Event Calendar
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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
December 5, 2010
Courses and Demonstrations
Artist-at-Work Demonstration: Manuscript Illumination
Sundays through December 5, 2010
1 pm - 3 pm
Museum Studios, Getty Center


Drop by as artist Sylvana Barrett demonstrates materials and methods used in medieval manuscript illumination, focusing on a 14th-century technique later known as camaieu. Complements the exhibition Imagining the Past in France, 1250–1500.

Getty Drawing Hour
Sunday December 5, 2010
3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Enjoy the tradition of sketching from original works of art every first and third Sunday of the month during the Getty Drawing Hour. An artist provides general guidance; all you need to bring is drawing pads and pencils. All experience levels welcome; this program is free. Sign-up begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Museum Information Desk.

Family Activities
Family Art Stops
Weekends
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.

Learn more about Family Art Stops

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.

¡Bienvenidos al Getty!
Weekends
11 am
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Disfruten de una breve y divertida introducción al Museo y sus colecciones. Las familias son bienvenidas. Los esperamos en la sala de entrada del Museo bajo la escalera.

Focus Tour: Sculpture Discovery Walk
Sundays
3 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Enjoy a one-hour tour focusing on the Getty's collection of sculpture by exploring works from European history and the recent past. Meet the educator at the Museum Information Desk.

Masterpiece of the Week Talk
Daily through December 5, 2010
4 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Does art have to be serious? In this 15-minute talk, come see if Joseph Ducreux's Self Portrait makes you laugh or yawn. Meet the educator at the Museum Information Desk.

Exhibition Tour: Imagining the Past in France, 1250–1500
Daily through February 6, 2011
1:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Join an educator for a special one-hour overview of the exhibition Imagining the Past in France, 1250–1500. 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.

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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Foundry to Finish
Foundry to Finish: The Making of a Bronze Sculpture
Daily through January 2, 2011

North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


Get a rare look at how bronze sculpture is born in Foundry to Finish. Visitors explore a process called direct lost-wax casting—a method that yields a single, unique bronze cast of an artist's original clay-and-wax model. Thirteen step-by-step models illustrate the sculpting and casting process. Through X-radiographs, visitors can even get a glimpse inside an original sculpture to see firsthand evidence of how the bronze was cast. The installation complements Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution, an international touring exhibition also on view.

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Obsidian Mirror-Travels
Obsidian Mirror-Travels: Refracting Ancient Mexican Art and Archaeology
Daily through March 27, 2011

Research Institute Exhibition Gallery, Getty Center


This exhibition explores representations of Mexican archaeological objects and sites made from the Colonial era to the present. Featuring images of ancient Maya and Aztec ruins by archaeologist explorers such as John Lloyd Stephens, Desiré Charnay, and Augustus and Alice Le Plongeon, the exhibition showcases 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.

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Illuminated Manuscripts from Belgium and the Netherlands
Illuminated Manuscripts from Belgium and the Netherlands
Daily through February 6, 2011

North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


During the Middle Ages, the area occupied today by Belgium and the Netherlands flourished economically and artistically. By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the towns of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and Utrecht participated in one of the greatest flowerings of book illumination in Europe. This exhibition surveys the Getty Museum's holdings of medieval manuscripts from this region, including masterworks made for such influential patrons as the dukes of Burgundy—Philip the Good and Charles the Bold—and the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. After eleven weeks the books' pages will be turned to reveal further illuminated riches.

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Imagining the Past in France
Imagining the Past in France, 1250–1500
Daily through February 6, 2011

Exhibitions Pavilion, Getty Center


In the Middle Ages, history played such an integral role in French culture that some of the greatest imagery of the period is found within the covers of historical manuscripts. Illuminations enabled heroic figures of the past—the biblical King David, Alexander the Great, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne—to come alive before the eyes of medieval readers. Serving as both exciting narratives and propaganda, such images were immensely successful at the French court. On view exclusively at the J. Paul Getty Museum, this major international loan exhibition features rare manuscripts drawn from the collections of more than twenty-five of the world's most famous museums and libraries. The books are supplemented with ivories, tapestries, and metalwork that demonstrate how historical tales leapt from the illuminated page into other artistic forms.

