The Getty Research Institute is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts. Its Research Library with special collections of rare materials and digital resources serves an international community of scholars and the interested public. The Research Institute creates and disseminates new knowledge through its expertise, its active collecting program, public programs, institutional collaborations, exhibitions, publications, digital services and residential scholars program. The activities and scholarly resources of the Institute guide and sustain each other and, together, provide a unique environment for research, critical inquiry, and debate.

The work of the Research Institute takes its place within the collaborative context of the Getty Center as a whole, which includes the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, the international projects and research of the Conservation Institute, and the philanthropic outreach of the Getty Foundation.