[CPProt.net] At the Malibu museum, transformations -- visceral and conceptual -- reframe antiquity

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

THE GETTY VILLA
The ancients cast in new light
At the Malibu museum, transformations -- visceral and conceptual -- reframe
antiquity.

By Suzanne Muchnic, Times Staff Writer


J. PAUL GETTY'S favorite statue of Hercules dominates a breathtaking space —
as usual. Clenching a lion skin in one hand and hefting a club over the
opposite shoulder, the life-size marble figure presides over a round,
shrine-like gallery inspired by a room in an Italian seaside estate that
perished when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.

The gallery — called the Temple of Herakles, in a nod to the mythological
hero's Greek name — has retained its original travertine niche and marble
floor, with triangular patterns radiating from the center like petals of a
flower. But brick walls have been replaced by ochre- colored plaster with a
seductive, suede-like texture. The smooth dome, once decorated with mosaics,
has been supplanted by a coffered hemisphere, like the ceiling of Rome's
classical Pantheon. And the 1,400-pound statue stands on a new seismic
isolator, invisibly attached to the floor.

ADVERTISEMENT 
  
Much has changed at the Getty Villa in Malibu — scheduled to open Jan. 28
after undergoing a $275-million, eight-year renovation — and yet much
remains the same. Boston-based architects Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti
have converted the former all-purpose museum into a study center for the
arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria, with expanded
facilities for antiquities conservation, public programs and scholarly
activities. Startlingly new structures have risen on the spectacular 64-acre
site, but the museum at the heart of the complex has retained its original
character. Although many parts of the building have been dismantled and
reconstructed, the changes can be subtle, if not imperceptible.

The long-anticipated opening is Southern California's biggest art and
architecture event of the year. Many insiders who have previewed the Villa
have marveled at the complexity of the project. Although art critics have
yet to weigh in, a few architecture critics have put their opinions in
print.

Nicolai Ouroussoff of the New York Times praised the Villa as "an exquisite
work of architecture" but concluded that "the fun is gone."

In sharp contrast, Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher
Hawthorne deemed the design "a useful road map for future development in
ever-more-crowded Los Angeles — a fresh, thoughtful means of figuring out
how to deal with the baldly striving architectural landmarks that abound
here." The 1974 museum building, designed by Langdon Wilson Architects with
historical consultant Norman Neuerburg, he wrote, "is not just more open but
more comfortable in its own skin. Asked to do less, it appears capable of
doing more."

*

NEW MEETS OLD

VISITORS will enter the museum through the atrium, the historically correct
main entrance, instead of wending their way around the outer peristyle
garden, as in the past. Those with sharp memories of the pre-renovation
Villa will see at a glance that the atrium and second-floor galleries have
new windows and skylights and that antiquities have replaced the European
paintings and French furniture now displayed at the Getty Center in
Brentwood. They will also discover that the museum has acquired a superb
collection of ancient glass.

But few will notice alterations in the Temple of Herakles or such other
changes as climate-controlled environments, security-glass-encased cabinets
and new mounts for every single object. Even fewer will detect major
infrastructure improvements such as steel reinforcements embedded in walls
and floors, data ports under removable floor plates and a huge tunnel
connecting the loading dock in a recently constructed office building with
the museum's new freight elevator. Much of the money spent on the Villa paid
for things the public will never see.

Transformed as it may be, the Getty Villa still embodies the passions of a
notoriously tightfisted art collector who loved classical history and had
dreams of grandeur. The Hercules sculpture, a Roman interpretation of the
Greek hero, is said to have inspired him to build his 1st century,
Roman-style villa with a special room for the statue. The museum in Malibu
is a re-creation of Villa dei Papiri, the largest and most luxurious
residence found during the 1700s at the village of Herculaneum, near
Pompeii. The site has yet to be fully excavated, but exploratory tunnels
yielded enough information to map the house. Still, Getty's version is a
pastiche, incorporating elements of more accessible buildings of the same
period.

