Event Calendar
December 2007 Next Month
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Performances and Films/Videos
Lectures and Conferences
Tours and Talks
Japanese American National Museum
Hammer Museum
Museum of Latin American Art
December 16, 2007
Courses and Demonstrations
Artist-at-Work Demonstration: Arms and Armor
Sundays through January 20, 2008
1 pm - 3 pm
Museum Studios, Getty Center


Master blacksmith and armorer Tony Swatton demonstrates materials and techniques used for making medieval and Renaissance armor. Complements the exhibition Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
1:00–2:00 p.m., Basic metal shaping techniques;
2:00–3:00 p.m., Fluting and surface embellishment

Family Activities
Family Storytelling
Sunday December 16, 2007
11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Join Ina Buckner-Barnette for a musical tale about a mouse named Jean Claude and an unusually large pink bed from the 1700s. Sign up at the Museum Information Desk the day of the program.

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Family Art Stops
Weekends through May 18, 2008
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. Ofrecida en español a 2:30pm. Sign up at the Museum Information Desk beginning 30 minutes before the program.
Every Saturday and Sunday. Special schedule in effect during the spring, summer, and holidays.

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Tours and Gallery Talks
Stark Sculpture Walk
Weekends through December 30, 2007
10:30
Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Garden, Getty Center


Enjoy the Getty's newly installed collection of 20th-century sculpture in this one-hour guided tour. The tour involves some intensive walking and takes place primarily outdoors. Meet at the Museum Information Desk.

Exhibition Tour: Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art
Daily through January 20, 2008
1:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


A special one-hour exhibition overview of Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Meet at the Museum Information Desk.

Getty Center
Architecture Tour
Tuesdays - Thursdays and Sundays through June 29, 2008
10:15 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm
Museum Entrance Hall, Getty Center


Getty Center architecture tours are offered daily by docents. Tours last 30–45 minutes. Meet outside in front of the Museum Entrance Hall.

Halberdier / Pontormo
Collection Highlights Tour
Daily through June 29, 2008
11 am
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


This one-hour tour provides an overview of major works from the Museum's collection. Offered in English and Spanish on weekends. Meet at the Museum Information Desk.

Central Garden
Garden Tour
Daily through June 29, 2008
11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:30 pm
Central Garden, Getty Center


Garden Tours are offered daily by docents. They focus on the Central Garden and landscaping of the Getty Center site. Tours last 45–60 minutes. Meet in front of the Museum Entrance Hall.

Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art Exhibition Tour
Daily through January 20, 2008
1:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


A special one-hour exhibition overview of Medieval Treaures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Meet at the Museum Information Desk.

Focus Tour: Renaissance Art
Sundays through December 31, 2007
3 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


Enjoy a one-hour tour looking at European art made in the 1400s and 1500s, when artists began focusing on the individual and renewed their interest in the ancient world. Meet at the Museum Information Desk.

Masterpiece of the Week Talk
Daily through December 16, 2007
4 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Center


This 15-minute gallery talk offers an in-depth look at one object. This week the featured work of art is Tapestry: Icon of the Virgin and Child by unknown artist. Meet at the Museum Information Desk.

Exhibitions
Classical Connections: The Enduring Influence of Greek and Roman Art
Daily through December 31, 2009

North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


This installation of antiquities demonstrates the relationship of ancient art to later work, showing some of the themes, techniques, and motifs borrowed by later artists—from mythology to decorative design—and the approach to the human figure known today as the classical ideal. This permanent collection installation is on view in the North Pavilion.

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Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro: Artist-Brothers in Renaissance Rome
Daily through January 6, 2008

West Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


One of the first illustrated "starving artist" tales, a series of 20 drawings by the late-Renaissance painter and theorist Federico Zuccaro (Italian, c.1541-1609) shows the early life of his famous brother Taddeo Zuccaro (Italian, 1529-1566). The series documents in a charming fashion Taddeo's troubled search for an apprenticeship and his dedication to learning to draw. This major exhibition comprises around 85 objects—principally drawings—and includes loans from a number of European and U.S. collections. It celebrates the Early Life of Taddeo series and also illuminates Taddeo's later career through some of his greatest drawings, as well as studying his working relationship with his younger brother. Further, taking up a consistent theme from the Early Life of Taddeo series, insight is gained into how young artists learned to draw in Renaissance Rome by making copies of works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Polidoro, and the antique. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

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Please Be Seated: A Video Installation by Nicole Cohen
Daily through January 11, 2009

South Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


Internationally recognized video artist Nicole Cohen (American, b. 1970) explores the intersection of historical interiors, the social behaviors they conditioned, contemporary popular culture, and fantasy. Her project for the Getty Museum focuses on the Museum's collection of French seating furniture and its original and museological contexts. Viewers are invited to engage in a participatory experience, forming personal, imaginative narratives through video projections that render the chairs virtually accessible.

