CRYSTAL LUONG
Associate Editor
Vignettes of a Roman landscape peer through trees lining the entry pavilion, offering glimpses of grandeur carved into an oceanfront hillside. Here begins a new narrative of art and architecture that weaves guests through the classicism, tragedies and heroics of ancient societies.
There lies the preserved mummy of Herakleides.
There stands the “Statue of the Victorious Youth.”
After almost nine years in concept and construction, the Getty Villa in Malibu will re-open Saturday to the public. The renovated site pursues a new mission as an educational center and museum, dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria.
“You wonder what it’ll be like when it’s finished,” said Deborah Morrow, director of the Getty Foundation. “Here it is, better than I even imagined.”
As an institution of learning, the Getty Villa has inaugurated a master’s program for archaeological conservation in partnership with UCLA, one of two such programs in the world. The 64-acre property houses about 44,000 antiquities, with more than 1,200 works on view as part of the permanent
collection.
Visitors enter the museum through a sequence far different from before. A path that first obscures full view until ascension to the arrival balcony, which unveils a new outdoor classical theater and steps leading toward the Villa of Mediterranean stones. The reimagined design leads guests through the museum’s first-floor galleries, to the inner peristyle and then to the outer peristyle, a grand pool and topiary finale.
The Villa’s architecture complements its art, in what lead architect, Jorge Silvetti, described as “congruence between building and collection.”
“Los Angeles deserves what I think it’s getting,” Silvetti said.
The Villa, formerly a ranch house acquired by philanthropist Jean Paul Getty, is modeled after the partially excavated Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house in Herculaneum that was buried along with Pompeii by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. It closed for renovation after having served as the original home of the J. Paul Getty Museum from 1974 to 1997.
Two broad issues, according to Silvetti, primarily affected the process of the Villa’s redesign: the property’s size limitations and intellectual considerations, including history and
presentation.
Artifacts on display date from 6500 B.C. to A.D. 400, but instead of presenting works by chronology, the museum’s 23 permanent galleries are organized thematically.
“The beauty of the thematic arrangements is I think it’s more engaging to our culture today,” Silvetti said.
In coordination with the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Getty Villa’s permanents exhibitions have been conceived and created in-house, according to Karol Wright, acting curator of antiquities. Among the permanent exhibits are “Stories of the Trojan War,” “Dionysos and the Theater,” “Men in Antiquity,” and “Athletes and Competition.”
The inaugural changing exhibitions include, “The Getty Villa Reimagined,” in which the sketchbooks of competing Villa renovation designs are on display, “Antiquity & Photography: Early Views of Ancient Mediterranean Sites,” and “Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity.”
For Morrow, the interactive “Molten Color” exhibit exemplifies what defines the museum: “beautiful objects, displayed incredibly thoughtfully and well-explained.”
The Getty Villa is reopening in times of recent troubles, however, for the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world’s richest art institution. The Getty Trust has been subject to scrutiny and criticism related to alleged looted works and its leadership’s alleged improper financial practices. In late December, the Council on Foundations, with a membership of more than 2,000 nonprofits nationwide, placed the Getty Trust on a 60-day probation for failing to turn over information requested in an investigation of its financial practices.
Despite looming situations, the Villa’s reopening is the present focus.
“The Getty Villa is here for the public,” Morrow said.
Students and educators can take advantage of the center’s pedagogic mission. Whereas the Villa is open to the public Thursday through Monday, Wednesday has been reserved for visitation during regular hours by schools and students. According to Wright, much of the center’s programming, lectures and performances are also geared toward students.
As the Getty Villa rests in Pepperdine University’s backyard, Morrow expects the center will be an asset to the area.
“I’m sure we will enjoy a very good relationship with the school and its students,” Morrow said.
The Getty Villa, at 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, is open Thursday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the Getty Villa is free, but advance, timed tickets are required for entry and can be obtained online at www.getty.edu or by phone at (310) 440-7300. Parking is $7, cash only.
01-26-2006