Getty bought the Hercules for a bargain $18,500 in 1951, when collecting
antiquities was out of fashion. Unearthed at Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli in
1790, it landed in London in Lord Lansdowne's collection and became known as
the Lansdowne Herakles. At Getty's death in 1976, the sculpture was part of
a trove of about 1,600 Greek and Roman antiquities, 17th and 18th century
French decorative arts and Old Master paintings housed in Malibu.

Thanks to the bequest of the oil man's immense fortune, the collection has
expanded enormously since then. With European art and an international cache
of photographs ensconced at the Getty Center, the Villa's entire exhibition
space is devoted to antiquities — among the world's leading troves of
ancient art. The bulk of the 44,000-piece antiquities holding is study
material. Of the roughly 2,000 displayable items, about 1,200 are in the
inaugural installation, three times the former 400-piece sampling.

But just as the Villa's doors are about to open, the antiquities collection
is under a cloud of legal inquiry and international controversy. Marion True
— the Getty's longtime antiquities curator, credited with raising the
standards of collecting established by a predecessor — guided the Villa's
renovation and wrote a book on the facility's history and reincarnation with
architect Silvetti. But she is on trial in Rome on charges of criminal
conspiracy to receive stolen goods. The Getty and True maintain she is
innocent, but the Italian government has asked for about three dozen objects
it claims were looted, in addition to three items recently returned by the
Getty. Greek authorities also want something from the Getty: four other
antiquities, said to have been illegally removed from their country.

True resigned in early October, ending her 23-year tenure after officials of
the Getty Trust determined she had violated policies by accepting an art
dealer's help with a loan on a house in Greece. Karol Wight, a 20-year Getty
veteran who specializes in ancient glass, was appointed acting curator.

*

ON A TIMELINE

WITH some of the objects sought by the Italians and the Greeks now installed
in the Villa's refurbished galleries — including a towering limestone and
marble statue thought to depict Aphrodite — the timing of the opening may be
terrible. But for members of the public snapping up free tickets for
scheduled visits, the Villa is a landmark destination that has been closed
far too long, one about to begin its new life with a staff of roughly 250.

"The floor plan is very much the same," Wight said, plunging into a preview
tour of the museum, "but the collection is installed thematically. One of
the primary reasons we decided to make this change is the ground plan of the
Villa itself. It's domestic architecture, a series of large and small rooms,
many of which are unconnected, so it has always been difficult to create a
sensible flow of spaces like that at institutions where grand halls march
one right after the other.

"We had done a thematic installation with the Fleischman collection in
1994," she said of an exhibition of antiquities acquired by the Getty in
1996. "It was extremely well received by the public, and it made the objects
more interesting and dynamic, so we decided to take that approach with the
permanent collection. We wanted to make the objects more accessible to
visitors who may not be familiar with Greek and Roman history. But in doing
so, we faced a huge educational challenge in conveying that historical
information."

The solution, designed by the education department, is the high-tech
TimeScape room.

"It's the ancient world in a nutshell," Wight said. "There's a linear
timeline of Greece, Rome and Etruria, so that you can see how these three
separate cultures interrelated chronologically and culturally. There's a
digital map. You can zoom around the Mediterranean and see the expansion and
retraction of the Roman Empire, for example. Artistic styles are addressed
as well, so I imagine a lot of school groups will start there, to get an
overview before moving into the galleries."

Some of those groups will probably stop at the nearby Family Forum as well.
For the introductory round of activities, the education department has
focused on ancient vases. Kids will be invited to draw on molded resin
forms, emulate black figure compositions in shadow plays and peer into a
simulated kiln to see how ceramics are fired.

But most of the museum's 28 galleries are devoted to fine art, in rooms that
are much more familiar. The stone-clad Hall of Colored Marble and
barrel-ceilinged Basilica were left largely intact. Other galleries have new
terrazzo floors, based on Roman mosaic patterns and embedded with Roman
numerals marking the progression of galleries. A painted black band runs
around the bottom edge of most gallery walls, but color schemes vary. The
extensive palette is keyed to the art and coordinated so that views cutting
through several spaces are harmonious.

