Getty's Most Romantic Work of Art

At Getty, we love love. So this Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing your stories of proposals, first kisses, and even dating bloopers.

So if you’re looking for romantic inspiration, or a work of art to fall in love under, feel free to take a cue from these love stories.

Engaged at Getty

The Good Place is a great place to make it official. Many of you wrote in to tell us that you got engaged this year. Several of those stories found us cutting onions, like Instagram follower cupen_ames_2’s adorable December engagement tale:

“We were near the South Pavilion, seeing the coast with friends. I went on one knee and all I could say was ‘will you marry me?... I love you’ in a hushed tone since I was nervous. Thankfully, she said ‘yes!’”

Cupid Plays a Role

Why is Getty’s cupid napping? He’s been hard at work being Getty's most romantic work of art. He helped one couple fall in love at two museums. “My now-husband first told me he loved me at the Getty, and said it in front of a statue of cupid.” Then he “kissed me at the Hellenistic cupid statue at the Met, and that was our first kiss.”

We’re not saying that the spot in front of Getty’s cupid is the perfect place to say “I love you” for the first time. But we will mention that it’s on view at Getty Villa, Gallery 211 if you want to visit it with someone you’ve been waiting to say something to.

A Long-Distance Love Story

So many of you flew into L.A. to spend time with someone special at Getty. This love story from Nirali Shah takes place on two coasts and at two Getty museums:

“It was my last weekend in L.A. and we had just met a couple nights prior. I was planning to go to the Getty Museum alone. Instead he decided that morning to join me and it became one of the most effortlessly amazing dates I’ve ever been on. I think that’s when we started falling for each other.

“I moved back to the East Coast to finish grad school and we somehow still managed to see each other every month. The last time I came to visit him in L.A., he drove me quickly to the Getty Villa just in time to watch the sunset… and that’s just the beginning of our story.”

Love over Lockdown

For nearly a year, Getty’s doors were closed to Los Angeles’s art-loving couples. But its reopening was an awesome occasion for a romantic art date. The couple above took that picture on reopening day. “It was one of our favorite dates of 2021! Looking forward to returning and continuing to make memories,” they told us.

Two Classic Date Spots

If you’ve never taken the person you have big feelings for to the reflecting pond at the Getty Villa, please take some advice from this shot of a happy Getty couple enjoying a day date trip back in May 2006 as a sign that it’s time.

That goes double if your partner loves the classics like this Getty guest: “Knowing my love for Versailles, he took me to Getty Villa on a date for my first visit and asked me to be his girlfriend. Still together nine years later and visit the Getty often.”

Visiting the Getty museum? Recreate this adorable couple's photo and join the dozens of Getty lovers snapping pics in the same spot.

A Few Hiccups

Even at Getty, love isn’t always perfect. Thank goodness that dating disasters can make good stories. Someone shared this momentary loss of consciousness: “My partner and I went on our 2nd Getty date, where I fainted at the Holbein the Younger exhibit.” Someone else had a slightly less adorable dating disaster: “The date was a disaster, albeit a comedic one! He made sound effects at the paintings and argued with a security guard. BUT I loved getting to see all the art. Can’t wait to go back, alone!”

And then there’s this hopeless romantic who took their partner to Getty where he waited for “the perfect moment to make our relationship official.” Unfortunately, that perfect moment waited so long to arrive that the Courtyard was closing.

So, he asked her in the parking garage. Which turned out to be the perfect moment after all. Now they’re engaged and “we try to visit either the Getty Center or Villa and revive that 1st date once a year.”

That’s a much happier outcome than the visitor who “went with a know-it-all French exchange student. He lectured me about each piece.”

All Dates Are Welcome

Surely part of the art of avoiding dating disasters is to take all of the people that you love to Getty. So many of you reached out to tell us about the great times you had with family members and friends. Our Instagram follower bendablelife found “the quiet serenity of the Getty on an overdue trip with my three best friends in the world!” the perfect place to reunite.

Whether you’re here with friends, family, or your soulmate, please feel free to share photos of your Getty visit with us at stories@getty.edu.