The Getty Museum

Well I finally made it to the Getty Museum and the Getty Center and all I can say is ho hum.  The buildings are fascinating.  Each one is so different and yet they all work together.  It is because they are all the same color of stone, some are smoother than others but they are consistent in color.  There don't appear to be any squares, curves and sharp points but not many if any right angles.  Lovely fountains and gardens break up the monotony of the ecru color of the walls.  Even some of the fountains are unusual, one creates a tunnel of water.  There is a floral maze, and large swaths of jasmine and lavender.

The parking is way down at the bottom of the hill that the museum is built at the top of.  They have a tram that takes people to the top, but they also have a sidewalk.  So when one of the museum guards who was organizing the people for the tram suggested people could walk I decided to do it.  It was steeper than I expected it to be but I made it.

Most of the art that I could find was Renaissance or older.  I did find a couple of rooms of pre-Impressionists and Impressionists.  If there were 20 paintings there were a lot.  It was in the European Painting Gallery.  I saw no signs anywhere for American paintings, I know they must have been around somewhere.  Signage was terrible.  Stairs were placed oddly and you were never sure where they went.  Elevators were tucked into odd corners behind doors in little corridors on the way to other places.  You got great views from terraces which you found at other odd places.  You don't really know what the point of the Museum is, to hold art or be art?  I think it is perfect of L.A.  Appearance is very important, content not so much.

The funny thing is I wasn't planning on going to the Getty at all today.  I was originally heading to San Juan Capistrano but when I was almost there I realized that the Getty would be closed on Monday.  So quickly I changed my plans and direction.  I doubt that they close an old Mission on Monday.