Getty offers changing exhibitions at both locations year-round, complemented by a wide range of public programs.
Editors please note—Information is subject to change. Images and press materials for exhibitions will be linked here as they become available, or may be requested via the press contacts listed for each exhibition below.
For more press materials, please see For Journalists. For highlights of exhibitions and events, see What’s On and subscribe to our e-newsletters.
Current Exhibitions
June 20, 2023–July 28, 2024
Getty Center
Los Angeles-based artist Mercedes Dorame’s work explores how we position ourselves in relation to the land we inhabit. For this new commission, Dorame was drawn to the view from the Getty Center across the Pacific Ocean to Pimugna, or Pimu (Catalina Island), long inhabited by the Tongva people. To conjure a return gaze from Pimugna, her installation includes painted views of the coastline and suspended sculptures of abalone—an endangered mollusk and important cultural resource for coastal California Native peoples.
This project is the first “Rotunda Commission,” a series of art installations inspired by the Getty Museum’s collection, architecture, and site.
Media Contact
Valerie Tate
(310) 440-6861
vtate@getty.edu
October 3, 2023–October 20, 2024
Getty Center
One of the largest pastels made in the 18th century, Maurice Quentin de La Tour’s Portrait of Gabriel Bernard de Rieux is an astonishing object. In this colossal portrait, the ambitious La Tour pushed pastel to new heights, capturing his sitter’s likeness and surrounding de Rieux with the trappings of his wealth: fine furniture, an extensive library, imported porcelain, and a globe turned to display the West coast of Africa. This focused exhibition highlights both La Tour’s technical achievement and the global reality that financed and furnished de Rieux’s world.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
January 23, 2024–April 21, 2024
Getty Center
Painting in a distinctive sensuous style, Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472–1553) interpreted biblical subjects with humorous insight and flair. His striking portrayals of Adam and Eve beneath the Tree of Knowledge are among the highlights of the Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena, California. These captivating life-size paintings are presented for the first time at Getty following a multi-year conservation treatment and technical study.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
January 24, 2024–January 25, 2027
Getty Villa
Egypt’s 26th Dynasty (664–526 BCE) was a period of revival and renewal. It marks the last great phase of native pharaonic rule in ancient Egypt and is notable for its exceptional artworks, particularly stone sculpture. The achievements of Egyptian artists of this period are vividly expressed in the sculpted portraits of officials associated with the court and priesthood, which were created to be displayed in tombs and temples.
The works in this exhibition are on special loan from the British Museum, London.
Media Contact
Shannon Iriarte
(310) 440-7303
siriarte@getty.edu
January 30, 2024–April 28, 2024
Getty Center
Made from blue rags, blue paper has fascinated European artists from its earliest use in Renaissance Italy to Enlightenment France and beyond. Through new technical examination of drawings in the Getty’s collection, this exhibition offers fresh insight into the physical properties of blue paper, and its unique contribution to artistic practice from the 15th through 18th centuries.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
February 27, 2024–May 19, 2024
Getty Center
Blood has both fascinated and repelled generations of artists and viewers. Medieval manuscripts testify to a rich visual culture surrounding blood: devotional, medical, genealogical, and as evidence of violence. In examining the meanings of medieval blood, this exhibition extends to intersecting contemporary conversations—artists have used the potent visual connotations of blood to explore issues of feminism, HIV/AIDs, and the science of DNA. Medieval and modern approaches to the representation of blood offer instances of both connection and rupture across time.
Media Contact
Shannon Iriarte
(310) 440-7303
siriarte@getty.edu
April 2, 2024–July 21, 2024
Getty Center
Celebrated for her brilliance during a time when women sculptors were rare, Camille Claudel was among the most daring and visionary artists of the late 19th century. Although remembered today for her dramatic life story—her passionate relationship with artist Auguste Rodin and her 30-year internment in a psychiatric institution—her art remains little known outside of France. Including about 60 artworks, this major exhibition seeks to re-evaluate Claudel’s work and affirm her legacy within a more complex genealogy of Modernism.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
Upcoming Exhibitions
April 9, 2024–July 7, 2024
Getty Center
Given the ubiquity of photography in our lives today, the small, sepia-toned images made in the 19th century may appear remote and unconnected to the present. Yet, many of the conventions established when photographic technology was new and cutting-edge are still in use and relevant today. This exhibition provides fresh perspectives on Getty’s collection of 19th‐century photography via the work of contemporary artists who respond directly to its historical themes and subject matter.
