Travelogue

Getty Villa ArchesFirst word of caution: Do not use your GPS to find the Getty Villa, because it will lead you to the wrong entrance. We almost missed our scheduled tour because we wasted close to a ½ hour listening to ours. Instead follow the directions on their website.

Although the museum is free, you do need to reserve a time slot ahead of time, which we did the previous day. Parking, however, is $15, but if you save your receipt you can use it to get free parking at the Getty Center on the same day. Do not even think about bringing an RV to this parking lot. If you have no other option, use public transportation as suggested on their website.

The Getty Villa’s collection is dedicated to ancient Etruscan, Greek, and Roman art and artifacts, which are appropriately displayed in a replica of the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, an ancient Roman country estate buried by the A.D. 79 Mount Vesuvius eruption. The entire grounds of the museum are made to simulate an archeological dig, with each building at a slightly different elevation, allowing visitors to make new discoveries with each perspective.

Getty Villa HerculesAlthough we could have explored the museum on our own, we signed up for a docent tour of the museum and gardens, something I very highly recommend. It was very well worth it, and despite the large group, everyone could hear the docent clearly, because we were given headphones that picked up the audio output of his microphone. You knew you were wondering too far from the group if you started to hear static.

While the artworks in the interior of the museum were interesting and impressive, I enjoyed wandering through the gardens even more. The largest and most beautiful of these is the Outer Peristyle, where a covered walkway surrounds the formal garden and a spectacular 220-foot reflecting pool. The plants grown in the garden were those that would be found in an ancient Roman garden, such as oleander, boxwood, bay laurel, myrtle, and ivy. There are also wonderful views of the sea from the end of the pool.

Getty Villa CourtyardOne of the museum security guards told us of a secret door where we could view the Outer Peristyle from the 2nd story of the Villa. I’m not sure that it was all that much of a secret, as there were others doing the same, but it did give a lovely perspective of the reflecting pool, the surrounding gardens and statues, and the Pacific Ocean beyond.

We could easily have spent the entire day at the Villa, but while in the area, we also wanted to see the Getty Center, and since we had our parking receipt, it would be totally free if we went today. That way we wouldn’t feel bad if we didn’t have enough time to give it true justice. We could always come back again to see what we missed.

Getty Villa Outer PeristyleInstead of going highways to get there, we drove the much slower and windy Sunset Boulevard to get from the Pacific Coast Highway through the Brentwood section of Los Angeles to the museum. I’m sure it was a much more interesting drive than I405.

As mentioned, the Getty Center is a totally different experience from that of the Getty Villa. Firstly, the makeup of its collections varies greatly. While the Villa focuses on ancient Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Art, the Getty Center collection consists of pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; 17th and 18th century French furniture and decorative arts; and 19th and 20th century American, Asian, and European photographs.

Getty Villa Cycladic Harp PlayerBesides the dissimilarity of the collections between the two Getty museums, the environment in which they are experienced is also totally different, the Getty Villa being ancient and intimate, and the Getty Center modernistic and expansive.

When we arrived at the Getty Center, we parked our car at the base of the hill and boarded a computerized unmanned tram, which swept us to the top of a hill, and then discharged us onto a central arrival plaza, at the base of a set of stairs leading up to the museum entrance. Very futuristic.

The first thing we did was enter the museum to pick up the free audio tour headsets and sign up for a docent-led tour. When you only have a short time at the Getty Center, you really have to choose whether you want to concentrate on the art collection or the architectural design of the campus. We decided to go for the architectural tour and then explore a few of the art exhibits on our own afterwards.

So first, the architecture….

Getty Center Main EntranceThe Getty Center was designed by the world-renowned architect Richard Meier. It was he who was given the challenging task of designing a museum complex atop a hill in the Santa Monica Mountains that would do justice to this incredible landscape setting and panoramic views of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean.

The complex not only had to house the museum’s permanent art collection, but also the business offices of the Getty Research Institute, Getty Foundation, Getty Conservation Institute, and J. Paul Getty Trust.

Getty Center FoyerThe publicly accessible part lies on the ocean side of the Museum Entrance Hall. It consists of a courtyard surrounded by five, interconnected, two-story pavilions, which house the museum’s art collection. The upper level of each pavilion displays paintings, while the plaza level displays sculpture, decorative arts, and illuminated manuscripts.

Natural lighting is an important architectural element used by Meier. Much of the exterior walls of the pavilions are made of glass, allowing sunlight to illuminate the interior. Upper level galleries are all naturally lit through a computerized system of shades and louvers that control the intensity and quality of sunlight that enters.

One of the many unifying elements of the design is the use of Italian travertine stone panels throughout the entire campus. These beige-colored, texture panels not only cover the walls and bases of all the buildings, but serve as paving stones in the courtyard as well. There is very little color when you look around the campus. The grid-like pattern created by the travertine squares is softened a bit by the curvilinear design incorporated into the buildings.

