Guide to the Julius Shulman Getty Villa photographs, 2006
Finding aid prepared by Rebecca Fenning
Descriptive Summary
Title: Getty Villa photographs
Date (inclusive): 2006
Number: IA20031
Creator/Collector:
Shulman, Julius
Physical Description:
0.25 linear feet
(1 box)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Institutional Records and Archives
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
archives@getty.edu
Abstract: This collection comprises photographs by Julius Shulman and Jürgen Nogai of the expanded and renovated Getty Villa, taken
during May and June, 2006. Forty-five (45) black and white and sixty-six (66) color 8 x 10 inch photographic prints constitute
the main body of the collection. Duplicates of 29 of the color prints and the original 4 x 5 inch negatives for these prints
are also included.
Request Materials: To access physical materials at the Getty, go to the
library catalog record for this collection and click "Request an Item." Click here for
general library access policy . See the Administrative Information section of this finding aid for access restrictions specific to the records described
below. Please note, some of the records may be stored off site; advanced notice is required for access to these materials.
Language: Collection material is in
English
Administrative History
The Getty Villa operates as a museum and educational center dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece,
Rome, and Etruria. The Getty Villa was designed to house J. Paul Getty's art collection when it outgrew his Ranch House in
Pacific Palisades, California, which had served as a private museum since 1954. After considering various options for expanding
the Ranch House, Getty decided in the fall of 1968 to build a new museum on the same property, in the form of a first-century
Roman country house, based primarily on the plans of the ancient Villa dei Papiri just outside of Herculaneum. The archaeologist
Norman Neuerburg, who had studied the ruins of Herculaneum and was an authority on Roman domestic architecture, was retained
as a consultant for the project. The Santa Monica architectural firm Langdon & Wilson was hired to design the Villa, and British
architect Stephen Garrett, who had served as Getty’s consultant in the remodeling of a Getty home in Posillipo, Italy, was
retained as overseer of the construction. Landscape architect Emmet Wemple designed the gardens, Garth Benton worked on the
murals, and Bruce Ptolomy worked on the fountains. Construction began on December 21, 1970, and the new museum opened to the
public on January 16, 1974, receiving negative and positive reviews.
J. Paul Getty died in 1976 without ever seeing the museum he commissioned, but is buried at the Villa site on a bluff overlooking
the ocean. After Getty's death and the establishment of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Villa became part of a larger vision.
As part of the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Villa is overseen by the J. Paul Getty Trust, an international cultural and philanthropic
organization serving both general audiences and specialized professionals. The Trust is a not-for-profit institution, educational
in purpose and character, that focuses on the visual arts in all of their dimensions. As of 2009 the Trust supports and oversees
four programs: the Getty Research Institute; the Getty Foundation; the Getty Conservation Institute; and the J. Paul Getty
Museum. Beginning in the 1980s the Trust developed an expansion plan that included the Getty Center campus in Brentwood and
the renovation and expansion of the Villa in Malibu. When the Getty Center opened in 1997, the Villa closed to undergo extensive
remodeling.
The architectural firm of Machado and Silvetti Associates redesigned the Villa, adding galleries, skylights, an auditorium,
an amphitheater, and new structures for conservation and administrative offices. Much of the original Villa was retained,
including the wall murals, which artist Garth Benton returned to restore and refresh. The redesigned Villa opened on January
28, 2006, receiving high praise from reviewers. While most of the Museum's collections are housed at the Getty Center, the
antiquities collection is housed at the Villa. The Getty Villa serves a varied audience through the permanent collection,
changing exhibitions, conservation, scholarship, research, and public programs in an intimate setting overlooking the Pacific
Ocean. Public and scholarly programs at the Villa include lectures, seminars, conferences, workshops, symposia, film series,
musical concerts, and theatrical performances in the Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Outdoor Classical Theater.
Biographical Note
Photographer Julius Shulman was renowned for his striking images of modern architecture. He was born October 10, 1910 in Brooklyn,
New York, and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1920. Throughout the 1930s, Shulman photographed historical locations in
Los Angeles, and his real break occurred in 1936, when he photographed architect Richard J. Neutra’s Kun House (Los Angeles,
Calif.). He was subsequently asked by Neutra to photograph some of his other projects. Through his relationship with Neutra
he was able to secure other architectural photography commissions, documenting the work of architects as R.M. Schindler, Raphael
Soriano, Gregory Ain, J.R. Davidson, John Lautner and Pierre Koenig as well as many others. While he also shot product and
furniture photographs for designers, he is most acclaimed for his iconic images of mid-century modern buildings including
the Case Study houses of Southern California. Shulman’s photographs have been widely published, and he has produced several
monographs about his work, including:
Photography of Architecture and Design: Photographing Buildings, Interiors, and the Visual Arts (1977),
Architecture and its Photography (1998),
Photographing Architecture and Interiors (2000), and
Malibu: A Century of Living by the Sea (2005).
Over the years Shulman became known as a strong proponent of modernist architecture and his photographs trained the spotlight
on the architects whose work he featured. He received the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architectural Photography
Medal in 1969 and was made an honorary member of the AIA in 1987. In 1987 the L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission designated
Shulman's Hollywood Hills home as a monument because it is the last unaltered steel-frame structure designed by Soriano. After
a brief retirement in 1986, Shulman returned to work as a photographer and accepted assignments well into the 21st century.
