Event Calendar
April 2011 Next Month
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Performances and Films/Videos
Lectures and Conferences
Tours and Talks
Family Activities
Courses and Demonstrations
Exhibitions
Food Events
Free Hours at L.A. Museums (PDF, 269 KB)
Autry National Center
Craft and Folk Art Museum
Fowler Museum at UCLA
Hammer Museum
Huntington Library
Japanese American National Museum
LACMA
Los Angeles Public Library
MAK Center for Art & Architecture
MOCA
Museum of Latin American Art
Natural History Museum
Norton Simon Museum
Orange County Museum of Art
Pacific Asia Museum
Pasadena Museum of California Art
Santa Monica Museum of Art
Skirball Cultural Center
April 21, 2011
Lectures and Conferences
Why Do We Love Trees?
Thursday April 21, 2011
7 pm
Harold M. Williams Auditorium, Getty Center


Bob Sipchen, editor of Sierra magazine, leads this panel discussion with artist Jennifer Steinkamp, environmental studies professor Nalini Nadkarni, and farmer David Mas Masumoto exploring the beauty and meaning of trees, and why we love them.

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Family Activities
Family Art Stops
Tuesdays - Fridays through April 22, 2011
2 pm, 2:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Get up close and personal with a single work of art at this half-hour, hands-on gallery experience geared for families with children ages 5 and up. Sign-up begins 30 minutes before the program at the Museum Information Desk.

Tours and Gallery Talks
Garden Tour
Daily
11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm
Getty Center


This is a 45-minute tour of the Getty gardens, including Robert Irwin's Central Garden. Meet the docent outside at the bench under the sycamore trees near the front entrance of the Museum.

Focus Tour: Neoclassical and Romantic Art
Thursdays
3 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Enjoy a one-hour tour focusing on Neoclassicism and Romanticism in the Getty's collection by exploring the art and culture of these related and distinctive movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. Meet the educator at the Museum Information Desk.

East to West: Global Perspectives
Daily through May 8, 2011
1:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


You don't need to pack your bags to take this tour: travel to China and beyond in this one-hour exploration of perceptions and images of the East. Meet the educator at the Museum Information Desk.

Getty Center
Architecture Tour
Daily
10:15 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, 4 pm
Museum Entrance Hall, Getty Center


Discover more about Richard Meier's architecture and the design of the Getty Center site in this 45-minute tour. Meet the docent outside at the bench under the sycamore trees near the front entrance to the Museum.

Halberdier / Pontormo
Collection Highlights Tour
Daily
11 am
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


This one-hour tour provides an overview of major works from the Museum's collection. Meet the educator at the Museum Information Desk.

Curators' Gallery Talk
Thursday April 21, 2011
2:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Frances Terpak and Jeff Cody of the Getty Research Institute lead a gallery talk on the exhibition Brush and Shutter: Early Photography in China. Meet under the stairs in the Museum Entrance Hall.

Exhibitions
La Roldana's Saint Gines
La Roldana's Saint Ginés: The Making of a Polychrome Sculpture
Daily

South Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


Luisa Roldán (Spanish, 1650–1704), affectionately known as La Roldana, was one of the most celebrated and prolific sculptors of the Baroque period. This intimate exhibition introduces visitors to La Roldana, whose artistic superiority catapulted her to fame at the royal court in an otherwise male-dominated profession. She ran a workshop, worked for the king, raised a family, and was a celebrity in her own day. With her polychrome sculpture of Saint Ginés de la Jara from the Getty Museum's collection as a focal point, this exhibition explores the artist's life, artistic achievement, and the multifaceted process used to create masterfully lifelike polychrome sculpture.

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Felice Beato: A Photographer on the Eastern Road
Felice Beato: A Photographer on the Eastern Road
Daily through April 24, 2011

West Pavilion, Terrace Level, Getty Center


Felice Beato (British, born Venice, 1832–1909) had a long and varied photography career, and of his contemporaries, covered one of the widest geographical areas—from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Establishing premier photographic studios in Yokohama, Japan, and Mandalay, Burma, he produced topographical and architectural views, portraits and studies of local life intended for Western audiences. A pioneer of war photography, he covered the Crimean War in 1856 and documented the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny in 1858 as well as chronicling the Second Opium War in China in 1860 and the American forces in Korea in 1871. The Museum's 2007 acquisition of more than 800 Beato photographs is the impetus and foundation for this exhibition—the first devoted to his <i>oeuvre</i>—represented through a selection of about 130 works.

