International Art Treasures Web Magazine

March 2006  

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J. Paul Getty's Museum

Rubens, Degas and Courbet are just a few of the reasons to spend some time in Los Angeles this year and enjoy the wonderful collection at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

The Collector

Wheatstacks by Claude Monet
Title: Wheatstacks, 1891
Artist: Claude Monet (French 1840-1926)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: Unframed 65 x 100 cm / 25 9/16 x 39 3/8 in.
Permanent Collection: The J Paul Getty Museum Accession No. 95.PA.63
© 2004 The J. Paul Getty Trust
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

American oil magnate J. Paul Getty (1892-1976) amassed an incredible art collection in his lifetime. The museum bearing his name first opened in a wing in his home in 1954. Upon his death it became the most richly endowed museum in the world. The Getty has continued to add to their impressive collection acquiring works such as Miss Lala at the Fernando Circus a key part of the upcoming Degas exhibit.

J Paul Getty Museum South Pavilion Gallery S102 Design by Thierry W Despont
Title: J. Paul Getty Museum South Pavilion Gallery S102
Gallery Design Thierry W. Despont
Photographer: Tom Bonner
© 2005 The J. Paul Getty Trust
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

J. Paul Getty authored a book entitled The Joys of Collecting, first published in 1966. In it he described his favorite pieces to purchase they include Greek and Roman antiquities and Renaissance paintings.

Irises by Vincent van Gogh
Title: Irises, 1889
Artist: Vincent van Gogh (Dutch 1853-1890)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: Unframed 71.1 x 93 cm / 28 x 36 5/8 in.
Permanent Collection: The J Paul Getty Museum Accession No. 90.PA.20
© 2004 The J. Paul Getty Trust
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

A separate building was required given the sheer size of the collection and it was created in the style of a Roman villa and is located in Malibu. It is in a different location from the Getty Center home to the J. Paul Getty Museum. The Getty Villa dedicates itself to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria.

Besides the permanent collection the Getty organizes and hosts multiple special exhibits each year.

Pearblossom Hwy 11-18th April 1986 #2 by David Hockney
Title: Pearblossom Hwy. 11-18th April 1986 #2, April 11-18 1986
Artist: David Hockney (British b.1937)
Medium: Photographic Collage of Chromogenic Prints (Color)
Dimensions: 198.1 x 281.9 cm / 78 x 111 in.
Permanent Collection: The J Paul Getty Museum Accession No. 97.XM.39
© 1986 David Hockney
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

Courbet and the Modern Landscape
February 21 - May 14, 2006

Grotto of Sarrazine near Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne, about 1864 by Gustave Courbet
Title: Grotto of Sarrazine near Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne, about 1864
Artist: Gustave Courbet (French 1819-1877)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: (Unframed) 19 11/16 x 23 5.8 in)
Permanent Collection: The J Paul Getty Museum Accession No. 2004.47
© 2004 The J. Paul Getty Trust
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

Gustave Courbet possessed a powerful personality that came through his paintbrush with each stroke. He was born in Ornans, France which is close to the border with Switzerland. He was a farmer's son and although he spent much time in Paris he wasn't drawn to urban subjects, in the words of Cézanne, 'his palette smells of hay'.

The Gust of Wind by Gustave Courbet at the Getty Museum Los Angeles
Title: The Gust of Wind, about 1865
Artist: Gustave Courbet (French 1819-1877)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: (Unframed) 143.5 x 228.5 in)
Permanent Collection: Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Accession No. 2006.1.28
Gift of: Caroline Wiess Law, Houston Texas
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

Courbet always claimed to be self taught he did study under some of masters of the day but his talent emerged after he copied the Caravaggio and Velázquez works in the Louvre preferring their strong contrasts of shadow with light.

He notoriously loathed authority. Disgusted with the organizers of the Paris Universal exhibit he organized his own retrospective called Le Réalisme. After the forced abdication of the Emperor Napoleon III Courbet became the head of the Arts Commission of the Commune. His career in bureaucracy was as brief as the revolutionary government. When it fell from power Courbet went with them. He was imprisoned for the destruction of a Bonaparte symbol the Vendôme Column. He served six months and after his release was ordered to pay for all costs in re-erecting the column. Not having the funds and concerned he would be arrested again Courbet fled to Switzerland where he lived out the few years left to his life.

J Paul Getty Museum Courtyard at Dusk
Title: Museum Courtyard at Dusk
Photographer: Alex Vertikoff
© 2000 The J. Paul Getty Trust
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

His loathing of the academic style imposed through the rigidly controlled French Salon is well known. His landscapes are meant to be original and lacking in accepted norms just like the man himself.

