In 1902, Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke visited sculptor August Rodin in Paris to write an essay on the artist for a new series of German monographs. Writing with his usual intensity, Rilke’s poetic language and passion for Rodin’s art make this an engaging account of the artist’s life and work. Curator Anne-Lise Desmas discusses this text and Rodin’s career, addressing the personal relationship between the two men, Rodin’s unusual artistic process, and the reception of Rodin’s art in his time...
Aug 08, 2018•46 min•Season 3Ep. 63
A towering sarcophagus for a man with a Grecian name, an ancient medical scroll that details Mycenaean cures in Egyptian hieroglyphics, and a Roman mosaic illustrating scenes from the Nile are just a few of the incredible objects that tell the story of sustained trade and cultural exchange between Egypt and Classical Greece and Rome. The Getty Center exhibition Beyond the Nile: Egypt and the Classical World centers on this artistic exchange and in this episode, exhibition curators Timothy Potts ...
Jul 25, 2018•50 min•Season 3Ep. 62
Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn was a well-known and somewhat controversial artist in his time, and many historians, critics, and artists wrote about his work and life during and shortly after his lifetime. In this episode, curator of paintings Anne Woollett discusses three short biographies of the artist: one by German painter Joachim von Sandrart; the second by Italian painter Filippo Baldinucci; and a third by Dutch painter and printmaker Arnold Houbraken. All three biographies were ...
Jul 11, 2018•47 min•Season 3Ep. 61
Giorgio Vasari’s book Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects from Cimabue to Our Times , first published in 1550, is widely considered to be the ideological foundation of the discipline of art history. In this episode, senior curator of paintings Davide Gasparotto discusses the structure and history of Vasari’s Lives and explores three biographies in particular—those of Giovanni Bellini, Raphael, and Michelangelo. These texts have recently been republished as individual ...
Jun 27, 2018•46 min•Season 2Ep. 60
The husband and wife team Charles and Ray Eames produced some of the most iconic designs of the mid-twentieth century. This episode engages with a wide range of topics, from Charles and Ray’s training and inspiration, to their collaborative design process, to the challenges of preserving and conserving modern architecture. Recorded at the Eames’ home and studio in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, this episode brings together in conversation Eames Demetrios, the grandson of Char...
Jun 13, 2018•56 min•Season 2Ep. 59
How do we understand the seemingly senseless destruction of monuments during World War I? How does art history dovetail with military history? In this episode, Thomas Gaehtgens’ explores these questions through the lens of Reims Cathedral. He traces the history and symbolism of this iconic gothic building through the war and after, investigating the roles of culture, scholarship, and media in shaping our understanding of WWI and its legacy. Gaehtgens is Director Emeritus of the Getty Research In...
May 30, 2018•53 min•Season 2Ep. 58
Tom Weiss, a specialist on humanitarian intervention and the United Nations, believes we are at a watershed moment for international cooperation on the protection of cultural heritage. In this episode, Weiss uses the ongoing civil war in Syria as a springboard to address the preservation of monuments and cultural heritage during times of humanitarian crisis and armed conflict. He traces the evolution of thinking and action on this issue, considering the role of the UN, useful legal frameworks, a...
May 16, 2018•44 min•Season 2Ep. 57
The early Baroque artist Caravaggio painted bold compositions with dramatic lighting that emphasized the physical and emotional humanity of his subjects. In this episode, we listen as two curators, Davide Gasparotto and Keith Christiansen, visit the Getty Museum’s exhibition "Caravaggio: Masterpieces from the Galleria Borghese" to talk about the paintings on view. Gasparotto is senior curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum and Christiansen is the John Pope-Hennessy Chairman of the Depa...
May 02, 2018•21 min•Season 2Ep. 56
Venetian Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini is widely considered one of the greatest Italian artists of all time. His landscapes are imbued with allegory and a reverence for nature. In this episode, we listen as two curators, Davide Gasparotto and Keith Christiansen, visit the Getty Museum’s exhibition Giovanni Bellini: Landscapes of Faith in Renaissance Venice to talk about a selection of paintings on view. Gasparotto is senior curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum and Christiansen...
Apr 18, 2018•28 min•Season 2Ep. 55
To say that Swiss-born artist, art historian, and curator Harald Szeemann was an obsessive collector might be putting it mildly. Szeemann’s personal archive and research library, which he referred to as the “Museum of Obsessions,” spans over five decades and amounts to thousands of linear feet. In this episode, we hear from the Getty Research Institute’s Glenn Phillips, Doris Chon, and Pietro Rigolo about the work and archive of this influential curator.