Media Contact
Valerie Tate
(310) 440-6861
vtate@getty.edu
April 9, 2024–July 7, 2024
Getty Center
Hippolyte Bayard—Parisian bureaucrat by day and persistent inventor and artist after hours—is one of the lesser-known pioneers of photography. This exhibition presents an extraordinarily rare opportunity to view some of Bayard’s highly fragile photographs dating from the 1840s—the first decade of the new medium—and to explore his early processes, subjects, and strategies to achieve recognition. It highlights one of Getty’s most treasured photographic holdings—Bayard’s album of over 150 prints, one of the first photographic albums ever created.
Media Contact
Valerie Tate
(310) 440-6861
vtate@getty.edu
April 10, 2024–July 29, 2024
Getty Villa
Mighty deities, brave heroes, and fantastic beings adorn the ancient terracotta vessels of the Greeks, the Moche of northern Peru, and the Maya in Central America. This exhibition juxtaposes these three distinct ceramic traditions and explores the ways in which painted pottery served as a dynamic means of storytelling and social engagement.
Media Contact
Shannon Iriarte
(310) 440-7303
siriarte@getty.edu
On Thin Ice: Dutch Depictions of Extreme Weather
May 28, 2024–September 1, 2024
Getty Center
Featuring drawings and paintings by Hendrick Avercamp and other Dutch artists of the early 1600s, this exhibition focuses on landscapes that highlight frigid winters and unusually cool summers. It tells a story of persistent global cooling in the 17th century and shows how artists underscored the fundamental uncertainty of life and the necessity for adaptation through their depictions of ice skating and fishing.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
The Book of Marvels: Wonder and Fear in the Middle Ages
June 11, 2024–August 25, 2024
Getty Center
This exhibition explores the text and images of the Book of the Marvels of the World, a manuscript made in the 1460s that weaves together tales of places both near and far. Told from the perspective of a medieval armchair traveler in northern France, the global locations are portrayed as bizarre, captivating, and sometimes dangerously different. Additional objects in the exhibition highlight how the overlapping sensations of wonder and fear helped create Western stereotypes of the “other” that still endure today.
Media Contact
Shannon Iriarte
(310) 440-7303
siriarte@getty.edu
Abstracted Light: Experimental Photography
August 20, 2024–November 24, 2024
Getty Center
Abstract imagery made with experimental light exposures was of great interest to avant-garde photographers from the 1920s to the ‘50s. This exhibition features photographs by international artists devoted to the practice, including László Moholy-Nagy, Francis Bruguière, Man Ray, Tōyō Miyatake, Asahachi Kono, and Jaromír Funke. The selection of works demonstrates the dynamic interplay between still photography, experimental film, and the dazzling time-based artworks by Thomas Wilfred called “Lumia instruments.”
Media Contact
Valerie Tate
(310) 440-6861
vtate@getty.edu
Sculpting with Light: Contemporary Artists and Holography
August 20, 2024–November 24, 2024
Getty Center
Made possible by the invention of laser technology in the 1960s, holograms produce the illusion of three-dimensional objects floating in space. Many artists have experimented with holography: Louise Bourgeois, Ed Ruscha, and others were invited by the C Project to explore the creative potential of the medium in the late 1990s, and Deana Lawson turned to holography to expand her photographic practice around 2020. The master technician in both instances was Matthew Schreiber, an artist in his own right, whose work is also featured.
Media Contact
Valerie Tate
(310) 440-6861
vtate@getty.edu
Lumen: The Art & Science of Light
September 10, 2024–December 8, 2024
Getty Center
Medieval artists created dazzling light-filled environments with gold, crystal, and glass evoking the layered realms of the divine. Long associated with divinity, light also occupied a central place in scientific inquiry. Today we tend to separate science from religion, but for medieval people these disciplines were firmly intertwined. Focusing on the arts of western Europe, this exhibition explores the ways that the science of light was studied by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers, theologians, and artists during the “Long Middle Ages” (800–1600). To convey the sense of wonder created by moving light on precious materials, several contemporary artworks are placed in dialogue with historic objects. Special installations by Helen Pashgian and Charles Ross extend Lumen throughout the Museum.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
Charles Ross: Spectrum 14
September 10, 2024 – Ongoing
Getty Center
Spectrum 14 is a calibrated array of prisms that cast a dazzling display of luminous color across the Museum’s rotunda. Bands of spectral light traverse the space in relation to the sun, which follows a slightly different arc through the sky every day. Over time, Ross’s work changes in response to Earth’s rotational orbit, connecting us to the premodern experience of astronomical observation and calculation that defined cycles of days, seasons, and rituals.