Degas at the Getty
March 7 - June 11, 2006

The Milliners by Edgar Degas
Title: The Milliners, about 1882 - before 1905
Artist: Edgar Degas (French 1834-1917)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: Unframed 60 x 74.9 cm (23 5/8 x 29 1/2 in.)
Accession No.: 2005.14
© 2005 J. Paul Getty Trust
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

The Getty recently acquired two of Degas finest works The Milliners and Miss Lala at the Fernando Circus. This exhibit is a celebration of the museum's impressive Degas collection.

Miss Lala at the Fernando Circus by Edgar Degas
Title: Miss Lala at the Fernando Circus, 1879
Artist: Edgar Degas (French 1834-1917)
Medium: Pastel on Faded Blue Paper
Dimensions: 46.4 x 29.8 cm (18 1/4 x 11 3/4 in)
Accession No.: 2004.93
© 2005 J. Paul Getty Trust
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum

Degas at the Getty encompasses three of his favored subjects ballet dancers, bathers and social life. For his time he was the painter that looked most into urban life rarely painting landscapes or outdoor scenes except of horse racing. The subjects are real life Miss Lala hangs by her teeth, the Milliners work away, the dancers are rehearsing, exercising at the bar, or waiting for her performance massaging an ankle.

Waiting by Edgar Degas
Title: Waiting, about 1882
Artist: Edgar Degas (French 1834-1917)
Dimensions Unframed: 48.3 x 61 cm (19 x 24 in.)
Accession No.: 83.GG.219
Owned Jointly with the Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena
© 2005 J. Paul Getty Trust
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

The reality that Degas brought to his work was biting in its depictions of daily life.

Self-Portrait about 1857 by Edgar Degas
Title: Self-Portrait, about 1857
Artist: Edgar Degas (French 1834-1917)
Medium: Oil on Paper, Laid Down on Canvas
Dimensions: 20.6 x 15.9 cm (8 1/8 x 6 1/4 in.)
Accession No.: 95.GG.43
© 2005 J. Paul Getty Trust
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Cult of Saints
April 25 - July 16, 2006

Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child by Master of Guillaume Lambert
Title: Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child, 1478 (based on date included in Easter calculation)
Artist: Master of Guillaume Lambert
(French, active about 1475-1485)
Medium: Tempera Colors, Gold Paint and Iron Gall Ink on Parchment Bound between Pasteboard covered with Brown Jansenist Morocco
Dimensions Leaf: 14.6 x 9.8 cm (5 3/4 x 3 7/8 in.)
Accession No.: 85.ML.80.183
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy:
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Religious works depicting saints was an important theme in medieval and Renaissance art work. The cult of saints is of particular importance in the Roman Catholic faith.


For the Catholics saints are models of genuine faith one reason why Caravaggio's use of humane characteristics in his depiction of saints was not well received by his church patrons. Individually each saint embodies a specific portion of Christian faith and is recognized in death for the acts of their life time.

All Saints, about 1415-1420 Unknown Artist
Title: All Saints, about 1415-1420
Artist: Unknown
Medium: Tempera Colors, Gold Paint, Gold Leaf and Ink on Parchment Bound between Wood Board covered with White Pigskin
Dimensions Leaf: 20.5 x 14.8cm (8 1/16 x 5 13/16 in.)
Accession No.: 86.ML.571.257
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California


Saint Anthony Abbot Blessing the Animals the Poor and the Sick by Master of St. Veronica
Title: Saint Anthony Abbot Blessing the Animals, the Poor and the Sick, about 1400-1410
Artist: Master of St. Veronica (German about 1395-1415)
Medium: Tempera Colors, Gold Paint and Gold Leaf on Parchment
Dimensions Leaf: [cut to shape] 23.7 x 12.4 cm
Accession No.: 83.MS.49.2.recto
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

The term "master of" is used in the art world to describe anonymous works or sometimes groups of works. Often the name was taken from a particular painting such as in the case of the artist known at the Master of St. Veronica. His moniker was given because of a painting he did of St. Veronica in Munich. He was based in Cologne and is best known for his panel paintings.


There is only one surviving pieced that Pacino di Bonaguia signed. It is the altarpiece in the Accademia Gallery in Florence. Based on his style other works have been attributed to him including The Ascension of Christ. He is believed to have invented the genre of miniaturism in which one artwork contains clearly organized numerous small-scale scenes.