Apr 04, 2018•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 54
Egyptian mummy portraits are among the oldest paintings that have survived from the ancient world. Incorporated with the wrappings of mummies, these strikingly realistic portraits of the deceased reflect a blending of the artistic style of Greco-Roman culture with Egyptian funerary traditions. We visit the galleries of the Getty Villa with associate conservator Marie Svoboda to learn about a project that will bring greater understanding to these remarkable portraits and the era of ancient Egypt.
Mar 21, 2018•31 min•Season 2Ep. 53
Last week, Indian architect, urban planner, and educator Balkrishna Doshi was selected as the 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate. In light of this news, we wanted to share an episode from earlier this year featuring an interview with Doshi. — While working in Chandigarh, Le Corbusier also developed projects in Ahmedabad, the former capital of Gujarat, 740 miles southeast of Chandigarh. In the second of a two-part series on modern architecture in India, we hear from B. V. Doshi, Le Corbusi...
Mar 14, 2018•31 min
The Getty Center is a campus that features modernist buildings, beautiful gardens, open spaces, and panoramic views of Los Angeles. Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic at the Los Angeles Times , discusses the relationship between Richard Meier’s unique design and the architectural tradition of LA. This is the final episode of Getty at Twenty, a three-part series that looks at the Getty Center on the twentieth anniversary of its opening.
Mar 07, 2018•56 min•Season 2Ep. 51
Stephen Rountree served as the director of the Getty building program, working closely with architect Richard Meier, Getty staff and committees, and neighborhood councils during the construction of the center. In this episode, Rountree talks about the challenges he and his colleagues faced throughout the thirteen-year process. This is the second episode of Getty at Twenty, a three-part series that looks at the Getty Center on the twentieth anniversary of its opening.
Feb 21, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 50
Included in Rembrandt’s prolific body of work is a series of twenty-five drawings inspired by paintings created by Mughal artists in India. How did Rembrandt come across Mughal images? Why did he make these drawings? These questions are at the heart of an upcoming exhibition organized by Getty Museum curator Stephanie Schrader. In this episode, Schrader discusses Rembrandt’s series and what inspired him to draw in a style different from his own. "Rembrandt and the Inspiration of India " opens at...
Jan 24, 2018•23 min•Season 2Ep. 49
Adolph Menzel was a 19th-century pioneer of German realism. His paintings, drawings, and prints capture reality with remarkable truth and atmosphere. In this episode, art historian Werner Busch discusses why there has been so little published about this important artist in English. He also examines the biographical and historical events that shaped Menzel’s work and the course it took. Busch is former professor of art history at Freie Universität Berlin and author of "Adolph Menzel: The Quest fo...
Jan 10, 2018•40 min•Season 2Ep. 48
In this episode, an interview with German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer doesn’t go as planned. But all is not lost. Despite—or perhaps as a consequence of—the disruptions, a candid and thoughtful conversation ensues. Kiefer’s work confronts controversial issues from recent history, including the power of war and the cycle of destruction and renewal. He is co-recipient of the 2017 J. Paul Getty Medal, an award that honors extraordinary contributions to the practice, understanding, and suppor...
Dec 13, 2017•26 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Gold nose adornments, feather paintings, and beaded shell collars. These are some of the objects featured in the Getty’s current exhibition, "Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas," which traces the development of luxury arts in the Americas from antiquity to the arrival of the Europeans in the sixteenth century. We visit the galleries with co-curators Joanne Pillsbury, Timothy Potts, and Kim Richter who discuss how the study of objects made of gold, jade, shell, feathers, a...
Nov 29, 2017•57 min•Season 2Ep. 46
In September 2017 the Getty launched Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a regional exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. In a three-part series, we hear about the development of one of the Getty exhibitions that is part of this initiative, "Making Art Concrete: Works from Argentina and Brazil in the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros." The exhibition is now open! In this final conversation, we meet the curatorial and conservation teams in the galleries to visit...
