Getty Center site planning and construction photographs, 1947, 1958, 1963, 1978, 1982, 1984-1997, undated (bulk 1984-1997)

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Summary

Creators:
J. Paul Getty Trust. Building Program
Abstract:
Records comprise photographic prints, snapshots, contact sheets, slides, and negatives, dating 1947-1997 (bulk 1984-1997), that were created and maintained by the J. Paul Getty Trust Building Program. Images document the planning and building of the Getty Center in Brentwood, California by Richard Meier & Partners and the Dinwiddie Construction Company.
Extent:
108.09 linear feet (113 boxes and 4 flat files)
Language:
Collection material is in English

Background

Scope and content:

Records comprise photographic prints, contact sheets, slides, transparencies, and negatives, dating 1947-1997 (bulk 1984-1997), that were created, collected, and maintained by the J. Paul Getty Trust Building Program. The images document the planning and building of the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California by Richard Meier & Partners and the Dinwiddie Construction Company.

The photographic records cover ground and aerial views of the Getty Center site before, during and after construction; the design of the Central Garden; visits to other art and cultural institutions; events related to planning and construction; images of both architectural drawings and models; and documentation of the stone materials used in the construction. Photographers represented include Vladimir Lange, Joe Deal, Dennis Keeley, Bruce Bourassa, Paul Slaughter, Charles Pasella, Tom Bonner, Dave Margolf and Jock Pottle along with Getty Staff members Steve Rountree, Tim Whalen, Ellen Wirth, Gloria Gerace, and Don Williamson. The majority of the aerial images can be attributed to Warren Aerial Photography, Inc.

Fairly precise counts of images have been provided for each file based on the total number of images in each format including duplicates. Dimensions are related in inches unless otherwise noted.

Organization

The records are organized into eight series:

Series I. Views of the Getty Center site and surrounding area, 1947, 1958, 1963, 1978, 1982, 1984-1997, and undated (bulk 1984-1997);

Series II. Central Garden, circa 1995, 1996, and undated;

Series III. Visits to other sites, 1984-1992, 1994, and undated;

Series IV. Events, 1984-1997;

Series V. Photographs of architectural models, 1982, 1986-1994, and undated;

Series VI. Photographs of architectural drawings, 1987-1988, 1990-1994, and undated;

Series VII. Stone and quarries, 1990-1994;

Series VIII. Miscellaneous images, 1982-1997, and undated.

Biographical / historical:

The Getty Center opened in 1997 as a multifaceted campus located in Brentwood, California, including modern architecture, gardens, and fountains. The Getty Center is owned and operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, a cultural and philanthropic organization. The Trust is a not-for-profit institution, educational in purpose and character, that focuses on the visual arts in all of their dimensions. The Center is home to the Trust and its four programs: the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. The Museum and the Conservation Institute also maintain operations at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, the original site of the Museum.

The decision to build the Getty Center was a defining moment in the history of the J. Paul Getty Trust. The reasons for that decision were both practical and philosophical. Originally established in 1953, the Trust was the result of J. Paul Getty's desire to open a "small, private museum" in the house he had purchased, which was nestled in the hills near Malibu, California overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The museum opened in 1954 and in 1968 Mr. Getty decided to build a Roman style villa to house his growing collection of art work. The new J. Paul Getty Museum, otherwise known as the Getty Villa, opened six years later.

When most of Mr. Getty's personal estate passed to the Trust in 1982, the Trustees decided that, given the size of the endowment, it should make a greater contribution to the visual arts and humanities than the museum could alone. A proposal was formulated that, in addition to an expanded museum, called for a group of independent but related programs devoted to scholarship, conservation, and education. The original programs, some of which have since dissolved or evolved into other entities, were the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities (now the Getty Research Institute), the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, the Getty Art History Information Program, and the Getty Grant Program (now the Getty Foundation). Due to a lack of space at the original J. Paul Getty Museum site the Trust and its program offices were originally scattered throughout the Los Angeles basin.

It soon became clear that these new programs, along with the expansion of the Museum's collections, required a larger and more unified main campus facility to accommodate what the Trust envisioned for its extended mission. Expanding the Villa site for this purpose was impossible. A roughly 750-acre property in Brentwood (in west Los Angeles) was purchased by the Trust in 1983 and the following year Richard Meier & Partners was chosen to design the Getty Center, which would house the Trust, its newly created programs, and an additional space for the Museum. In 1984 Steve Rountree was appointed Director of the Trust's Getty Center Building Program, which included responsibility for all aspects of the project development, design, and construction of the Getty Center campus in Brentwood. After three years of design, discussions, and approvals, construction began in 1987 under the guidance of the Dinwiddie Construction Company (which had also built the Getty Villa in the early 1970s). A decade later, and forty-three years after the original J. Paul Getty Museum had opened in Mr. Getty's Ranch House, the Getty Center officially opened to the public on December 17, 1997.

Acquisition information:
The materials described in this finding aid originated in accessions 1997.IA.02, 1997.IA.10, 2007.IA.43, and 2008.IA.58.
Physical location:
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.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
Contact:
(310) 440-7390
Website