This project was commissioned for PST ART as part of the exhibition Lumen: The Art & Science of Light. This is the second “Rotunda Commission,” a series of art installations inspired by the Getty Museum’s collection, architecture, and site.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
Magnified Wonders: An 18th-Century Microscope
September 10, 2024–February 2, 2025
Getty Center
The spectacular French microscope from Getty’s collection is a unique testament to scientific advances and Rococo design in the Age of Enlightenment. It allowed science enthusiasts to immerse themselves in the recently discovered world of the microscopically small. New study and conservation present the cultural and historical context of this magnificent object and reveals its technical complexity in a display which includes its lavish tooled-leather case and specimen slides of natural curiosities.
Media Contact
Shannon Iriarte
(310) 440-7303
siriarte@getty.edu
Rising Signs: The Medieval Science
October 1, 2024–January 5, 2025
Getty Center
Medieval Europeans believed that the movements of the sun, moon, stars, and planets directly affected their lives on earth. The position of these celestial bodies had the power to not only influence individual personalities but also created the seasonal conditions ideal for a variety of tasks from planting crops to bloodletting. Exploring the 12 signs of the zodiac still familiar to us today, this exhibition reveals the mysteries of medieval astrology as it intersected with medicine, divination, and daily life in the Middle Ages.
Media Contact
Shannon Iriarte
(310) 440-7303
siriarte@getty.edu
Ultra-Violet: New Light on Van Gogh's Irises
October 1, 2024–January 19, 2025
Getty Center
Examine Getty’s much-loved painting, Irises by Vincent Van Gogh, from the perspective of modern conservation science. This exhibition shows how the artist’s understanding of light and color informed his painting practice, and how conservators and scientists working together can harness the power of light with analytical tools that uncover the artist’s materials and working methods. Lastly, the exhibition reveals how light has irrevocably changed some of the colors in Irises. A painting we thought we knew so well has suddenly become quite unfamiliar.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
Paper and Light
October 15, 2024–January 19, 2025
Getty Center
Artists have for centuries explored the interaction of paper and light. This exhibition of drawings charts some of the innovative ways in which the two media were creatively used together. Works include the Museum’s extraordinary 12-foot-long transparency by Carmontelle—essentially an 18th-century motion picture—which will be shown lit from behind as originally intended. Drawings by more contemporary artists including Vija Celmins will join sheets by Tiepolo, Delacroix, Seurat, and Manet to portray the themes of translucency and the representation of light.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece
November 6, 2024–March 3, 2025
Getty Villa
The ancient land of Thrace, on the northern border of Greece (comprising present-day Bulgaria and parts of Romania), was home to a tribal culture that produced superb gold, silver, and bronze works used in aristocratic pursuits, such as warfare, horsemanship, and banqueting. This exhibition features many objects that were discovered in spectacular Thracian burial mounds. At various times adversaries and allies of the Greeks, the Thracians were greatly influenced by Greek art but created their own distinctive style.
Part of Getty’s program The Classical World in Context. Organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Republic of Bulgaria.
Media Contact
Shannon Iriarte
(310) 440-7303
siriarte@getty.edu
Exploring the Alps
November 12, 2024–April 27, 2025
Getty Center
Based around Giovanni Segantini’s monumental pastel Study for “La Vita” depicting the Alpine peaks that ringed his home in the Engadine Valley in Switzerland, this focused exhibition highlights the different ways in which later 19th-century artists explored and depicted the Alps. Themes include the joys and difficulties of working outdoors and the connections between the land and its inhabitants.
Media Contact
Cole Calhoun
(310) 440-7186
ccalhoun@getty.edu
