Art Alfresco
Works of modern sculpture joined Getty’s collection in 2005, gracing outdoor spaces from the bottom of the hill to a terrace overlooking L.A.
Figure for Landscape, design 1960; cast 1968, Barbara Hepworth. Bronze. Getty Museum. Gift of Fran and Ray Stark. © Bowness, Hepworth Estate
Body Content
In 2005, visitors to the Getty Center started noticing something different about the grounds and gardens: works of modern sculpture were commingling with the landscaping and architecture, creating a dramatic outdoor viewing experience.
The Stark Collection—28 works by such 20th-century artists as Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Barbara Hepworth, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Aristide Maillol, Joan Miró, Henry Moore, and Isamu Noguchi—had been gifted to the Museum by the estate of late film producer Ray Stark and his wife, Fran, and installation had begun.
Today, visitors first encounter examples from the collection in the Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Garden, near the tram departure area, including pieces by Dame Elisabeth Frink (Horse and Running Man) and Moore (Bronze Form and Draped Reclining Mother and Baby). Artworks by Noguchi (Tent of Holofernes), Peter Shelton (bronzenightshirt), and Miró (Personnage) round out this alfresco gallery.
L'Air, designed 1938, cast 1962, Aristide Maillol. Lead. Getty Museum. Gift of Fran and Ray Stark
Two, 1977, Robert Adams. Stainless steel. Getty Museum. Gift of Fran and Ray Stark. © Mary Adams/Gimpel Fils
Horse, 1980, Dame Elisabeth Frink. Bronze. Getty Museum. Gift of Fran and Ray Stark. © Estate of Elisabeth Frink
Once they’re at the top of the hill, guests find Maillol’s L’Air on the grand outdoor staircase and Giacometti’s Standing Woman I in the Museum’s Entrance Hall. The Stark Sculpture Terrace near the Museum’s West Pavilion includes Hepworth’s Figure for Landscape and Moore’s Seated Woman, among other works.
The Lower Terrace Garden features six Stark Collection sculptures, including the kinetic, wind-activated Three Squares Gyratory by George Rickey. Saul Baizerman’s Night, Giacomo Manzù’s stern Seated Cardinal, and several other pieces animate the South Terrace, on the upper level outside the Museum’s South Pavilion.
Managed by the Museum’s Decorative Arts and Sculpture Conservation department, the Starks’ gift also launched a new area of study, initiating research into the materials, techniques, and preservation of modern outdoor sculpture. The collection includes works made from cast bronze and lead, aluminum and stainless steel, painted metal, and ceramic. One area of research focused on the proper choice and application of protective wax and acrylic coatings, which are subject to accelerated aging from the intense Southern California sun. Getty has since shared the useful findings of that research in the book Conserving Outdoor Sculpture: The Stark Collection at the Getty Center.
