DATE: January 20, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE : A CLASSIC RETURNS, JANUARY 28, 2006 Renovation of the Getty Villa Prepares Cultural Landmark for New Mission

LOS ANGELES—The J. Paul Getty Trust is proud to announce the opening of the Getty Villa in Malibu on Saturday, January 28, 2006. Following a major renovation, this cultural landmark returns with a new mission as an educational center and museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. The Getty Villa will serve a varied audience through the permanent collection, changing exhibitions, conservation, scholarship, research, and public programs. The Getty Villa’s setting, collections, and programs are woven together to create an integrated educational and cultural institution to introduce the public to the arts and cultures of antiquity, foster the study of the classical world and its relation to later cultures, expose a wide audience to great works of art, engage in the conservation of antiquities and train young conservators to care for artifacts and sites around the world, and pursue scholarly research in related areas. It will be a gateway to the classical past for students, scholars, specialized professionals, and general audiences. Admission to the Getty Villa is always FREE. Advance, timed tickets are required and can be obtained online at www.getty.edu, or by phone at 310-440-7300. The ticketing process will allow for a smooth, evenly paced flow of visitors through the intimate setting of the Villa.

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The Getty Villa will open with three inaugural exhibitions. Antiquity & Photography: Early Views of Ancient Mediterranean Sites (January 28–May 1, 2006) presents the efforts of early photographers to record and interpret sites and monuments of the ancient world. This exhibition is sponsored by Merrill Lynch. The Getty Villa Reimagined (January 28–May 8, 2006) traces the vision that guided the development of the renovated site. Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity (January 28–July 24, 2006) celebrates the recent acquisition of the Oppenländer collection of more than 350 pieces of beautiful and rare ancient glass. Bordered by coastal mountains and the Pacific Ocean, the Getty Villa vividly evokes the classical world in both its landscape and architecture. Modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a first-century Roman country house, the original villa building has been renovated and reimagined as an artifact discovered in an archaeological excavation. The Villa’s four gardens and the adjacent grounds are planted with species known from the ancient Mediterranean. With the Getty Villa in Malibu and the in , the Getty will serve audiences from two locations, providing a wider range of exhibitions and programming in the visual arts. The Getty Center will continue to offer visitors what they have come to expect from an institution with broad holdings of art, including European paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture and decorative arts, and European and American photographs. The Getty Villa will focus on the ancient world, housing the J. Paul Getty Museum’s extensive collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, which comprises approximately 44,000 objects. In the Getty Villa renovation, the architects Machado and Silvetti Associates, Inc., along with SPF:architects, the local architects of record, have fused contemporary design ideas and elements with architecture inspired by antiquity. The result is a versatile site that addresses the needs of a modern educational center and museum. Along with decorative detailing based on ancient Roman houses in the towns of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum, they have also incorporated electrical, security and other upgrades as well as custom-built art installation and safety features. These include microclimate environments and steel support and anchor systems hidden in

-more- Page 3 the walls and floors of the galleries that are designed to “invisibly” secure objects weighing up to several thousand pounds. Following the Getty Center’s multifaceted example, the Getty Villa offers facilities for the Getty’s four programs: the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), the Getty Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the (GRI). The renovated site includes the new Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Theater—a dramatic 450-seat outdoor classical theater based on ancient prototypes, where audiences can enjoy classical performances as they were once staged; the 250-seat Auditorium for performances, lectures, and other events; scientific laboratories for conservation analysis and treatment; as well as a newly constructed two-story Office Building, seminar rooms, the UCLA/Getty Classroom, and a reading room. The renovated J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa features over 1,200 antiquities on view in 23 galleries devoted to the permanent collection that are now organized by theme, including Gods and Goddesses, Monsters and Minor Deities, and Stories of the Trojan War. An additional six galleries will present an annual schedule of changing exhibitions, which will include focused shows often featuring works on loan from other national and international institutions. From time to time, these exhibitions will also incorporate objects from the special collections of the Research Library at the GRI and reflect scholarly activities of the Museum, the GRI, and the GCI. In addition, two educational spaces offer alternative ways to engage with art. The Family Forum, a hands-on room for families, features activities that encourage shared learning and discovery, while another interactive installation, the TimeScape Room, focuses on time, place, and artistic style in the ancient Mediterranean. Research and scholarly activities at the Villa will be fueled by the presence of the antiquities collection and the resources of the Research Library at the Villa, which holds about 20,000 volumes related to the ancient world. As is the case with the ongoing scholars program at the Getty Research Institute, the new Villa Scholars Program will have an annual theme that serves as a focus for research and programs. A distinguished figure in the field will be honored as Villa Professor each year and will collaborate with Getty staff responsible for the intellectual direction of the program.

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The Getty Villa is also home to the UCLA/Getty Master's Program on the Conservation of Ethnographic and Archaeological Materials, the first program of its kind in the United States with such a specialized focus. The partnership combines the resources of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and the Getty Conservation Institute, and is closely connected to research activities at the Villa. It is designed to train a new generation of young conservators for the field. The Getty Foundation’s presence will be felt at the Getty Villa through its ongoing support for projects that increase the understanding of the arts and cultures of the ancient world. Grants will continue to be awarded to institutions, researchers, and collaborative teams working in the field to expand the impact of the Getty’s programs at the Villa. Complementing the exhibitions and installations at the Getty Villa are a wide variety of public programs. They include an annual outdoor theater production, staged play readings, musical performances, film screenings, Family Festivals, artist demonstrations, lectures, workshops, and gallery and studio courses. The 64-acre Getty Villa site in Malibu was purchased by J. Paul Getty in 1945. Nine years later, he opened the J. Paul Getty Museum to the public in his Ranch House, where he showcased his collection of art, of which Greek and Roman antiquities were an important element. The original villa was conceived in 1968, based on the Villa dei Papiri, a first-century Roman country house. The villa in Malibu became the new location of the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1974; it closed for renovation six months prior to the opening of the Getty Center in 1997. With the opening of the renovated Getty Villa, the J. Paul Getty Trust’s four programs will serve visitors from two locations: the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Malibu.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Tracy Gilbert Getty Communications Dept. 310-440-7282 [email protected]

The J. Paul Getty Trust is an international cultural and philanthropic institution devoted to the visual arts that features the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Getty Research Institute. The J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs serve a varied audience from two locations: the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Malibu.

Visiting the Getty Villa The Getty Villa is open Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and major holidays. Admission to the Getty Villa is always free. Advance, timed tickets are required for each individual. Tickets can be obtained online at www.getty.edu or by phone at 310-440-7300. Parking is $7 per car. Groups of nine or more must make reservations by phone. For more information, call 310-440-7300 (English or Spanish); 310- 440-7305 (TTY line for the deaf or hearing impaired).

Additional information is available at www.getty.edu.

Sign up for e-Getty at www.getty.edu/subscribe to receive free monthly highlights of events at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa via e-mail, or visit www.getty.edu for a complete calendar of public programs.