February 8–May 1, 2011

Brought to Asia by Europeans in the early 1840s, photography was both a witness to the dramatic cultural changes taking place in China and a catalyst to further modernization. Employing both ink brush and camera, Chinese painters adapted the new medium, grafting it onto traditional aesthetic conventions.

This exhibition features works by largely unknown Chinese photographers, hand-painted photographs, expansive panoramas, and rare gouache and oil paintings made for export. Images range from a 1859 portrait of a Chinese family made near Shanghai to glass slides of revolutionary soldiers created in 1911 in Shanxi province.

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November 16, 2010–March 27, 2011

This exhibition showcases images of ancient Maya and Aztec ruins, and depictions of the Aztec Calendar Stone and other Mexican antiquities, as well as panoramic visions of Mexico—all in the context of the Spanish conquest, the 19th-century French intervention in Mexico, and the lengthy presidency of Porfirio Díaz (1876–1910). Some of the works exhibited are accurate, while others are fanciful; each portrays a distinct vision of Mexico.

Exhibition tours: February 2, 9, 17, 24 and March 1, 10, 17, 24. Tours begin at 2:00 p.m.

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No. 3

Showcasing work by scholars and staff associated with the Getty Research Institute and other programs of the J. Paul Getty Trust, this issue includes essays by Bridget Alsdorf, Mari-Tere Alvarez and Jane Bassett, Sussan Babaie, Eckhart Gillen, Ara H. Merjian, Avinoam Shalem, Astrit Schmidt-Burkhardt, Isabelle Tillerot, and Wim de Wit, as well as a number of short texts.

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Edited by Jeffrey W. Cody and Frances Terpak

Photography was introduced to China in the 1840s through the West's engagement in the Opium Wars and the reforms of Chinese statesmen. Uncovered here is a captivating visual history of China during photography's first century, from the late Qing period to Republican Shanghai and wartime Chongqing.

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New Finding Aid

This archive contains the papers and drawings of Pierre Koenig, a Los Angeles architect best known for his work in steel and participation in the Case Study House Program. Drawings, photographs and slides, documents, client correspondence, and three models provide in-depth information about Koenig's 50-year career.

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Sunday, March 20, 2011
1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Museum Lecture Hall, The Getty Center

Tickets: $55.00. To purchase tickets, please visit www.dacamera.org or call (213) 477-2929.

Wu Man is the world's leading exponent of the pipa, a Chinese lute-like instrument. The Boston Globe describes her as " . . . a player capable of moving you to spontaneous utterances of sympathy and delight . . . " Presented in partnership with the Da Camera Society of Mount Saint Mary's College.

Curators will give tours of the exhibition before and after each concert. Tour times are: 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 4:30 p.m. Please contact jgrimes@getty.edu to make a tour reservation.