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Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art
Daily through January 20, 2008

Exhibitions Pavilion, Getty Center


The Cleveland Museum of Art houses one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of early Christian, Byzantine, and European medieval art. This is the first traveling exhibition to showcase a significant number of the museum's masterpieces from this collection including objects dating from the 3rd to the 16th centuries. The exhibition includes more than 120 works of art executed in a variety of media. Paintings, sculpture, metalwork, decorative arts, textiles, and illuminated manuscripts offer a rich survey of the arts and culture of medieval Europe. Prior to the Getty, the exhibition was installed at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, and is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

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China on Paper: European and Chinese Works from the Late Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century
Daily through February 10, 2008

Research Institute Exhibition Gallery, Getty Center


Illustrated books, prints, and maps from the special collections of the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute tell the story of mutual interest and collaborative works produced by Chinese and Europeans from the late 16th to the early 19th century. Highlights include a rare series of prints of the European Pavilions of the Yuanmingyuan, called the Garden of Perfect Clarity, designed in the mid-18th century by the Milanese architect Giuseppe Castiglione for the Qianlong emperor.

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In Focus: The Nude
Daily through February 24, 2008

West Pavilion, Terrace Level, Getty Center


The unclothed human figure became a camera subject shortly after the discovery of photography was announced in 1839. From that point forward, artists have been challenged to use a variety of photographic materials and processes to find new ways of picturing the nude. This exhibition, which is drawn exclusively from the Getty Museum's collection of photographs, brings together the work of over 25 innovative photographers who have left their mark on the history of the genre.

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The Decorated Letter
Daily through January 27, 2008

North Pavilion, Plaza Level, Getty Center


The pages of medieval manuscripts feature richly illuminated letters. Vines and luxuriant leaves twist together to create initials; humans, animals, and mythological beasts create words; and entire stories unfold within the forms of individual letters. This exhibition explores the categories of illuminated letters found in manuscripts dating from the 800s to the 1500s, shedding light on the trends that shaped medieval artistic production.

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December 16, 2007
Family Activities
Art Odyssey for Families
Art Odyssey for Families
Weekends through June 30, 2008
2 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


This 45-minute journey through the galleries features a fun, activity-filled visit for children (ages 5 and up) and adults to enjoy together. Space is limited. Sign up at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Auditorium beginning 15 minutes before the program.

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Tours and Gallery Talks
Getty Villa Inner Peristyle
Orientation Tour
Daily through June 30, 2008
10:30 am, 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm
Getty Villa


This 40-minute site tour offers an overview of the Getty Villa, its history, renovation, and new educational mission. Meet at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Main Entrance.

Collection Highlights Tour
Weekends through June 29, 2008
11 am
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


This one-hour tour provides an overview of major works from the Museum's collection. Offered in English and Spanish. Space is limited. Sign up at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Main Entrance beginning at 10:45 a.m.

Getty Villa Outer Peristyle
Getty Villa Architecture and Gardens Tour
Daily through June 30, 2008
11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm
Museum, Getty Villa


This 40-minute tour explores the architecture and gardens of the Getty Villa and their historical prototypes. Meet at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Museum Main Entrance.

Spotlight Talk: Sarcophagus Panel with the Myth of Endymion and Selene
Weekends through December 30, 2007
1:30 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


This 20-minute gallery talk introduces ways of looking at ancient art through an in-depth exploration of one object in the collection. This month the featured object is the Sarcophagus Panel with the Myth of Endymion and Selene from around A.D. 210. Space is limited. Sign up at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Auditorium 15 minutes before the talk.

Focus Tour: Entertainment in the Ancient World
Sunday December 16, 2007
3 pm
Museum Galleries, Getty Villa


In this one-hour tour, explore two major sources of entertainment for the ancient Greeks and Romans: the theater and athletic games. Through exploration of objects in the Collection, discover cross-cultural trends in theatrical performance and the relationship between the Greek Olympics and Roman athletics. Space is limited. Sign up at the Tour Meeting Place outside the Auditorium 15 minutes before the talk.

Exhibitions
Reflecting Antiquity: Modern Glass Inspired by Ancient Rome
Daily through January 14, 2008

Museum, Floor 2, Getty Villa


In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, archaeological excavations at sites such as Pompeii and Herculaneum resulted in the rediscovery of Roman glass. The designs and production techniques of ancient glass vessels were a revelation to modern artisans, who sought to emulate them in their own work. This exhibition includes some of the original Roman objects that inspired modern glassmakers as well as their reproductions of these ancient pieces. Reflecting Antiquity is organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum and The Corning Museum of Glass.

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The Magnificent Piranesi
Daily through March 10, 2008

Museum, Floor 2, Getty Villa


Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, 1720–1778) was a student of antiquity, a polemicist and theorist, a cartographer, an architect, a designer of books and decorative arts, a printmaker, and a publisher. While his prolific prints and books provide exhaustive documentation on ancient and modern Rome, they also reveal the original and visionary sides of Piranesi, who readily exaggerated features of Rome's buildings and created views of fantastic architecture, ruins, and antique compositions. Drawing on the Getty Research Institute's strong collection of Piranesi's prints and books, the exhibition presents a synthetic portrait of the extraordinary range of his activities—from the polemics on ancient and modern art to the stylish "advertising" of his wares.

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