The Ascension of Christ by Pacino di Bonaguida
Title: The Ascension of Christ, about 1340
Artist: Pacino di Bonaguida (Italian died before 1340 active 1302)
Medium: Tempera and Gold on Parchment
Dimensions Leaf: 44.4 x 31.8 cm (17 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.)
Accession No.: 2005.26.recto
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Peter Paul Rubens
Rubens and Brueghel: A Working Friendship
July 5 - September 24, 2006

Pieter Brueghel was believed to be the greatest artist of his time and he was the father of Jan Brueghel, the Elder, after his death the next artist to hold such a lofty title was Peter Paul Rubens. His relationship with these two men gave Brueghel the opportunity to work with two of the finest master artists the world has ever known.

The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens
Title: The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man, about 1615
Artists: Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish 1568-1625) and
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640)
Medium: Oil on Panel
Dimensions Unframed: 74.3 x 114.7 cm
Accession No.: 256854
Collection: The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center
Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen, Het Mauritshuis
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Brueghel's talents lay primarily in still life scenes and landscapes. He was extremely talented in painting flowers. His style was markedly different from his father's.

The Return from War: Mars Disarmed by Venus, Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder
Title: The Return from War: Mars Disarmed by Venus, 1610-1612
Artists: Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish 1568-1625) and
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640)
Medium: Oil on Panel
Dimensions Unframed: 127.3 x 163.5 cm (50 1/8 x 64 3/8 in.)
Accession No.: 2000.68
Acquired in honor of John Walsh
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Many of his paintings are lush forests inhabited by mythological characters. He was known to collaborate on works often painting background scenes for several artists in particular Rubens.

Allegory of Taste by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder
Title: Allegory of Taste, 1618
Artists: Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish 1568-1625) and
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640)
Medium: Oil on Panel
Dimensions Unframed: 64 x 108 cm
Accession No.: EX.2006.2.29
Collection: The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center
Photographic Archive. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
© Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, All Rights Reserved
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Rubens and His Printmakers
July 5 - September 24, 2006

Assumption of the Virgin, 1624 by Paulus Pontius and Peter Paul Rubens
Title: Assumption of the Virgin, 1624
Artists: Paulus Pontius (Flemish 1568-1625) and
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640)
Medium: Print
Dimensions: 70 x 48 cm
Accession No.: P990015
Collection: The Getty Research Institute
Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Peter Paul Rubens was the greatest printmaker of all time. In his lifetime copyright, as it is today, was a major issue with artists. He became aware that his works were being copied. Rubens addressed this problem by seeking copyright or exclusive rights from the States General of the Dutch United Provinces, England, France and Spain. It took him several years to achieve this aim but he succeeded beginning he process in 1608 and continuing until he obtained his seven-year privilege from the Dutch leaders on February 24, 1620.


Once he achieved his copyrights next he then embarked on an engraving project, that he personally oversaw resulting in the creation of nearly 100 plates by such notable engravers as Paulus Pontius, Leo van Heil and Jonas Suyderhoef.

The Assumption of the Virgin by Paulus Pontius and Peter Paul Rubens
Title: The Assumption of the Virgin, 1624
Artists: Paulus Pontius (Flemish 1568-1625) and
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640)
Medium: Black Chalk and Touches of Pen with Brown and Grey Wash
Heightened with White and Grey Bodycolor and Oil,
on Four Sheets, Joined and Laid Down, Intended for Transfer
Dimensions: 65.7 x 43 cm (25 7/8 x 16 15/16 in.)
Accession No.: 98.GG.14
Permanent Collection & Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Silenius by Peter Paul Rubens and Jonas Suyderhoef
Title: Silenus, 16--
Artists: Jonas Suyderhoef (Dutch ca. 1610-1686) and
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640)
Medium: Print
Dimensions: 35 x 28 cm
Accession No.: 2003.PR.132
Collection: The Getty Research Institute
Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2003.PR.132)
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California

Rubens, Degas, Renaissance or Medieval Cult of Saints works or Courbet would be ample justification in and of themselves to visit the Getty this year. These four exhibits are just a few of the numerous events that are planned for art aficionados to enjoy the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Dance of the Italian Peasants by Leo van Heil and Peter Paul Rubens
Title: Dance of the Italian Peasants, ca. 1640
Artists: Leo van Heil (Flemish b. 1605) and
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish 1577-1640)
Medium: Print
Dimensions: 22 x 29 cm
Accession No.: 2005.PR.76
Collection: The Getty Research Institute
Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2005.PR.76)
Image Courtesy: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles California


Courbet and the Modern Landscape
February 21 - May 14, 2006
Degas at the Getty
March 7 - June 11, 2006
Cult of Saints
April 25 - July 16, 2006
Rubens and Brueghel: A Working Friendship
July 5 - September 24, 2006
Rubens and His Printmakers
July 5 - September 24, 2006
J. Paul Getty Museum:

J. Paul Getty Museum

www.getty.edu

© 2006 International Art Treasures Web Magazine, All Rights Reserved.