Renaissance Drawings from Germany and Switzerland, 1470–1600
March 27–June 17, 2012
The period of 1480–1660 represents one of the high points in German art, spanning the careers of artists such as Martin Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and Hans Holbein the Younger. Because different styles of drawing developed in the various regions of present-day Germany and Switzerland, this exhibition of works from the Getty Museum's permanent collection is organized by region—the Middle and Upper Rhine, Switzerland, Nuremberg, and Saxony. The exhibition explores the drawings' wide range of functions and captivating subject matter, including mercenary soldiers and scenes of courtly love. It also presents important new scholarship in the field that has been accomplished during the past decades.

Portraits of Renown: Photography and the Cult of Celebrity
April 3–August 26, 2012
Photography's remarkable propensity to shape visual identities has made it the leading vehicle for representing the famous. Soon after photography was invented in the 1830s, it was used to capture the likenesses and accomplishments of great men and women, gradually supplanting other forms of commemoration. In the twentieth century, the proliferation of photography and the transformative power of fame have helped to accelerate the desire for photographs of celebrities in magazines, newspapers, advertisements, and on the Internet. Drawn from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection, the exhibition surveys some of the visual strategies used by photographers to picture the famous from the 1840s to the year 2000.

Herb Ritts: L.A. Style
April 3–August 26, 2012
Herb Ritts (American, 1952–2002) was a Los Angeles-based photographer who established an international reputation for his distinctive photographs of fashion models, nudes, and celebrities. From the late 1970s until his untimely death from AIDS in 2002, Ritts's ability to create photographs that successfully bridged the gap between art and commerce was not only a testament to the power of his imagination and technical skill but also marked the synergy between art, popular culture, and business that followed in the wake of the Pop Art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This exhibition features a selection of Ritts's vintage prints, magazine covers, Polaroids, and commercial video projects.

The Getty Research Institute: Recent Print Acquisitions
April 12–December 2, 2012
Representing some of the finest works from the beginning of the 1500s through the late 1900s, this exhibition features recently acquired masterpieces, including Albrecht Dürer's classically inspired suite, Life of the Virgin, and his exquisite etching, Desperate Man. Piranesi's first edition Prisons present the kind of technical and formal innovations that have captivated print collectors, writers, and artists for 250 years; the Getty Research Institute's copy is an exciting discovery in a unique state of preservation. Besides highlighting collection strengths such as artist portraits and landscapes, the exhibition also features Karl Friederich Schinkel's designs for Mozart's operas, and a monumental 12-plate reproductive print after the Last Judgment by the so-called French Michelangelo, Jean Cousin.

In Focus: Picturing Landscape
May 22–October 7, 2012
Nature's challenge to photographers is the theme of this second exhibition on landscape in the Getty Museum's In Focus series. Comprising approximately twenty works from the permanent collection, it looks at the various ways that photographers have responded to the test of depicting the breadth and perspective of a natural landscape through a camera lens. From the pre-photographic drawings made with the aid of a camera lucida to more recent advances in digital technology, the exhibition touches on a range of technical and artistic explorations by figures such as John Beasly Greene, Imogen Cunningham, Harry Callahan, and William Garnett.

Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages
May 29–August 12, 2012
Throughout the Middle Ages, death and the afterlife were stirring subjects that challenged and inspired the creativity of the artists who illuminated manuscripts. Delightful and disturbing visions of heaven and hell fueled the viewers' imaginations. Books adorned with depictions of God's mercy, saved souls in paradise, and the rewards of the blessed instilled hope, while morbid and sometimes horrific illustrations of funerals, demons, and the punishment of the wicked prompted pious Christians to repent for their sins. At the core of visual devotion stood images of Christ's Passion and crucifixion, promising resurrection and eternal life.

Drama and Devotion: Heemskerck's "Ecce Homo" Altarpiece from Warsaw
June 5, 2012–January 13, 2013
One of the most admired Netherlandish painters of the sixteenth century, Maerten van Heemskerck (1498–1574) worked in an expressive style influenced by his exposure to the work of contemporary Italian painters, particularly Michelangelo. His dramatic Ecce Homo (1544) altarpiece from the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland, on view to the public for the first time following conservation and study at the Getty Museum, offers a rare opportunity to experience a complete triptych by this Renaissance master. The exhibition provides insight into Heemskerck's materials and expedient technique and elaborates on the original location of the altarpiece in Dordrecht. Supported by the Getty Museum Paintings Conservation Council, this event also marks the 150th anniversary of the National Museum. The accompanying catalogue, beautifully illustrated with numerous color images, contains insightful essays on the artist and the creation and conservation of the altarpiece.

Gustav Klimt: The Magic of Line
July 3–September 23, 2012
This retrospective is the first fully dedicated to the drawings of Gustav Klimt (1862—1918), one of the seminal figures in modern art. It explores the stylistic evolution of his drawings as well as their centrality to his artistic enterprise. Indeed, Klimt's paintings cannot be understood without careful consideration of his drawings, which also play a semi-autonomous role in his artistic output. Based upon assiduous study of the human figure, they are characterized by an unsurpassed mastery of line during all phases of his artistic development. This major loan exhibition was organized by the Albertina Museum, Vienna, in association with the J. Paul Getty Museum, to mark the 150th anniversary of Klimt's birth.

Current Exhibitions at the Getty Center

Past Exhibitions at the Getty Center

Aphrodite and the Gods of Love
March 28–July 9, 2012
From her genesis among earlier deities in the ancient Near East to her adoption in Roman culture as Venus, this exhibition explores the realms of Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love. It moves beyond the familiar aspects of desire, seduction, feminine beauty, and sexuality to demonstrate the various facets of this complex divinity: civic protectress, helper to sailors, and manipulator of mortals. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in association with the J. Paul Getty Museum, the exhibition includes objects ranging from large-scale sculpture to delicate jewelry drawn from both museums' collections as well as major loans from Italian institutions.

The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection
September 12, 2012–January 7, 2013
Pompeii and the other ancient cities destroyed and paradoxically preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 are usually considered the places where one can best and most directly experience the daily lives of ancient Romans. Rather than presenting these sites as windows to the past, this exhibition explores them as a modern obsession. Over the three hundred years since their discovery in the early 1700s, the Vesuvian sites have functioned as mirrors of the present, inspiring foremost artists—from Piranesi, Fragonard, Ingres, and Alma-Tadema to Duchamp, Dali, Rothko, and Warhol—to engage with contemporary concerns in diverse media. This international loan exhibition is co-organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art in association with the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Québec.

Current Exhibitions at the Getty Villa

Past Exhibitions at the Getty Villa