Dating from approximately 1992 to 1996, materials comprise drawings, presentation boards, and a landscape study model generated as part of the design process for the Central Garden at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Artist Robert Irwin conceived of the design and produced the materials, assisted by Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects.

Born September 12, 1928 in Long Beach, California, artist Robert Irwin is a leader among the generation of West Coast artists that defined the Light and Space movement. Irwin studied at the Otis Art Institute and the Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles and began his career as a painter, associating with the vibrant Ferus Gallery scene of the late 1950s and 1960s. Irwin's ongoing considerations of the nature of light and space led him to create complex environmental paintings and, in turn, non-object based environments and installations. The transformative pieces he produced in the 1960s and 1970s helped shape the aesthetics and conceptual foundations of the Light and Space movement, which continues to inform the complex works he produces. Irwin strategically places his artwork in its interior or exterior environment, confronting the viewer with the conditions and qualities of the surroundings as well as the work, thereby orchestrating the viewer's awareness and experience. His work is therefore characterized with unique perceptual qualities that are produced as a viewer interacts with and responds to his art as a physical, sensory, and temporal experience. In addition to his painting, installations, and landscape design, Robert Irwin has contributed to the arts through extensive theoretical writing.The Central Garden, created by American artist Robert Irwin, lies at the heart of the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California. The 134,000-square-foot design features a natural ravine and tree-lined walkway that leads the visitor through an extraordinary experience of sights, sounds, and scents.

65.4 linear feet (1 model; 17 framed drawings; 3 architectural rolls; 8 flat files)

Contact Library Rights and Reproductions at the Getty Research Institute for copyright information and permission to publish.

The materials described in accession 1998.IA.15 are available for use by qualified researchers. The landscape study model in accession 1998.IA.13 is oversized, fragile, and stored off site; special arrangements must be made to view the model.