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Hubby had a birthday last week, and to celebrate, we decided to visit the Getty Center in Los Angeles. While I had visited the Getty Museum that resides in an Italian villa in Malibu 35 years ago, I had never been to the “new” museum, which opened in 1997. It took us more than three hours to wrestle through rush-hour traffic (we visited on a weekday), but the visit was definitely worth it.
Interestingly, while you have to pay for parking, visiting the museum itself is free. I suspect there’s some kind of public transportation to get there, but this being Los Angeles, most people pay to park.
Lievan van Latham (Flemish, 15th Century) Gracienne Taking Leave of Her Father the SultanL
We started with Medieval art, as we usually do. There was a special exhibit on travel in Medieval times, which consisted mostly of illuminated manuscripts. To the right is an image of one of the manuscripts we saw, showing the European prince leaving the palace of his bride’s father to take her to his home in Europe, where she would become a Christian. Most of the travel depicted in these books was associated with Pilgrimages, though there were some examples of travel for business.
Because most of the Medieval paintings are religious, we play “spot that saint” by trying to recognize their attributes, which usually have something to do with how they were martyred. St. Peter holds the keys to Heaven, St. Paul carries a sword, and St. Catherine of Alexandria usually carries a pice of the torture wheel that broke when she was on it. We learned that the attribute for St. Stephen is rocks, which are depicted on his head. (He was martyred by stoning.) Take a close look at the head of the figure on the right in the painting below.
Mariotto di Nardo (Italian, 1408) Saints Laurence and Stephen
As we proceeded on into the Renaissance, the paintings became less stylized and more natural. Below is one of the paintings we saw, a depiction of David receiving Goliath’s sword after their battle.
Aert de Gelder (Dutch, 1680s) Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David
There were still quite a few paintings of events in the Bible, but there is also quite a bit more portraiture, as well as scenes from classical myth. I was surprised to discover a very famous painting by Titian, “Venus and Adonis,” in the gallery. Adonis is called to the hunt, but Venus begs him not to go because, being immortal, she knows that he will die. And this is why an immortal should never date a mortal.
Titian (Italian, 1555-1560) Venus and Adonis
Progressing through time, the subject matter of painting diversified further to include landscapes, still life, and genre paintings. An example of a landscape (sort of) that I liked a lot was Canaletto’s “The Grand Canal in Venice from Palazzo Flangini to Campo San Marcuola.” I thought the view of the canal was lovely, and the effects of the reflections in the water were exceptional.
Canaletto (Italian, 1738) The Grand Canal in Venice from Palazzo Flangini to Campo San Marcuola
I took this next photo myself, a bust of Pope Paul V, sculpted by Bernini. What struck me about it is how thoroughly natural this depiction is, how I’ve met people who look just like him. The detail was exceptional.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1622) Bust of Pope Paul V
I was heartened that the Getty has paintings by women artists, some going back to the Renaissance. Below is an example by the painter Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, a portrait of an aristocrat. She mainly made portraits of women aristocrats in France. Despite the glorification of the aristocracy, it’s nice to see women artists getting their due.
Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (France, 1797-1800) The Viscomtesse de Vaudreuil
I could go on this way for a very long time, but let’s fast-forward to the 19th Century and bring this diary to a close. After seeing the wealth of artwork from previous centuries, it was surprising to me how little there appeared to be of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art—just a couple of gallery rooms. There may have been more in other rooms, but it was the end of the day, and our feet were sore. However, the art we saw was of very high quality. For instance, here is a painting by Edouard Manet (NOT Monet!) which shows both poignance and savage social commentary.
Edouard Manet (French, 1878) The Rue Mosnier with Flags
For me, however, the high point was van Gogh’s Irises. This is the painting at the top of the diary, but I’ll repeat it here.
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1889) Irises
When I came upon this painting, any number of tourists were having their pictures taken in front of it. It is clearly a prize possession of the museum. I managed to get a good spot where I could contemplate the painting for a few minutes, and it felt like I was having a spiritual experience. I’ve seen photos and prints of this painting before, but there was something about seeing the real thing, seeing the paint as van Gogh himself brushed it on the canvas. This is one of the first paintings he finished while at the asylum at Saint-Rémy. I look at the white iris on the left, the one that doesn’t fit in with the rest, and I have to wonder if van Gogh identified with it. I love art, but it’s rare for a work of art to have such a profound effect on me.
Again, I could go on, but this diary is already long. We didn’t see any art from the 20th Century, and if they had any, it wasn’t clear where it was located. We’ll have to come back at some point to see what we missed.
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