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Photography from the New China
Photography from the New China
Daily through April 24, 2011

West Pavilion, Terrace Level, Getty Center


Providing a contrast to the nineteenth-century views of China and other parts of East Asia by Felice Beato presented concurrently in the Center for Photographs, this exhibition offers a cross section of Chinese photographs produced since People's Republic leader Deng Xiaoping introduced the current period of Opening and Reform. Highlighting the Getty's recent acquisition of photographs by Hai Bo, Liu Zheng, Song Yongping, Rong Rong, and Wang Qingsong, the show features some of the dominant styles in recent Chinese work, including performance for the camera, the incorporation of family photographs, and an emphasis on the body. Supplemented by loans of work by Huang Yan, Qiu Zhijie, and Zhang Huan, the exhibition explores such themes as prerevolutionary Chinese literati, vestiges of the Cultural Revolution, and the newly rampant consumerism.

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Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture and Decorative Arts
New Galleries for Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Daily

North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


A newly designed installation of medieval and Renaissance European sculpture and decorative arts is now on view in the J. Paul Getty Museum's North Pavilion at the Getty Center. Displayed with paintings, drawings, and illuminated manuscripts that enrich their context, the works of art are arranged by period and theme. The installation features innovative technologies, including interactive touch screens, that enhance the visitor's experience.

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In Focus: The Tree
In Focus: The Tree
Daily through July 3, 2011

West Pavilion, Terrace Level, Getty Center


Since the origins of photography in the nineteenth century, the tree has remained a popular subject for photographers. Through the works of artists such as Gustave Le Gray, Carleton Watkins, Eugne Atget, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Eliot Porter, William Eggleston, Simryn Gill, and Myoung Ho Lee, this exhibition spans the history of photography to address the image of the tree in its many connotations: as a graphic form, a universal icon of strength, and a symbol of the beauty of nature.

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Stories to Watch: Narratives in Medieval Manuscripts
Stories to Watch: Narrative in Medieval Manuscripts
Daily through May 15, 2011

North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


The illuminators of medieval manuscripts found creative solutions for telling stories through pictures. A sequence of illustrations was often linked on a page, or several parts of a tale were incorporated in a single image. This exhibition displays twenty-one books and leaves with narrative illuminations from different periods and regions, presenting a fascinating variety of pictorial storytelling.

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Spirit of An Age: Drawings from the Germanic World
Spirit of an Age: Drawings from the Germanic World, 1770–1900
Daily through June 19, 2011

West Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


Unveiling recent acquisitions that reflect a new area of the Museum's collection, this exhibition features about 40 German and Austrian drawings and watercolors. The works reflect the profound changes—intellectual, social, and political—that the Germanic world underwent from about 1770 to 1900. Events such as the publication of the writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the formal unification of Germany contributed to shaping the artist's world. Drawing captured the spirit of the age and evolved quite dramatically over the course of this period, which is rarely showcased by North American museums.

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Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia
Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia
Daily through August 14, 2011

North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


Cambodia is renowned for the extraordinary art produced during the Angkor period of the Khmer empire, between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, when sculptors mastered the art of bronze casting and created profound images of Hindu and Buddhist divinities. A focused exhibition of loans from the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Gods of Angkor includes some of the finest Cambodian bronzes in existence as well as a small group of bronzes from the pre-Angkor period and some recently excavated works. It also celebrates the establishment of a bronze conservation studio at the National Museum of Cambodia and that institution's role in conserving Cambodia's cultural heritage.

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Brush & Shutter: Early Photography in China
Brush and Shutter: Early Photography in China
Daily through May 1, 2011

West Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


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. Brush and Shutter: Early Photography in China includes images ranging from an 1859 portrait of a Chinese family made near Shanghai to glass slides of revolutionary soldiers created in 1911 in Shanxi province. The exhibition features works by largely unknown Chinese photographers, hand-painted photographs, expansive panoramas, and rare gouache and oil paintings made for export.

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April 21, 2011
Courses and Demonstrations
Handling Sessions: Painting Portraits
Thursdays through April 28, 2011
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Reading Room, Getty Villa


This drop-in program is a multisensory exploration of what it means to paint a likeness in ancient times. Discover the step-by-step process of creating mummy portraits in the Museum's collection by touching demonstration objects that reveal otherwise hidden techniques. Then handle the surprising tools and materials that artists used, which ranged from gold leaf and honey to rabbit-skin glue. Come to a Handling Session today and youll never see a painting the same again!

Family Activities
Repair, Restore, Rebuild: Conservation at the Villa
Daily through April 23, 2011
11 am - 3 pm
Outer Peristyle, Getty Villa


Drop in to explore how ancient works of art are restored by museum conservators through this fun, hands-on activity for the whole family. Try your hand at repairing a replica Greek vase and learn how works on view on in the gallery were repaired and rebuilt.

Tours and Gallery Talks
Getty Villa Inner Peristyle
Architecture Tour
Daily
10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm
Museum, Getty Villa


Explore daily life in an ancient Roman villa through the Museum's architecture in this 40-minute tour. Meet at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Entrance.

