When visiting
Los Angeles, there are an unbelievable
number of things to see and places to go. I would never attempt to rate
them in order of importance. This said, I am sure that if such a list
exists The Getty Center would be right at the top. It all started many years ago
when Jean Paul Getty (1892-1976) inherited his father's oil business. After a
rather successful business career resulting in his building a wealth estimated
at some 3 billion dollars. From 1950 till his death, he lived in
England. With unlimited funds, he indulged in collecting the finest art
Europe had to offer. This eventually overran his estate and he explored
the creation of a museum to show off his acquisitions. When the first
museum located at Getty's home in Malibu became too small, a second one was built
nearby and opened in 1974. This one (called The Villa) also eventually closed
but is scheduled to reopen soon. In 1983 the Trust purchased 750
acres in the
foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood
. The next year architect Richard Meier was selected to create the Getty
Center. From the first it was intended to be the showplace of the Pacific coast,
rivaled only by the Smithsonian in Washington DC. The center occupies the
top 124 acres (50 hectares) located on a spectacular promontory overlooking Los Angeles.
It consists of six buildings. The architecture is spectacular. Massive
curved arches adorned by glass everywhere. The entire center is
organized in a grid composed of 30-inch squares. The rough surface block
extensively used for walkways and on the exterior walls is
Travertine. An innovative splitting process created the distinctive rough
surface. Each block is fitted with stainless steel anchors that hook the
stone into place and allow it to move safely in an earthquake. Included in the
displays is the entire Getty Collections of European paintings,
sculptures, manuscripts and some really great photographs. Many excellent
examples of Renaissance furniture are on display. It is only a
short hop from the expressway to the Center. The first thing that
impressed me was the massive parking system. It can handle thousands of cars in
an orderly and efficient manner, which got us parked in a very short time.
After reading the customary tourist warning about leaving anything of value in the car,
we proceeded down a well groomed pathway to the tram station. These are
wonderfully smooth electric trains that carry hundreds at a time to the top
of the rather steep hill. Traveling at around 10 MPH, it takes a good 5
minutes to reach the summit. For those with good health and a desire for
exercise, the adjoining road is available to hikers. It must be
shared with dozens of tour buses ascending the hill and takes about 15
minutes. Our choice was to do it all so we rode up and walked down.
The complex looms above like a giant castle and the
ride gave us an opportunity to view the vista from different angles. We
stopped at a very modern tram stop at the Arrival Plaza. To our right was
a restaurant. After pausing a few seconds for a couple of quick photos
(which I stitched together) we headed up the stairs and into the main
entrance. For the next couple of hours we wandered
through the many floors of the six buildings taking in all the sights.
When we weren't examining some exquisite masterpiece, we were wandering the
fabulous gardens. It would be impossible to
list all the things we
examined. Most items were free standing, with no glass or other protection
except a very watchful room monitor who sternly spoke to me when my camera lens
violated the primary rule by coming within 6 inches of an object. A definite
NO NO. The items where displayed in this manner because Mr. Getty wanted people
to be able to see these items as they would in his home, not in a museum. One of these items was a delightful Calyx
Krater (Greek mixing vessel) 340BC. This large vessel depicts the myth of
Zeus in which he transformed himself into a beautiful bull to seduce Europa;
Pothos, the winged personification of Zeus's amorous longing, hovers above the
pair. Other gods survey the scene from the upper corners of the picture.
The story's marine setting is indicated by the
numerous fish as well as the sea monster Skylla, in the lower left corner and
the sea god Triton in the lower right.