The Famous Getty Center Displays One of the Top European Art Collections in the United States
The renowned Getty Center, located in the beautiful mountains of Santa Monica, CA, displays one of the largest European artwork collations in the United States. The Getty Museum’s impressive collection is shared between the Getty Center and the Getty Villa, the original Getty Museum and home of J. Paul Getty in Malibu, CA. The ever growing collection has grown to more than 44,000 artworks, covering over five thousand years of world history and consists of European paintings, sketches, sculpture, historical manuscripts, decorative arts, and American and European photography. The Getty Center was finally opened in 1998 after ten years of construction and an estimated $3B dollars in design and construction costs. The majestic museum structure is made up of numerous modernly-styled buildings that surround an open courtyard, a pavilion, and a central garden. In addition to the museum, the Getty Center is home to the Getty Research Institute and Getty Conservation Institute.
The Getty Center was made possible through funding received from the J. Paul Getty Trust, the richest art organization in the world with a net worth of over $4.2 billion dollars. Paul Getty viewed art as a humanizing influence and believed the fine arts should be made accessible to the public and enjoyed by all. Since the trust was started in 1953, the original Getty Museum, located in Paul Getty’s ranch house in Malibu, CA, went through a series of remodels and building improvements. In 1982, The Getty Trust finalized their decision to augment the original museum with a second location, and in the preceding year, the museum site in the mountains above Santa Monica was acquired for the Getty Center. In 1998, the Getty Center was opened to the residents of Los Angeles and currently exhibits a significant portion of the Getty art collection.
An excursion to the Getty Center should cover at least the highlights of its art collection. Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises was painted during the artists stay at the St Remy mental in France. Van Gogh referred to this painting as “the lightning conductor for my illness” and was one of his final works before to his death. Arii Matamoe or “The Royal End” is a painting of a decapitated human head displayed set in an elegant room by French painter, Paul Gauguin, who was well known for themes of death and anti-Imperialism in his artworks. The Portrait of a Halberdier, a painting by Florentine Renaissance artist, Potornmo, is a fine example of the artist’s portrayal of his human subjects that seem to hover in the air. Another famous work is Albrecht Durer’s Stag Bettle, a masterpiece painted with incredible detail of the insect’s body. Durer, a true Renaissance. Lastly, the Stanheim Missal is one of the most finely preserved hand-written, Christian Missals in possesion from the 12th century Saxony.
Makbar Lee is an art museum lover and author for Art-Museum-Guide.com your free web guide for art museums all over the world.
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