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In Focus: Still Life
In Focus: Still Life
Daily through January 23, 2011

West Pavilion, Terrace Level, Getty Center


The term still life was coined during the 1600s, when painted examples were popular throughout Europe, and artists created increasingly complex compositions, bringing together a broad variety of objects to convey allegorical meanings. Still life featured prominently in the early photographic experiments of Jacques Louis Mandé Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot, the pioneers most widely recognized for inventing the medium during the late 1830s. Since then, it has served as both a conventional and an experimental form during periods of significant aesthetic and technological change. Drawn exclusively from the Getty Museum's photographs collection, this one-gallery exhibition surveys some of the innovative ways artists have explored and refreshed this traditional genre.

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Secret Life of Drawings
The Secret Life of Drawings
Daily through February 13, 2011

West Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


Through a focused selection of about thirty sheets, this exhibition illuminates not only how drawings in the Getty's collection were made, but how they have been studied and cared for over time. While much is known about paintings conservation, this exhibition looks at restoration techniques for works on paper, comparing old techniques with modern ones. Stories will be shared about how the Getty's paper conservators work—repairing tears and holes, removing stains and mold, and reversing the process that turns lead white pigment black. The exhibition also reveals other discoveries, such as hidden watermarks, previously unknown <i>versos</i>, and the practice of cutting and/or reassembling drawings.

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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.

 Learn more about this exhibition
December 5, 2010
Family Activities
Family Festival
Sunday December 5, 2010
10 am - 5 pm
Getty Villa


Bring along your family's entire cast of characters to celebrate The Art of Ancient Greek Theater during this daylong festival of learning, crafts, and performance. Children and adults can fashion their own Greek theater masks, costume themselves as ancient actors, and applaud or join in pint-sized versions of classical Greek comedies onstage. Free; tickets required.

Learn more about Family Festivals at the Villa

Art Odyssey for Families
Weekends
2 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


This 45-minute journey through the galleries is a fun, activity-filled experience for children (ages 5 and up) and adults to enjoy together. Space is limited. Ofrecida en español. Sign up at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Entrance 15 minutes before the program.

Learn more about Art Odyssey

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


Learn about domestic Roman grounds in this 40-minute tour of the Getty Villa's four gardens. Meet at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Entrance.

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.

Spotlight Talk: Attic Red Figure Pelike of the Kerch Style
Thursdays - Sundays through December 31, 2010
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 collection. The featured object this month is a red figure vase of the Kerch style from about 360 B.C. Sign-up begins 15 minutes before the talk at the Tour Meeting Place.

Collection Highlights Tour
Weekends
11 am
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


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

Focus Tour: Greek Vases
Sunday December 5, 2010
3 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


Explore a variety of ancient Greek vases in this guided tour, looking closely at some of the most complex works of art in the Museum's collection. Tour topic subject to change. Sign-up begins 15 minutes before the tour at the Tour Meeting Place.

Handling Sessions: Mummy Portraits
Sunday December 5, 2010
11:30 am, 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


Discover the step-by-step process of painting mummy portraits in the Museum's collection. Handle objects that reveal otherwise hidden techniques as well as the surprising tools and materials that artists used, which ranged from gold leaf and honey to rabbit-skin glue.

Exhibitions
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.

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.

The Art of Ancient Greek Theater
The Art of Ancient Greek Theater
Daily through January 3, 2011

Museum, Floor 2, Getty Villa


Theatrical performance emerged in ancient Athens from the worship of Dionysos, the god of wine and theater. From productions in the Theater of Dionysos, the tragedies and satyr plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides as well as the comedies of Aristophanes and Menander spread throughout the Mediterranean, flourishing especially in southern Italy. There, in Magna Graecia, vase painters and sculptors created vivid depictions of dramatic scenes, representing sets, costumes, masks, choreography, and music. This major international loan exhibition is the first exploration in nearly sixty years of the many ways Greek plays and stagecraft inspired classical artists, whose works are often the only surviving evidence of the performing arts in antiquity. The exhibition coincides with the Villa's Outdoor Theater production of Sophocles' Elektra.

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The Agrigento Youth
The Agrigento Youth
Daily through April 19, 2011

Museum, Floor 2, Getty Villa


The Agrigento Youth, an important work from the Museo Archeologico Regional in Agrigento, Sicily, is on loan to the Getty Museum and will be on view through April 19, 2011.

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