Nov 15, 2017•33 min•Season 2Ep. 45
The year 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the Dodgers’ move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, and the 55th anniversary of the opening of Dodger Stadium. Jerald Podair, author of "City of Dreams: Dodger Stadium and the Birth of Modern Los Angeles," tells the story of the controversial construction of this famed stadium and its impact on the surrounding landscape. Podair is professor of history and the Robert S. French Professor of American Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Nov 01, 2017•42 min•Season 2Ep. 44
Walter Hopps was a legendary curator of contemporary art who revolutionized the museum realm with radical exhibitions and an enduring support for contemporary art and artists. Published earlier this year, "The Dream Colony: A Life in Art," is an autobiographical account of Hopps’s life, compiled by Anne Doran, an arts writer, and edited by Deborah Treisman, fiction editor of "The New Yorker." The book includes an introduction by Ed Ruscha, who knew Hopps for many years. The authors visited the G...
Oct 18, 2017•54 min•Season 2Ep. 43
In the galleries of the Getty Museum are two works of art with an interesting connection. The first, a magnificent cabinet with intricate stone inlay, gilded statuettes, and an array of compartments and hidden drawers. The second, a commanding portrait bust made of marble. At almost six feet tall, the Borghese-Windsor Cabinet, as it’s called, was originally commissioned for Pope Paul V, who is the subject of the marble portrait bust by the renowned sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. We visit the ga...
Oct 04, 2017•46 min•Season 2Ep. 42
The close relationships between artists and authors in 19th-century France is evidenced in the illustrious novels of Honoré de Balzac, Émile Zola, Marcel Proust, J. K. Huysmans, and Guy de Maupassant. These novelists wrote about painting, created painters as characters, and physically described characters in the vein of their painter-friends. Anka Muhlstein, author of "The Pen and The Brush: How Passion for Art Shaped Nineteenth-Century French Novels," discusses how the intimate exchange between...
Sep 20, 2017•35 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Although Jackson Pollock’s iconic "Mural" (1943) may appear to have been swiftly executed, close examination of the paint and archival photographs reveals otherwise. In the second half of a two-part conversation, Laura Rivers and Yvonne Szafran, conservators at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Alan Phenix and Tom Learner, scientists at the Getty Conservation Institute, and Andrew Perchuk, deputy director at the Getty Research Institute, focus on how conservation and scientific analysis enhance our art ...
Sep 06, 2017•34 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Jackson Pollock’s " Mural" (1943) is a monumental eight-by-twenty foot work that marks a turning point in the artist’s career and the course of American art. In 2012, " Mural" traveled to the Getty for conservation, cleaning, and study, which revealed groundbreaking information about the work and its creator. In the first half of a two-part conversation, Laura Rivers and Yvonne Szafran, conservators at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Alan Phenix and Tom Learner, scientists at the Getty Conservation In...
Aug 23, 2017•40 min•Season 2Ep. 39
At age eighteen, Chris Killip saw an image by Henri Cartier-Bresson and decided to become a photographer. Killip, who grew up on the Isle of Man, documents social landscapes and is known for a series of powerful images of struggling industrial communities in North East England. We hear from Killip about his past working as an assistant to advertising photographer Adrian Flowers, his experience rediscovering images from work made decades ago, and his love for black-and-white photographs. Killip i...
Aug 09, 2017•40 min•Season 2Ep. 38
While working in Chandigarh, Le Corbusier also developed projects in Ahmedabad, the former capital of Gujarat, 740 miles southeast of Chandigarh. In the second of a two-part series on modern architecture in India, we hear from B. V. Doshi, Le Corbusier’s “man on the job” for his projects in Ahmedabad. Doshi shares his experiences as a young architect working with Le Corbusier in Paris and recounts various projects he managed in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.
Jul 26, 2017•31 min•Season 2Ep. 37
After the Partition of India in 1947, Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru invited French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier to build Chandigarh, a new capital city that would be, in Nehru’s words, “symbolic of the freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past.” In the first of a two-part series on modern architecture in India, Maristella Casciato reveals how Le Corbusier led a team of architects in the design and construction of Chandigarh’s urban plan and architecture. Casciato is sen...
Jul 12, 2017•48 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Season 2 launches on July 12, 2017.
Jul 05, 2017•2 min
Microchip processing plants, space training centers, and abandoned bunkers. These are just a few of the subjects represented in the work of British artists and twin sisters Jane and Louise Wilson. The Wilsons create captivating and ethereal photographs, videos, and installations of landscapes and architectural spaces that reveal layered narratives of history and mankind. In this episode, the Wilsons share how they began collaborating amidst an emerging London art scene and discuss significant wo...
Jun 21, 2017•41 min•Season 1Ep. 35