"I think we had 2 1/2 years of color selection meetings," Wight said. "They
became grueling endurance tests, but it all paid off."

Labels were also a huge project, she said. "We were very concerned about
having as clean a display area as possible, without letters or numbers to
cross-reference. We put little icons on the labels, so you can find an
object immediately and still have a beautifully designed layout. Text panels
on the walls have timelines across the bottom, just to remind visitors of
the time spans of these different cultures, with the earliest and latest
piece in each gallery illustrated to show the chronological parameters of
the room."

As for themes of the displays, Wight said, "we started with the obvious: men
and women, daily life, religion, gods and goddesses, mythology. But we built
on strengths of the collection as much as anything." A large gallery devoted
to "Dionysus and the Theater," for example, was inspired by the Fleischman
collection's emphasis on theater-related material. "We put the gallery close
to the outdoor theater, with the hope that visitors will come in before
performances or during intermissions to see art related to the drama being
presented," she said.

*

HEROES COME ALIVE

ON the opposite side of the atrium, a large gallery of gods and goddesses
examines major deities of Greece, Rome and Etruria. The Hall of Colored
Marble holds luxury silver vessels, as in the past. The adjacent Basilica,
patterned after a room that might have been used for worship, continues to
offer representations of gods. Next comes the Temple of Herakles, which
introduces the theme of heroes.

"One of the joys of doing a thematic installation like this is being able to
mix and match the material," Wight said. Having more space for antiquities
also presents new possibilities. One major Greek ensemble — portraying
Orpheus and two half-bird, half-human sirens in terra cotta — was formerly
displayed against a wall with the mythological characters side by side. Now
they are in a more dynamic arrangement in the center of a gallery, with the
sirens on high pedestals, as if perched on cliffs while singing to the
seated poet.

A gallery focusing on heroes in literature offers vignettes of romance and
high drama. A marble basin in the center of the room depicts Achilles
receiving a set of armor from one goddess on a sea horse and two others
mounted on sea monsters. Artworks illustrating such episodes from Homer's
"Iliad" and "Odyssey" have literary citations on their labels. Books will be
available in the gallery so that visitors can look up the citations and
"read all about it," as Wight puts it.

Upstairs, where gallery walls were formerly covered with dark fabric and
daylight was strictly limited to protect the art, new skylights and windows
around the inner peristyle create a warm ambience and expansive vistas in a
much-less-cluttered setting. Several galleries explore aspects of daily
life, including occupations of working-class men, drinking festivals and
celebrations, representations of women and children, and likenesses of birds
and animals. One of the oldest objects, a prehistoric terra cotta vessel
from Cyprus, depicts the process of bread making on one side, but the scene
on the other side is a matter of scholarly debate.

*

ODE TO ATHLETICISM

THE perennially debatable Kouros is here too, in a room dedicated to
athletes and competitions. The Getty purchased the monumental male nude
figure as an archaic Greek work in 1985, but its veracity has been seriously
questioned. With the matter unresolved, the marble sculpture is labeled as
Greek, circa 530 BC, or a modern forgery. Nearby, the "Statue of a
Victorious Youth," popularly known as "The Getty Bronze," has a new home in
a more intimate, humidity-controlled environment.

"I think we are a PG museum," Wight said, walking into a gallery of coins,
jewelry and ceramic fragments that invite close inspection — and, despite
the claim to the contrary, do reveal a few X-rated tidbits. Among other
surprises, the Getty's small holding of Egyptian material from the
Greco-Roman period includes a mummy, on view for the first time, along with
mummy portraits.

A representative sampling of the museum's recently acquired, 412-piece glass
collection is installed in one of the galleries designated for temporary
exhibitions. Amassed by the late German collector Erwin Oppenländer, the
works span the second millennium BC to the 11th century.

