The Getty Museum And Napoleon Xvi
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The Getty Museum and Napoleon XIV
When I stepped off the bus and began walking up the stairs out of the parking structure, I was excited to notice that we would be taking a tram up the hill to the Getty. The trams appearance surprised me because it did not fit my common perception of classical art museums; every other time I had visited a museum of classical art, everything surrounding the artwork appeared to be just as old as the art itself. The tram was white and very futuristic in design, and reminded me of Tomorrow Land at Disneyland because it was similar to some of the attractions featured there. The tram began its way up the unappealing hillside featuring Californias natural vegetation, chaparral. Looking outside of the windows, I noticed a view of the 405 freeway, one of Los Angeles treasures. The view of the freeway gave the impression that the journey would be an escape from the hectic life that most of us live. The principal architect, Richard Meier, chose to not allow visitors to drive up to the Getty so they could witness the gradual transformation of the dry uninhabited surrounding area, into his fabulous oasis that is the Getty Museum. All artists are proud of their respective creations, and I do not think Meier was any different.
The moment the tram began to approach the Getty Museum, I was taken a back from its astounding architectural beauty. I was expecting to go to the museum and see works of art inside, but the entire museum seemed to be a work of art itself. The architecture was magnificent, yet derived its splendor from mere simplicity. The exterior walls, pillars, and even fire hydrants of this huge museum were exceptionally clean and appealing to the eye. I looked around and noticed that everything was mostly white. The white travertine walls made me think of natural beauty, beauty not altered for the eye, and the whole place gave me a sense of serenity and pride. “Meier chose stone for this project because it is often associated with public architecture and expresses qualities the Getty Center celebrates: permanence, solidity, simplicity, warmth, and craftsmanship” according to the Getty webpage. Travertine is a very beautiful and sturdy material to have created the buildings with, and is shows that Meier wished for this masterpiece to withstand time. The Gettys style and theme is very modern and innovative. There was also an incredible amount of wide open space throughout the outer parts of the museum, which left adequate room for the imagination. The amount of open space symbolized the way our minds should be when we enter this museum to examine the art. In order to get into a paintings true meaning, we must first open our minds and clear thoughts of any previous conceptions of art. The museums expansive area allowed visitors to experience the natural beauty of the spans of land untainted by the commercialization of the Los Angeles area.
Windows and natural light are major elements of this museum as well. The Gettys many windows grabbed my attention, and drew interest to the outside because they were very large. The windows were well crafted and presented as works of art as well, filling the open space of walls not occupied by paintings. Meier may have created this effect to not let the visitors forget about his outer masterpiece. Furthermore, the windows in the lobby also appropriated an incredible amount of natural light that gave the central plaza a warm and inviting feel. Up above, there were also skylights that brought in sunrays that reflected in the shine of the marble, although they were well equipped with filters to block out rays that are harmful to the artwork within. Outside, the shapes of the buildings were all geometrical in design. The sharp edges of the buildings and the odd shapes of some of them were constitutive of the Gettys structural design. The buildings were separated very clearly into wings, illustrating the different times and countries from which pieces of art were born. This organization was very precise, and is typical of a very detail oriented curator.
The museum is also home to the amazing Getty Gardens. The gardens are magnificent, even though I visited during a dry and cool January. The gardens lie to the far west of the grounds, and offer a chance for visitors to step outside of the interior parts of the museum and relax from analyzing art all day. The gardens also gave me a chance to enjoy the simplistic radiance of Mother Nature. While walking through the gardens it was difficult to not notice the words “Always changing, never twice the same,” engraved on the marble floor. This phrase suggested that natural beauty featured is constantly transforming through this living work of art. The gardens were created as another piece of the large puzzle that is the Getty. The museum was an arrangement of many different forms of art conjoined together to create one masterpiece, and a place where everything that one views was art.
After indulging in the gardens and taking in all the art of the outer parts of the Getty, I went inside the buildings to search for my painting. The interior design of the entrance to the South Pavilion was very similar to that of the Central Plaza, covered in white travertine, and continued the overall theme of simplistic art. The South Pavilion was complete with numerous protective windows to illuminate the many hidden angles of the portraits, allowing visitors to see deep inside the artists conceptions. However, as I walked further inside the building, I noticed that there was Seventeenth Century French influence on the dД©cor of this section of the museum. The dД©cor of these rooms suggested that the artists of this time lived, and created the paintings featured during the Seventeenth Century. The walls were painted in burgundy and were draped in meticulously embroidered tapestries. I noticed that the tapestries were classy, and were much different than what I observed on the outer architecture. The tapestries were all very colorful, as were the walls, and subtlety added extra flair to the already vibrant room. The South Pavilion also featured numerous, elegant antique French pieces of furniture and gave the feeling of a very aristocratic living room. I began searching through the room and examined some of the paintings, but none of the paintings reached out to me. I began walking to the main entrance of the South Pavilion, when I saw the most gripping painting I have ever seen. I knew I found the work of art for me, because the majesty of this piece would not allow my eyes to stray from it.
The painting, Louis XIV, was created in 1701 by Hyacinthe Rigaud. The image was produced with oil paints on canvas, but deceived the eye in that it was amazingly lifelike. This painting