Lolo with Van Gogh’s IrisesThroughout the terraces and gardens, there are more than 28 contemporary and modern sculptures on display. We recognized several by the artist Mark di Suvero, whose work we have admired in Crissy Field in San Francisco the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, and the Storm King Art Center in New York State. .

After the tour was over, we did an embarrassingly quick run through of a few of the pavilions, telling ourselves that we would come back at a future date and enjoy the exhibits at a more leisurely pace.

Getty Center CourtyardOur last stop before catching the tram back down the hill was to the South Promontory cactus garden, where we took in the wonderful panoramic views of the city of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean.

It would be very difficult to say which Getty Museum I enjoyed more, as they are both so very different. However, I would have to say that I had a slight leaning towards the Getty Villa, as I tend to love history and smaller, intimate settings, while Herb had a slight leaning toward the Getty Center, as his engineering background gives him a better understanding and appreciation of the architectural design and modernism.

Let’s just say we were lucky to have had the time to see them both.

Description

Getty Villa

Lolo in Getty Villa ExhibitThe Getty Villa is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum, the other one being the Getty Center in Los Angeles. The Villa is located in Pacific Palisades, just south of Malibu, and sits atop a bluff overlooking the ocean.

The major focus of the Getty Villa is ancient Etruscan, Greek, and Roman art, and the collection includes over 44,000 works dating from 6,500 B.C. to A.D. 400. 1,200 of them are on display in 23 galleries devoted to the permanent collection. There has been some controversy concerning the acquisition and rightful ownership of some of the works, and in 2006, the Getty returned several looted items to the Greek and Italian governments.

Getty Villa CourtyardVery appropriately, the collection is housed in a building modeled after the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, a first-century Roman country house buried in the A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It first opened to the public in 1974. Getty, who died shortly afterwards in 1976, never actually visited the museum after it was opened.

The Villa was closed to the public during a $275 million, 8 year renovation which went on from 1998 until its reopening in 2006.

The architectural plan surrounding the villa was designed to simulate an archaeological dig. With each building at a slightly different elevation, visitors experience the site as an archaeological excavation, with each perspective offering new discoveries.

Lolo with Getty Center Roman StatuesJust as in ancient Roman homes, gardens are an integral part of the setting and include plants that were favored by the ancient Romans, such as oleander, boxwood, bay laurel, myrtle, and ivy. The largest and most beautiful of these gardens is the Outer Peristyle, where a covered walkway surrounds the formal garden and a spectacular 220-foot reflecting pool.

Admission is free, but visitors must reserve tickets ahead of time for a specific time. There is a $15 charge for parking. If you visit the Getty Center the same day, your parking receipt from the Villa will work at the Center. Note: the parking lot cannot accommodate RVs.

When touring the Getty Villa, be sure to join one of the very informative docent tours of the museum and gardens.
Getty Center

Getty Center

Getty Center ComplexThe Getty Center, the second of the two locations of the J. P. Getty Museum, sits atop a hill in the Santa Monica Mountains, with panoramic views of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean.

Inspired by the landscape which enfolds below, famed architect Richard Meier designed the complex to highlight both nature and culture. The campus is organized around a central arrival plaza, where visitors disembark from a computer-operated tram that begins at the bottom of the hill.

Getty Center Entrance StairsOne of the many unifying elements of the design is the use of Italian travertine stone panels, which covers not only the walls and bases of all buildings, but also serves as paving stones in the museum courtyard. This beige-colored, textured stone reflects sunlight during the morning and emits a honeyed warmth in the afternoon. The curvilinear design incorporated into the buildings help soften the grid created by the travertine squares.

Natural lighting is another important architectural element used by Meier. Much of the exterior walls of the pavilions are made of glass, allowing sunlight to illuminate the interior. Upper level galleries are all naturally lit through a computerized system of shades and louvers that control the intensity and quality of sunlight that enters.

Getty Center WalkwayThe museum is comprised of five interconnected, two-story pavilions surrounding a central courtyard. Inside the pavilion are the galleries for the permanent collection of pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; 17th and 18th century French furniture and decorative arts; and 19th and 20th century American, Asian, and European photographs.

Contemporary and modern sculpture is featured throughout the terraces and gardens, including 28 modern and contemporary outdoor sculptures of artists such as Mark di Suvero.

The heart of the Getty Center is Robert Irwin’s Central Garden, a 134,000 square foot design featuring a natural ravine and a tree-lined walkway that traverses a stream and gradually descends to a plaza where the stream cascades over a stone waterfall into a pool with a floating maze of azaleas.

The Getty Center is also home to the Getty Research Institute, Getty Foundation, Getty Conservation Institute, and J. Paul Getty Trust.

Admission to the Getty Center is free, although parking costs $15.