Press Materials

On assignment to document poverty in Brazil for Life magazine, American photographer Gordon Parks encountered one of the most important subjects of his career: Flávio da Silva. Parks featured the resourceful, ailing boy from an impoverished Rio favela (Portuguese for shantytown) and his family in the heart-rending 1961 photo essay “Freedom’s Fearful Foe.” It resulted in donations from Life readers but sparked controversy in Brazil. This exhibition explores the celebrated photo essay, tracing the extraordinary chain of events it triggered and Parks’ representation of Flávio over several decades. Curated by Amanda Maddox.  

Long associated with aristocratic portraiture, pastel had fallen out of fashion by the mid-nineteenth-century, when Jean-François Millet (1814 – 1875) turned the powdery medium to a quite different purpose: scenes of contemporary peasant life. This installation presents a selection of pastels by Millet and his followers, addressing the relationship between rural labor and urban collecting and encouraging visitors to consider how an artist’s chosen medium affects our understanding of his or her subject matter. Curated by Emily Beeny.

Assyrian kings in the ninth to seventh centuries B.C. decorated their palaces with masterful relief sculptures that represent a high point of Mesopotamian art, both for their artistic quality and sophistication and for their vivid depictions of warfare, rituals, mythology, hunting, and other aspects of Assyrian court life. The importance of these ancient treasures has only increased with the recent destruction, by ISIS, of many of the reliefs that remained in Iraq. Curated by Timothy Potts, assisted by Sara Cole. 

The history of the book in the late Middle Ages is a story of competing media as the handwritten and the illuminated encountered the print revolution in Europe. New printing technologies gave rise to a rich period of experimental cross-fertilization during which artists created hybrid works, books printed to look like manuscripts, and painted compositions modeled after prints. This exhibition includes masterpieces of both media, challenging the division between them considering the culture of the book as technology met artistry. Curated by Larisa Grollemond. 

The Getty Villa is modeled on the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum. Buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, the ancient villa was rediscovered and explored by subterranean tunnels in the 1750s and '60s again in the 1990s and early 2000s. It has yielded spectacular colored marble and mosaic floors, frescoed walls, a large collection of bronze and marble statuary, and a library of more than a thousand papyrus scrolls. This exhibition presents rare original artifacts and traces attempts to unroll and decipher the carbonized papyri.

ONLINE ONLY

Considered one of the most influential schools of art and design of the 20th century, the Bauhaus forged a unique educational vision that blended theory with practice in order to cultivate a new generation of artists and designers.

Conceived in tandem with the Getty Research Institute's gallery exhibition, the online exhibition Bauhaus: Building the New Artist offers an in-depth look into the school's novel pedagogy. Highlighting student explorations, masters' theories, and a variety of colorful media drawn from the GRI's archives, the project culminates with three interactive exercises inviting viewers to immerse themselves in surprising aspects of Bauhaus curriculum.

The illustration of written texts has provided artists with inspiration, and gainful employment, across the centuries. Presenting some of the most beautifully finished drawings and watercolors in the Getty collection, this exhibition explores illustration as a branch of artistic production in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Curated by Emily Beeny.

A vast throng of animals tumble, soar, and race through the pages of the bestiary, a popular medieval book describing the beasts of the world. Abounding with vibrant and fascinating images, the bestiary brought creatures to life before the eyes of readers. The beasts also often escaped from its pages to inhabit a glittering array of other objects. With over 100 works on display, this major loan exhibition will transport visitors into the world of the medieval bestiary. Curated by Elizabeth Morrison.

To commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death (on May 2nd, 1519 in Amboise, France), the Getty Museum is placing on view the two rare drawings by the master from its collection. Incorporating draft studies for paintings, sculpture, machinery, and human physiognomy, along with his characteristic “mirror-writing,” the two sheets present a fascinating glimpse into the mind of this celebrated Renaissance polymath. Curated by Julian Brooks.

The cosmos—full of shining stars and orbiting planets—inspired study and devotion among scientists, theologians, and artists alike during the Middle Ages. The belief in angels, demons, and spirits moreover materialized in wondrous works of art, especially on the pages of illuminated manuscripts. Awe-inspiring cosmic phenomena informed every aspect of one’s physical, mental, and spiritual well-being in the premodern world. This exhibition invites you to explore the complexity of the celestial realm in medieval European faith and science traditions. Curated by Bryan C. Keene.