Episodes

Microchip processing plants, space training centers, and abandoned bunkers. These are just a few of the subjects represented in the work of British artists and twin sisters Jane and Louise Wilson. The Wilsons create captivating and ethereal photographs, videos, and installations of landscapes and architectural spaces that reveal layered narratives of history and mankind. In this episode, the Wilsons share how they began collaborating amidst an emerging London art scene and discuss significant wo...

Lighting in museums has long been a contentious subject among museum conservators. A gallery with too much light often causes long-term damage to artwork on display, while a gallery with too little light creates a poor experience for visitors. The balance is fine and often subjective. In this episode, David Saunders, an expert in the area of conservation science, discusses the history of and advances in museum conservation and lighting. Currently a Getty Rothschild Fellow, Saunders is former pri...

In the second half of a two-part conversation, we hear from John Adams, composer of the Art + Ideas theme music, about key compositions throughout his career as well as upcoming work for the San Francisco Opera. Adams talks about his literary inspirations, how a meeting with Peter Sellars lead him to compose his first opera, and why he doesn’t have an assistant.

In the first half of a two-part conversation, we hear from John Adams, composer of the Art + Ideas theme music, about his early days and compositions. Adams talks about his childhood in New England, musical education, experiments in electronic music, and influential move to California.

Peruvian-born writer Mario Vargas Llosa published a book titled "Notes on the Death of Culture: Essays on Spectacle and Society" in which he traces the development and what he sees as the decline of culture in modern society. In this episode, Vargas Llosa discusses this, as well his past work, his influences, and his forthcoming book on classic liberalism. Vargas Llosa is the 2010 Nobel laureate in literature and the co-recipient of the 2017 J. Paul Getty Medal, an award that honors extraordinar...

Between 1910 and 1915, Russian painters and poets invented an experimental language called "zaum," which emphasizes sound and is characterized by indeterminacy in meaning. These artists used "zaum" to create handmade artists’ books that are meant to be read, seen, and heard. Nancy Perloff, author of "Explodity: Sound, Image, and Word in Russian Futurist Book Art," takes us to the archives at the Getty Research Institute to examine two fascinating "zaum" futurist books and to discuss a number of ...

The Central Library in downtown Los Angeles is an iconic architectural landmark with high open ceilings, remarkable murals, and a striking façade. Kenneth Breisch, author of "The Los Angeles Central Library: Building an Architectural Icon, 1872–1933," discusses the extensive development of the library over the course of several decades, from its founding as a private library association to the construction and design of the beloved building that still stands today. Breisch is associate professor...

In 2007 an English family decided to sell a small painting in their collection: an image of a man laughing with a label featuring the name Rembrandt. The work was initially attributed to a contemporary of Rembrandt, but scholarly analysis and scientific testing determined that it was indeed a Rembrandt. We visit the painting in the Getty Museum’s galleries with Anne Woollett, curator of paintings at the Getty, who reveals the mystery and magic behind this endearing self-portrait by one of the mo...

Now recognized as the ancestor of modern chemistry, alchemy is a mysterious and often misunderstood blend of science, philosophy, and spirituality. Alchemists were notorious for making artificial gold, but their impact extended far beyond their desire for noble metals. David Brafman, associate curator of rare books and curator of "The Art of Alchemy" at the Getty Research Institute, discusses how this medieval magic has had an enduring influence on scientific and artistic culture.

"India's history is a curiously unpeopled place. As usually told it has dynasties, epochs, religions, and castes—but not that many individuals,” Sunil Khilnani writes in his book "Incarnations: India in Fifty Lives." In "Incarnations," also released as a BBC radio series and podcast, Khilnani explores how the lives of fifty Indians across 2,500 years have shaped India’s history as we know it. We hear from Khilnani about a few of these figures, including the Buddha, poet Mirabai, and filmmaker Sa...

At the Salon of 1882, just one year before his death, Édouard Manet exhibited a painting depicting the actress and model Jeanne Demarsy. This portrait of a chic young woman holding a parasol against a background of lush foliage is viewed as a testament to Manet’s command of color and brushwork, and was one of the few resounding public and critical successes of his career. Scott Allan, associate curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum, takes us to the Getty’s galleries where the painting...

The Roman Empire’s rich and multifaceted visual culture is a manifestation of the sprawling geography of its provinces. In 2011 through the Getty Foundation’s Connecting Art Histories initiative, a group of twenty international scholars began a multi-year research seminar to study, discuss, and ponder the nature and development of art and archaeology in the Roman provinces. Their compelling research resulted in a book titled "Beyond Boundaries: Connecting Visual Cultures in the Provinces of Anci...

