Art Museum

J. Paul Getty Museum

Los Angeles, United States

J. Paul Getty Museum is an art museum in Los Angeles, United States. 7 works from its collection are in this catalog, including Titian and Paolo Veronese.

About J. Paul Getty Museum

Overview & Identity

The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly known as the Getty, is a prominent American art museum located in Los Angeles, California. Operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, one of the world's largest cultural and philanthropic institutions dedicated to the visual arts, the museum is unique for its dual-campus structure. It houses the Getty Center in Brentwood and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, serving as a major hub for the presentation, conservation, and interpretation of the world's artistic legacy.

Building & Architecture

The museum operates on two distinct campuses. The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades was modeled after an ancient Roman villa and originally opened to display Getty's antiquities. The Getty Center, a 110-acre hilltop site in the Santa Monica Mountains in Brentwood, was designed by architect Richard Meier and opened to the public in 1997 after 14 years of planning and construction. The Center features a six-building complex that houses the museum, library, and research institutes. The campus also includes the Central Garden, a 134,000-square-foot work of art created by Robert Irwin featuring over 500 varieties of plant material.

Collection Highlights & Notable Holdings

The J. Paul Getty Museum's collection is extensive, focusing on European paintings, sculpture, drawings, and decorative arts from before 1900, as well as antiquities from the ancient Mediterranean world. The Getty Villa serves as a center for the study of the arts and cultures of antiquities. The collection has faced scrutiny and controversy regarding the provenance of certain antiquities, including instances where the museum returned stolen objects to Italy, such as a Greek red-figure vase and a terracotta head of a Greek god. The museum also houses the Stark Collection of contemporary and modern sculptures at the Getty Center.

Significance & Institutional Impact

Beyond its museum functions, the J. Paul Getty Trust expanded its mission in 1983 to establish institutes specializing in art restoration, research, and education. These include the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Foundation. The Trust's significant endowment allows it to support global conservation practices, advance interdisciplinary research in art history, and provide strategic grants to institutions worldwide. The museum is also notable for its Open Content Program, which makes public domain artwork freely available, and for hosting major collaborative projects like Pacific Standard Time, which explores the artistic legacy of Southern California.