Museum Monday - The Getty Museum
There was an outing last Friday to the Getty Museum to view the new Cy Twombly exhibit Making Past Present. A bonus was viewing another exhibit Conserving De Kooning, Theft and Recovery which closed Aug. 30.
The Richard Meier & Partner Architects designed museum campus opened in 1997 and offers a noteworthy art & architecture experience as well as amazing westside LA views. There are always photo ops before even stepping into a gallery to view the art. A few of my favorite images from this visit are shown above.
Curious about the abundant use of travertine stone? Detailed information about the material and particulars about the travertine at the Getty in particular can be found HERE.
Cy Twombly Making Past Present through Oct. 30, 2022
I learned about this exhibit only recently but as a fan of Cy Twombly’s artwork, I knew I needed to make the drive to Getty Center.
From the Getty website: “American artist Cy Twombly’s engagement with the art and poetry of ancient Greece and Rome played a central role in his creative process. This exhibition explores Twombly’s lifelong fascination with the ancient Mediterranean world through evocative groupings of his paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture made from the mid-20th to the early 21st century, tracing an imaginative journey of encounters with and responses to ancient texts and artifacts. The presentation includes Greek and Roman antiquities from the artist’s personal collection, on public display for the first time.”
My favorite room of the exhibit was the one featuring the wall-sized image from the Vogue magazine photo shoot for “Roman Classic Surprise” showing Twombly and his wife in their home in Rome amidst their artifacts and his artwork. Busts from the Getty collection are displayed in front of the wall.
Conserving De Kooning, Theft and Recovery was a bonus exhibit that I managed to catch before it closed.
The story of De Kooning’s painting Woman-Ochre, which was at the University of Arizona from the 1950s until 1985 when it was stolen and went missing for 32 years, is a fascinating one. Equally fascinating is the story of its recovery and restoration.
The video from this page on the Getty website details that story and shows key conservation treatment steps that now enable museum visitors to “see the painting again.”