Thesaurus with one or more Chinese-language equivalent terms, plus descriptive notes and bibliographic citations in Chinese, are now published online. The Art… More»
Medieval methods of entertainment included sad dances and alienation parties.
Tights are not pants, circa 1400something.