Julius Shulman died in his home at the age of 98 on July 15, 2009.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
The records described in accession 2007.IA.14 are available for use by qualified researchers.
The following types of records are permanently closed: records containing personal information, records that compromise security
or operations, legal communications, legal work product, and records related to donors. The J. Paul Getty Trust reserves the
right to restrict access to any records held by the Institutional Archives.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
[Cite the item and series (as appropriate)], Getty Villa photographs, Julius Shulman. Institutional Archives, Research Library,
Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA20031.
Acquisition Information
Accession 2007.IA.14, was originally transferred from the Communications Department to Getty Research Library, Special Collections,
and then to the Institutional Archives.
Processing History
Photographs inventoried and finding aid written by Rebecca Fenning, June 2007. The finding aid was revised in 2009 by Cyndi
Shein.
Related Archival Materials note
The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the people, programs, and subjects covered
by the records. The listing is not exhaustive.
Contributing Institution:
Getty Research Library, Photo Study Collection
Photographs of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, [1982?], Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 2005.P.1.
Contributing Institution:
Getty Research Library, Special Collections
Julius Shulman photography archive, 1936-1997, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 2004.R.10
Scope and Content of Collection
Photographs consist of 45 black and white and 66 color prints of the recently expanded and renovated Getty Villa in Malibu,
taken by photographer Julius Shulman in May and June, 2006. Shulman previously photographed the Villa in the 1970s and 1980s
and these 2006 photos constitute a valuable supplement to those earlier images. These pictures, taken on Tuesdays when the
museum was closed, were commissioned by the Communications Department of the J. Paul Getty Trust.
A partial set of 29 duplicates of the color prints are also included, as well as the original 4x5 negatives for those prints.
The photographs were taken with the collaboration of Jürgen Nogai, a German photographer living in Santa Monica, and Shulman's
collaborator since 2000.
Organization
These records are organized in two series:
Series I. Black and white photographs, 2006;
Series II. Color photographs, 2006.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Names
Nogai, Jürgen
Shulman, Julius
Subjects - Corporate Bodies
Getty Villa (Malibu, Calif.)
Subjects - Topics
Architectural photography
Art museum architecture
Genres and Forms of Material
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Color photographs
Photographic prints
Series I.
Black and white photographs,
2006
Physical Description:
(45 photographs)
Scope and Content Note
Forty-five black and white photographs of the Getty Villa taken by Julius Shulman and Jürgen Nogai. This set of photographs
is partially reproduced in color in the following series. In most cases, item numbers for photographs in the respective sets
match: for example, 8048-1K features the same subject and composition as 8048-1.
Arrangement
These records are arranged in original order.
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-2
Entry pavilion from museum entrance
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-5
Peristyle and fountain
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-10
Amphitheater and museum entrance
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-13
Peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-14
Peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-15
Peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-19
Peristyle and Amphitheater
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-20
Garden and fountain
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-22
Peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-24
Entry pavilion stairs
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-25
Museum entrance from entry pavilion steps
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-26
Peristyle and garden from above
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-28
Garden and fountain
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-48
Garden and fountain
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-53
Interior staircase
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-59
Amphitheater from museum entrance
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-61
Garden and statuary
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-62
Peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-64
Driveway and exterior
Series II.
Color photographs,
2006
Physical Description:
(66 photographs)
Scope and Content Note
Sixty-six color photographs of the Getty Villa taken by Julius Schulman and Jürgen Nogai. This set of color photographs includes
many of the same compositions and subjects as the previous series. In most cases, item numbers for photographs in the respective
sets match: for example, 8048-1K features the same subject and composition as 8048-1. Images that have negatives and duplicates
available in the archives are noted.
Arrangement
These records are arranged in original order.
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-2K
Entry pavilion from museum entrance
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-3K
Entry pavilion
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-5K
Peristyle and garden
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-9K
Atrium
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-10K
Amphitheater and museum entrance
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-13K
Peristyle and garden
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-14K
Peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-15K
Inner peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-16K
Amphitheater
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-17K
Amphitheater
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-19K
Peristyle and Amphitheater
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-20K
Peristyle and fountain
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-21K
Atrium interior
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-22K
Peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-23K
Entry pavilion
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-24K
Entry pavilion stairs
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-25K
Museum entrance from entry pavilion steps
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-26K
Peristyle and garden from above
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-27K
Garden
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-28K
Garden and fountain
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-29K
Plaza and fountain near Ranch House
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-30K
Ranch House
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-31K
View from entry pavilion path
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-32K
Cafe patio
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-33K
View of café seating
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-34K
Garden and fountain from above
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-35K
Colonnade and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-37K
Entry pavilion
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-39K
Entry pavilion
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-41
Gallery interior
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-44
Gallery interior
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-46
Peristyle
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-47
Entry pavilion
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-48
Garden and fountain
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-49
Gallery interior
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-51
Garden
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-52
Gallery interior
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-53
Interior staircase
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-54
Gallery interior
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-59
Amphitheater from museum entrance
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-61
Garden and statuary
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-62
Peristyle and garden
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-63
Gallery interior
Physical Description:
[negative and duplicate print in archives]
Box 2007.IA.14-1
8048-66
Bookstore interior