Treasures of the Getty - Part 7 of 10

Our first excursion of 2013 was to the Getty Museum, situated on a promontory with commanding views over the Los Angeles basin and out over the Pacific to Catalina Island. I was told that there are cattle on Catalina Island that have been there wild, since film director D W Griffith imported them for one of his epic movies - probably in the 1920's. I have yet to verify this story.

You arrive at the Museum and find your parking space in a huge underground car park and are then ferried - as if in a Bond film - by monorail up the rocky outcrop to the villain's lair... sorry, to the Getty Museum.

The entrance, indeed the whole site seems to have been designed by Ken Adam. Certainly, it is hugely dramatic, but then so much of L.A. is exactly that. Which came first? Did the Film Industry influence the setting, or did the setting attract the film-makers?

If you have watched the movie Star Trek: Into Darkness, there are a few scenes filmed which look as if they might have been located here. Either that or there are other buildings in L.A. (or indeed, San Francisco) with very similar architecture. Not entirely impossible.

The exhibition of Florentine Renaissance art was a real joy. These photos were only a couple of the many treasures in this exhibition. Gill was asked - very politely - to stop photographing in case her camera flash damaged the exhibits. I took these two with my iPad, before I felt that I too had better desist.

The views from The Getty are stunning. In the photo above, we see two lots of skyscrapers. The further away of these is Downtown - the city centre. 

Gill's brother suggested this shot [above]. Glad he did;  I rather like it.

The gardens are something of an artwork in themselves. A little austere for my taste, but impressive nonetheless.

The Old Boy and his youthful woman on one of the balconies at the Getty. I suspect that is Catalina Island in the far distance.

Some of the items in the garden are artworks in themselves. Robert Irwin was the designer and architect who conceived the Getty Museum layout. The photograph above is suggestive of the work of artist Ian Hamilton Finlay at Little Sparta in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

 Textures and concepts; shapes and patterns burst out everywhere.

More of the gardens. Very formal, but in keeping with the design and style of the whole site.

This statue - of a boy holding up an amphibian - is, I think, intended to represent creation and discovery; beginnings and evolution. My guess only. It is a bit of an oddity and I wonder what folks make of it. 

And now we leave. A wonderful day and an amazing museum. We only saw a small part of the whole. It must await another visit to the City of Angels before we see more. However, we got to see Van Gogh's Irises and several other important works, although we were to see more, much more on our visit to the Huntingdon. 

More soon...

All photography copyright GEORGE JOHN STEWART 2013