Getty Villa
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California, USA, is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The Getty Villa is an educational center and museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria.
History
Oil tycoon J. Paul Getty originally opened a gallery adjacent to his home in Pacific Palisades. Finding that he quickly ran out of room, he decided to open a second museum on the property (his original home still sits at the back of the property). In 1974, Getty opened the Getty Villa as his second museum in a building inspired by the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum and incorporating additional details from several other ancient sites. In 1997 a small part of the museum's collection was moved to the Getty Center in nearby Brentwood and the Getty Villa was closed for renovation.
Reopened on January 28, 2006, the Getty Villa once again holds Greek and Roman sculptures some of which were housed in the interim at the Getty Center and the large part in storage for the duration of the Villa's closure. The Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities are arranged by themes e.g. Gods and Goddesses, Dionysos and the Theater and Stories of the Trojan War, housed within Roman-inspired architecture and surrounded by Roman-style gardens. The new architectural plan surrounding the Villa which was conceived by Machado and Silvetti Associates, Boston architects, (who were also responsible for the plans for the renovated museum) is designed to simulate an archaeological dig.
There has been controversy surrounding the Greek and Italian governments' claim that objects in the collection were looted and should be repatriated. In 2006 the Getty returned or promised to return four looted objects to Greece: a stele (grave marker), a marble relief, a gold funerary wreath, and a marble statue. In 2007, the Getty signed an agreement to return 40 looted items to Italy.
(The Villa is frequently and erroneously said to be in the city of Malibu, but the site is actually in the City of Los Angeles in the community of Pacific Palisades. In fact, the Malibu city border begins a mile west of the Villa. The museum itself perpetuates this error, to the irritation of Palisades residents. One story is that when the Villa first opened in 1974, the Pacific Palisades Post Office felt it couldn't handle the additional mail, and the Malibu Post Office assumed the responsibility instead, leading to the Villa's mailing address being in Malibu rather than in Los Angeles.)
Admission
Admission to the Getty Villa is free but timed tickets must be obtained in advance via phone or the museum's website. There is a $15.00 charge for parking. The museum is open Wednesday to Monday, 10 am to 5 pm. It is closed Tuesday and on New Year's Day (January 1), July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas (December 25).
GettyGuide
Detailed information about the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection at the Getty Villa is provided on GettyGuide, a suite of interactive multimedia tools available at the Museum and on its website, Getty.edu. At the GettyGuide stations in the Museum, visitors can get information about exhibitions, play with an interactive timeline, watch videos on art-making techniques, and other activities. The GettyGuide audio player at the Museum features commentary from curators and conservators on over 300 works of art. Users of the online GettyGuide can browse the Museum’s collections and bookmark works of art to create a customized tour and printable map.
