Last Friday I had the opportunity to visit the Getty Center in Los Angeles. I have wanted to visit this museum for probably the last 10 years. The Getty Center is on top of a hill in the Santa Monica mountains. The museum sits on 24 acres of 110 acre site. The surrounding 600 acres have been kept in a natural state (meaning no urban sprawl)
The only way to get up to the museum is by a 3 car tram. When you arrive at the museum entrance you are asked to park in a 7 story-deep underground parking structure at the bottom of the hill. You then take a tram to the top of the hill to the museum and gardens.
The architecture of the campus is amazing. The buildings are made of travertine and concrete. The day Morgan and I were there it was so sunny and bright the reflection off of the travertine stone was blinding. We were able to see an exhibit of religious paintings and sculptures and an exhibit a famous artist who did marble sculptures in Italy in the 1600's, Bernini. We enjoyed the quick film on marble carving and we found 2 sculptures reminded us of people we knew. One sculpture when we first walked in reminded us of Eddie, not the features so much but something about it. I looked for the name of the sculpture and it was called the Damned Soul (that really made us laugh) The other sculpture reminded me of Mike Ribble, and I said to Morgan, "doesnt that look like the Ribble kids Dad, Mike?" She agreed. I believe it was a cardinal or a bishop from the 1600s. Morgan is currently taking an Art History class at BYU. She had lots of interesting tid bits of information to share with me about some of the paintings we were looking at.
We ate lunch there at the Getty. We had taco salads that were very good. There are a few different eating establishments there at the museum. We chose the more economical one which was kinda cafeteria style. Lots of choices and different types of cuisine.
I have to say that the main garden was my favorite thing. We were able to walk around in this beautiful garden. The flowers were so vibrant and colorful. The intensity of colors and diversity of flowers was gorgeous.
I would love to go again to sit there and just enjoy the garden. We saw a few people who packed lunches and were enjoying the afternoon in this wonderful garden.
We also saw a very impressive cactus garden that is in bloom right now. This garden is viewed from a terrace and you overlook it. This same terrace overlooks the city. The whole layout of the museum is inspiring. The views of Los Angeles are breathtaking. I really enjoyed our afternoon. It was an easy relaxing afternoon. A great place to talk and catch up, walk around and discuss art. I will be sure to go back to the Getty Center soon. There are more buildings to explore and discover. I can't believe it took me ten years to finally go.
6 comments:
I've always heard about the Getty Center, but never been. It looks amazing, maybe I'll have to take your lead next time we're down.
LOVE the Getty. Richard Meier is amazing. It's nice that Morgan got to visit too. I loved visiting art museums while in school because all the info is still fresh in your mind and you can enjoy it so much more!
I was cracking up at the your story about the sculpture that reminded you of Eddie. hahaha! That's awesome.
did you get the picture i sent you of the "eddie" sculpture??
i really enjoyed out trip there too. it was fun to put some of the things im learning in class to practical use and it was fun to talk about the different art with you. Im so glad it worked out for us to go! we'll definitely need to go again soon.
if there are any more pictures of us that you didnt post will you email them to me?
Wow, that looks so pretty! I'm really curious what the statues of eddie and my dad looked like. bummer that there aren't any pictures of them.
That looks and sounds really cool. I would have to go with someone that could tell me interesting tidbits & facts though too because i know nothing about art & stuff.
Post a Comment