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Overview

In the early 1970s, oilman and art collector J. Paul Getty recreated a Roman Villa at Herculaneum, Italy, on a site just above the Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. Here he stocked it with his prodigious art collection, until the construction of the Getty Center at 1200 Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles, that opened in 1997. Thereafter, Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities were maintained at the Pacific Palisades location, while other, more modern artworks were transferred to the newer, hilltop site.

Building History

This neo-Pompeiian residence/museum, opened 06/15/1973, its art collection assmembled by one of the wealthiest men of his time, the oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty (12/15/1892 – 06/06/1976). Getty left approximately $660 million to his eponymous museum, giving it unparalleled buying power during the 1970s-1990s. This was the collection's first home on the hillsides of Malibu, CA; Getty directed that an art historian/archaeologist, Norman Neuerberg, have a significant part in determining the museum's design and layout. Neuerberg provided classical reconstructions of buildings found at Herculaneum, Italy and Pompeii, Italy, both cities buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Architects Langdon and Wilson adapted and reassembled elements of the these models for use in a modern museum setting. In David Gebhard's estimation: "We would have to turn back to the late 18th century to the personage of James Stuart (who with Nicholas Revett had published The Antiquities of Athens, 1762-90) to come across an analogous situation where contemporary buildings were being designed by an archaeologist." Neuerberg had spent time at the American Academy in Rome and had published on the Roman house extensively. (See David Gebhard, "Getty's Museum," Architecture Plus, vol 2, no. 5, 09-10/1974, p. 58.)

Denis L. Kurutz, of the Emmet L. Wemple, ASLA and Associates, served as the Project Landscape Architect for the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, CA. Dr.

Building Notes

Many critics, such as Reyner Banham, dismissed the Getty as a "mechanical copy" of its Roman precedents. It was only later, in the 1980s, that critics of the Post Modern era, Charles Jencks, for example, tried to revive the Getty's reputation as a faithful and creative synthesis of classical precedents. (See Charles Jencks, Post-Modernism The New Classicism in Art and Architecture, [New York: Rizzoli, 1987], p. 218-221.) Jencks dated the Getty between 1970-1974.

In 01/2025, the Getty Museum in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles was threatened by the Pacific Palisades Fire. A CNN.com article indicated of the museum's status: "The Getty Villa, a slice of ancient Rome nestled in the Pacific Palisades, narrowly escaped destruction as the Palisades Fire raged dangerously close to its hallowed grounds. Inspired by Italy’s Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum, the museum houses a staggering 44,000 Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, including the famed Victorious Youth statue. As flames encroached upon the villa’s landscaping, the museum’s fire prevention systems sprang into action, saving the Los Angeles cultural oasis and its priceless artifacts. Years of prioritizing fire mitigation efforts, clearing nearby brush as well as installing an on-site water tank, proved crucial in keeping the $10 billion collection safe from harm. “While trees and vegetation on the property have burned, Getty structures have been unaffected, and thankfully, both staff and the collections are safe,” president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust Katherine E. Fleming said in a statement Wednesday [01/08/2025]." (See Artemis Mostaghian and Brett Roegiers, CNN.com, "These are the iconic and beloved landmarks impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires," published 01/09/2025, accessed 01/10/2025.)

PCAD id: 14983