"He had incredible taste," Wight said of the collector, "not only for the
beauty of the objects but for desiring a collection that was as full
chronologically as possible. For the museum, this was one of the last areas
of the antiquities collection that really needed development."

Another temporary exhibition, "Antiquity & Photography," is a collaborative
effort of the museum and the Getty Research Institute, presenting images of
archeological sites around the Mediterranean by pioneering photographers.
Finally, "The Getty Villa Reimagined" reflects on the Villa's history and
tracks the progress of the renovation in a gallery jampacked with models,
drawings, photographs and video.

"I worked side by side with Marion on the architecture project for 10 years
and the installation project for eight years," Wight said, perusing the
display. "It makes home remodeling seem simple. It was such a learning
process. Every detail had to be complementary."

The renovation was a hugely complex collaboration. While curators worked out
aesthetic issues with architects and designers, conservators consulted with
architects, engineers and contractors to secure the best environment for the
collection.

The goal was to transform a beloved landmark while maintaining its essence.
Through ancient art and contemporary architecture, the renovated Villa is
intended to help visitors understand and appreciate cultures that are far
away in time but not in significance.

Whether the message resonates with the public remains to be seen, but not
for long. It's almost time to bring in the crowds.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Advancing the state of the arts

New systems rolled out at the Villa foster preservation and enhance the
viewing experience.

Putting up walls

GALLERY walls are reinforced with the ultimate pegboard, a four-layer
network of heavy steel supports designed to hold objects weighing more than
1,000 pounds. The system consists of perforated horizontal rails that allow
marble reliefs, exhibition cases and pedestals to be attached to walls with
no visible means of support. "We don't have to tear out walls anymore," said
antiquities conservator Jerry Podany. "We simply measure up from the floor,
measure over from one of the adjoining halls, and we are in a very close
proximity to a set of holes in the beams. Those can take an enormous amount
of weight. And the cases can be bolted to the walls."

On the case

CUSTOM-DESIGNED bronze and glass exhibit cases at the Villa may look simple,
but they are loaded with technical wonders. Internal environmental controls
create microclimates suited to each material — dry for metal and humid for
clay. "The metals we keep as low as possible; most of them hover around 18%
or 20% relative humidity," Podany said. "The organic materials are buffered
at 50%." Fiber-optic lighting provides dramatic illumination for the ancient
artworks without potentially destructive heat or color distortion. Crystal
clear, nonreflective, low-iron security glass provides a high level of
safety in walls that all but disappear.

Feeling the earth move

SEISMIC isolators are hidden in the bases of large sculptures and
particularly fragile objects likely to topple in an earthquake. Featuring a
complex stabilization system, the isolators can absorb up to 80% of ground
movement while allowing the artworks to remain relatively still. Getty
conservators and mount makers — who pioneered the development of the
devices, now widely used in museums in earthquake-prone territories —
created new isolator bases for more than a dozen works on display at the
Villa. Some bases are bolted directly to the floor; others are sandwiched
between display cases and pedestals, which are attached to the floor. The
largest isolator base, measuring 55 inches by 77 inches, protects the three
large terra cotta figures of "Seated Poet and Sirens."

Explanations with ease

THE new labeling system designed for artworks displayed in cases at the
Villa's Roman-style museum provides maximal information with minimal
clutter. "We were very concerned about having as clean a display area as
possible," said acting antiquities curator Karol Wight. Instead of tagging
each item with a number or letter and expecting visitors to find a
corresponding block of text, exhibition designers devised a new system and
tested it at the Getty Center museum. A single panel mounted under each case
offers an easily identifiable icon of each piece with a brief description,
including date, material, iconography and function.

— S.M.

*

Getting into the Villa

Admission to the Getty Villa is free, but advance, timed tickets are
required and parking costs $7 per car. Tickets are available at
www.getty.eduor by calling (310) 440-7300. 

http://www.calendarlive.com/