Last week Marchette and I were trying to plan something fun, inexpensive, and mellow. Something other than a night out on the town doing or typical Saturday night thing. She suggested the Getty, and as it's been some time since I have been I thought it was the perfect idea! Yesterday was the day to go and it ended up being perfect. It was a beautiful day (not that we don't usually have them here in sunny so-cal) so I knew it would be great for shooting some nice pictures of the landscaping and architecture.
Something that I love about the Getty is it invokes a sense of simplicity while still paying attention every detail (this museum is detailed very well). Being there reminds me of being in a modern day palace! I love the light color palette, white and sand with metal and glass accents. The travertine square panel system that makes up most of the exterior surfaces total a whopping 1,200,00 sq. ft. Fun fact about the travertine squares: They all resonate sound different, so if you're standing in front of one of the walls you can thump your hand on different squares and they will make different sounds. It's fun :D
One cool piece when you first get off the tram is this sculpture made out of metal tubes. Very fun to photograph. When you stand under it or right next to it has some resemblance of a sail but if you saw it from a distance you may think moth or butterfly. There are some more cool shots of it in my picassa album, which goes for the entire blog entry. I only picked a few pictures to post out of about 150.
Something funny about the Getty is it seems as though a lot of people come just to sit in the gardens, listen to live music and even study! I saw a couple of guys on their MacBooks sitting in the dining terrace. I could see myself doing that. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and its a very relaxing place to be. I actually wish we had spent some more time in the gardens just laying in the grass. The view is also spectacular.
Oh, totally forgot to mention our friend Mica joined us! She got there a bit after us, and by the time she arrived we were both ready for a late lunch. Unfortunately due to our timing both the main cafeteria and the restaurant were closed to we ate at the Garden Terrace Cafe. I had a caesar salad, Marchette had a caprese sandwhich and Mica had some random salad with pistachios and goat cheese. I ended up helping both of them eat theirs after I finished mine. I guess it's justified when my friends call me a hoover vacuum or garbage disposal! LOL!
I think one of my favorite things about the landscaping are all of the water features. They are all differen't and architecturally interesting. Here are a few different water features around the grounds:
We managed to look at everything we wanted to, of course our last stop had to be the Impressionism hall where they have Van Gogh's Iris' and several pieces by Claude Monet. I believe i heard once that the Getty family paid somewhere near 88 million dollars for Iris' back in the 80s! That's crazy money!!! It is a beautiful painting though. The impressionism pieces at the Getty are probably my favorite, followed closely with the pieces (some of the details on the paintings are incredible, they look like photographs!) from the Renaissance era. Lastly the furniture hall with the French Rococo an Neoclassical pieces. Though I have no personal like for traditional furniture, I hold a great detail of respect for the craftsmen who designed them and of course the designers who used the pieces. Though I find traditional spaces generally too ornate, it is beautiful in its own rite.
Overall it was a good afternoon. I highly recommend people visiting Los Angeles to stop by the Getty, and plan on spending AT LEAST 4 hours there. We were there about that long and that was an expedited and speedy visit. It's a huge museum with a ton to see. All art lovers must visit the Getty once in their life! Architects, landscapists, and designers too, it is a must see.
No comments:
Post a Comment