Garden Tour
Thursdays
10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


Discover the rich mythological and cultural connections of ancient gardens in this 40-minute tour of the Getty Villa's four Roman gardens. Meet at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Entrance.

Tea by the Sea
Thursdays through October 27, 2011
1 pm - 3 pm
Getty Villa


Enjoy Tea by the Sea, a special experience inspired by the Mediterranean herbs, vegetables, and fruits that grow at the Villa. Feast on a Mediterranean-inspired menu of sweet and savory sandwiches and pastries, along with fruits, cheeses, and a varied selection of teas. After tea, you can tour the Villa's authentically re-created first-century Roman gardens, then spend the rest of the afternoon savoring the Villa's exhibitions and permanent collection. $36 per person.

Call (310) 440-7300 for more information or get tickets online.

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Spotlight Talk: Poet as Orpheus with Two Sirens
Daily through April 30, 2011
1 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


Learn how to look at ancient art in this 20-minute gallery talk examining in depth one work in the Villa galleries. The featured object this month is a sculptural group of a Poet as Orpheus with Two Sirens, from about 350300 B.C. Sign-up begins 15 minutes before the talk at the Tour Meeting Place.

Lansdowne Herakles
Collection Highlights Tour
Weekdays
2 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


This one-hour tour provides an overview of major works from the Museum's collection. Space is limited. Sign up at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Entrance 15 minutes before the tour.

Culinary Garden Tour
Thursdays through December 29, 2011
2:30 pm
Getty Villa


Enjoy a 30-minute food-themed tour of the Getty Villa's gardens as you explore the plants, herbs, and fruits used for cooking in antiquity. Meet at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Entrance.

Focus Tour: Women and Children in the Ancient World
Thursday April 21, 2011
3 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


From elaborate jewelry and wedding gifts to scenes of school boys learning to play the harp, this hour-long tour focuses on works of art that give us a glimpse into the lives of women and children in the ancient world. Tour topic subject to change. Sign-up begins 15 minutes before the tour at the Tour Meeting Place.

Restaurant Events
Tea by the Sea
Thursdays through October 27, 2011
1 pm - 3 pm
Getty Villa


Enjoy Tea by the Sea, a special experience inspired by the Mediterranean herbs, vegetables, and fruits that grow at the Villa. Feast on a Mediterranean-inspired menu of sweet and savory sandwiches and pastries, along with fruits, cheeses, and a varied selection of teas. After tea, you can tour the Villa's authentically re-created first-century Roman gardens, then spend the rest of the afternoon savoring the Villa's exhibitions and permanent collection. $36 per person.

Call (310) 440-7300 for more information or get tickets online.

 Learn more about this event
Exhibitions
Molten Color
Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity
Daily

Museum, Floor 2, Getty Villa


In 2003, the J. Paul Getty Museum acquired a collection of over 350 pieces of ancient glass, formerly owned by Erwin Oppenländer. The works on view in Molten Color are remarkable for their high quality, their chronological breadth, and the glassmaking techniques illustrated by their manufacture. The vessels are accompanied by text and videos illustrating ancient glassmaking techniques.

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Roman Ephebe from Naples
Roman Ephebe from Naples
Daily

Getty Villa


Youth as a Lamp Bearer, a long-term loan from the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, is on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa.

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Apollo from Pompeii
Apollo from Pompeii: Investigating an Ancient Bronze
Daily through September 12, 2011

Museum, Floor 2, Getty Villa


Buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, the Apollo Saettante (Apollo as an Archer) was unearthed in pieces between 1817 and 1818. Depicting the god in the act of shooting an arrow, the statue was one of the first major bronzes to be found at Pompeii. As part of the J. Paul Getty Museum's collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, the sculpture was brought to the Getty Villa for study and conservation treatment in 2009. This exhibition offers a behind-the-scenes look at that project, revealing how the statue was manufactured in antiquity as well as the methods and materials used to restore it in nineteenth-century Naples.

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In Search of Biblical Lands
In Search of Biblical Lands: From Jerusalem to Jordan in Nineteenth-century Photography
Daily through September 12, 2011

Museum, Floor 2, Getty Villa


In the 1800s travelers came to the eastern margins of the Mediterranean and encountered a landscape of belief, at once forbidding and monotonous. Propelled by a connection to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible and encouraged by texts recently discovered in Egypt and Assyria, explorers, excavators, and entrepreneurs came to photograph places hitherto only imagined. This exhibition presents images of the region known variously as Palestine, western Syria, the Transjordan Plateau, and the Holy Land. Subjects range from architectural sites and strata to evocative geography and scenes of pastoral life.

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