The beautiful and sometimes controversial Getty Villa museum—modeled on the Villa dei Papiri of Herculaneum that was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD—came close last week to meeting a fate worse than its predecessor two weeks ago. The gorgeous building and grounds, and 44,000 Greek and Roman antiquities came under attack by the Pacific Palisades fire (77% contained as I write on 24 January). Wise design features, recent brush-clearing efforts, well-prepared staff, and much good luck are credited with saving the works from the fire that, otherwise, devastated the nearby neighborhood.
I've visited the replica Roman villa three times over the years and have always been thrilled by what feels like passing through a time portal. When I heard about its recent crisis I started looking online to refresh my memories of those visits, and I discovered some World War One material—shown below—that is new to me. Apparently the museum sponsored a centennial program for the war in 2014, so these are probably not on display now. In any case, though, if you're ever in the LA area I would recommend a visit to the Villa, although it's now closed indefinitely. If forced to choose, it's a pleasanter, human-scale experience than the more famous Getty Center in Brentwood and far less arduous to navigate.
Click on Images to Enlarge
The Ribbon of Victory, 1919
Louis Charles Bombled (French, 1862–1927)
Massacre, 1914–16
Henry de Groux (Belgian, 1867–1930)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1917
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880–1938)
Wilhelm's Carousel, 1914
Kazimir Malevich (Russian, 1878–1935)
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