In a four-part series, we’ll explore architect Frank Gehry’s Los Angeles and how his practice has evolved during his seventy years as an Angeleno. In this last conversation of the series, Gehry talks about projects, past and present, in three cities: Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles. We learn about his inspiration for the Walt Disney Concert Hall and for a forthcoming performance space in Berlin named after Pierre Boulez. He also recounts the trials and tribulations he encountered while working...

In 1427 Renaissance manuscript illuminator and panel painter Giovanni di Paolo completed one of his most important commissions: an altarpiece for the Branchini family chapel in the church of San Domenico in Siena, Italy. The polyptych was disbanded, likely in the fifteenth century. The Getty exhibition "The Shimmer of Gold: Giovanni di Paolo in Renaissance Siena" unites several panels of the remarkable altarpiece for the first time since its dispersal. In this episode, we visit the galleries wit...

André Malraux, the French novelist, minister of cultural affairs, and art theorist, published his seminal book "Le Musée imaginaire" in the early 1950s. In "The Book on the Floor: André Malraux and the Imaginary Museum," art historian Walter Grasskamp takes Malraux’s work as a launching point to explore Malraux and his contemporary André Vigneau, the early history of the illustrated art book, and how Malraux’s vision for a “museum without walls” anticipated a new approach to art history that was...

In Fall 2017, the Getty will present Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a regional exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. In a three-part series, we hear about the development of one of the Getty exhibitions that is part of this initiative, a show featuring postwar abstract art from Argentina and Brazil from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection. In this episode, we talk with Pia Gottschaller, senior research specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute, and...

In a four-part series, we’ll explore architect Frank Gehry’s Los Angeles and how his practice has evolved during his seventy years as an Angeleno. The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao are iconic buildings that redefined Gehry’s work. Gehry recounts his memories of designing and building these complex structures and shares how he became associated with the urban phenomenon known as the Bilbao effect.

In the early 1960s, Italian fisherman found a remarkable bronze sculpture in the depths of the Adriatic Sea. Statue of a Victorious Youth, also referred to as the "Getty Bronze,” is one of the few life-size Greek bronzes to have survived its time, revealing much information about ancient bronze casting. But the bronze also inspires endless questions: Who is the subject? Where did he come from? And where are his feet? Tim Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum; Charles Ray, Los Angeles-based...

In Fall 2017, the Getty will present Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, a regional exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles. In a three-part series, we hear about the development of one of the Getty exhibitions that is part of this initiative, a show featuring postwar abstract art from Argentina and Brazil from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection. In this first conversation, Tom Learner, head of science, and Pia Gottschaller, senior research specialist, at the...

Technological advances in mid-19th century France saw a proliferation of black drawing media, which gave rise to unprecedented experimentation in drawing and printmaking. This episode explores the Getty exhibition "Noir: The Romance of Black in 19th-century French Drawings and Prints" with curator Lee Hendrix, who discusses how a group of artists drew inspiration from the color black, with all of its imaginative and narrative associations.

In a four-part series, we’ll explore architect Frank Gehry’s Los Angeles and how his practice has evolved during his seventy years as an Angeleno. We continue our conversation by delving into hallmark projects from the 1970s and ‘80s, including Gehry’s own provocative home, his first experiments in furniture design, and his work on two LA landmarks, the Hollywood Bowl and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. The episode concludes with an account of Gehry’s trip to Japan to accept the Pritzker Prize ...

The Mogao Grottoes are a series of 492 caves carved into a cliff face near the city of Dunhuang, a central stop along the fabled Silk Road in northwestern China. Since 1989, the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) and the Dunhuang Academy have worked together to preserve and protect these cave temples, which constitute one of the world’s most significant sites of Buddhist art. Neville Agnew, head of the GCI’s Dunhuang initiative; Lori Wong, principal project specialist at the GCI; Susan Whitfield...

Through remarkable archaeological excavations, Valerie Hansen, author of "The Silk Road: A New History," pieces together the dynamic and complicated history of the Silk Road. Hansen discusses the impact of micro exchanges along these prolific trade routes, the cultural and historical significance of coins, and what she refers to as the “time capsule of Silk Road history,” the Mogao caves at Dunhuang. Hansen is professor of history at Yale University, where she teaches Chinese and world history.

David Tudor (1926–1996) was an American pianist and composer of experimental music who was a leading interpreter of piano compositions by John Cage and musical director for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Guided by Getty Research Institute (GRI) curator, Nancy Perloff, and deputy director, Andrew Perchuk, we dig into the GRI's David Tudor archives, a collection of scores, notes, preparatory performance materials, correspondence, printed matter, and more than 500 audiotapes.