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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Looking around the room, I see a virtual United Nations in the grip of soccer fever. Her parents are from Mexico and El Salvador, but her team is the Black Stars of Ghana. She was born in Nicaragua, and...
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This is the first in a series on the Iris about interesting and unusual arts careers. We begin with Rand Eppich of the Getty Conservation Institute, who has combined his skills in architecture, photography, technology, and teaching into a...
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Mexican cooking as we know and love it in the U.S.—moles, carne asada, burritos, cafe con leche, loads of melty cheese—would have been unrecognizable to the Aztecs. They didn’t have cows, pigs, sugar, cheese, butter, cinnamon, or wheat. They...
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Texting a story, talking with pictures, taking a color tour, mapping a lunchroom: these are some of the activities included in a new set of online materials for K–12 teachers and their students. Open Studio: A Collection of...
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Old media artifacts like silent films are traditionally thought of as being windows into their individual moments in time. But when they portray another era still—like the ancient world—they serve as a kind of mirror, telling the story of...
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How do you make a movie about Edward Hopper? The artist—famous for his haunting and enigmatic paintings such as Nighthawks and New York Movie—was conspicuously taciturn, speaking little about his work, giving few interviews, and keeping to a small...
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