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< Film strip showing Captain Nándor Andrásovits from the film The Danube Exodus, 1997, by PÉTER FORGÁCS.

RESEARCH & SCHOLARSHIP

E ve rything we do flows from our re s e a rch and study, and eve rything we offer

promotes that scholarship.The Getty brings together all the elements and

resources needed to generate new knowledge about the visual arts—from the

materials available in our Research Library and special collections to our scholar

p rogr a m s , p u bl i c a t i o n s , e x h i b i t i o n s , c o n f e re n c e s , film scre e n i n g s , and other eve n t s .

By creating a galvanizing platform for intellectual curiosity to thrive, n ew pers p e c -

t ive s and ideas will flouri s h .

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T H E P R I M A R Y S O U R C E——T H E S P E C I A L C O L L E C T I O N S O F T H E R E S E A R C H L I B R A R YAT T H E G E T T Y R E S E A R C H I N S T I T U T E

The Research Library at the Getty Research Institute is one of thelargest art libraries in the world.At its core are special collections ofimportant primary source material such as original documents, per-

sonal notes and letters, prints, rare books, photographs, and sketchb o o k s .This material provides a direct link to the art i s t s , o f f e r-ing re s e a rc h e rs unparalleled insight into their minds,motivations, and environments. In this report period,over 100 bodies of source material were added to thespecial collections of the Research Library through acqui-s i t i o n s and donations.

Among them we re va rious personal objects includinga clothbound Mark Rothko sketchbook (ca. 1 9 3 7 – 3 9 ) ,containing 79 pen-and-ink drawings by this i m p o rt a n tAbstract Expressionist art i s t , and 51 letters by Emil andAda Nolde written between 1921 and 1946.These pri-

vate exchanges touch on the Nazi D e g e n e rate A rt e x h i b i t i o n , which targetedEmil Nolde’s wo r k , and the famous auction of “degenerate art ” f rom Germ a nmuseums held by the Fischer Gallery in Lucerne in 1939.

New acquisitions related to architecture include models and drawingsfor five projects designed in the 1980s and early 1990s by the intern a t i o n a l-ly renowned Austrian architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au. The Gettybecame an important re s o u rce for the study of Le Corbusier with the addi-tion of the Lucien Hervé negative and transparency collection devoted tobuildings by Le Corbu s i e r.The 15,550 negatives and 3,500 color transpare n-cies made by Herv é , the great French architectural photogr a p h e r, d o c u m e n tthe work of one of the most significant architects of the 20th century.

Also of note is the Stephen White Gallery of Photogr a p hy arc h ive (1943–2 0 0 0 ) ,which provides a rich source of information about the modern art formin Los Angeles and in general.White played a seminal role in establishing pho-t ogr a p hy as a fine art , and his arc h ives document the activity of museums andp rivate collectors as the photogr a p hy market deve l o p e d .

Other key additions include a collection of 140 drawings by Antoine-L a u rent Castellan, p roduced during the late 1790s, depicting sites in France,Italy,Turkey, and Spain, and the Halsted B.Vander Poel collection on thehistory of Pompeii, a research library and archive devoted to the historiog-raphy of archaeological investigations of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and theBay of Naples.

A C C E S S T O I N F O R M AT I O N

The Getty’s ability to provide wide and easy access, online and on-site, t om a t e rial in the Research Library ’s special collections is one of its stre n g t h s .C o m p a red to the previous re p o rt peri o d , the overall number of re a d e rsusing the Research Library ’s re s o u rces more than doubled and circ u l a t i o ni n c reased by 12 perc e n t .Walk-in visitors , including members of the gener-al publ i c, rose by 20 perc e n t , and the number of specialized re a d e rs from thescholarly and museum community grew by 70 perc e n t .As more and morepeople have been able to utilize this storehouse of inform a t i o n , i m p o rt a n td i s c ove ries are increasingly being made.

> OPPOSITE PAGE:

TOP. WILLIAM GELL. Sketchbook, ca. 1830.Watercolors and ink. The Halsted B. Vander Poel collection on the history of Pompeii. (GRI)

BOTTOM LEFT. Postcard from Ada Nolde toAlfred Heuer, with Feuertänzerin by Emil Nolde,December 13, 1922 (recto and verso). © Nolde-Stiftung, Seebüll. (GRI)

BOTTOM RIGHT. LUCIEN HERVÉ. Le Corbusier’sShodan House, Ahmedabad, India, 1961. Printfrom original negative. (GRI)

Printed ephemera for exhibitions. Stephen WhiteGallery records, Los Angeles, ca. 1943–2000. Giftof Stephen and Marianne White. (GRI)

At the core of the Research Library at

the Getty Research Institute are special

collections of important primary source

material such as original documents,

personal notes and letters, prints, rare

books, photographs, and sketchbooks.

L O O K I N G F O R C L U E S I N T H E D U V E E N B R O T H E R S R E C O R D S

In 2002, the Getty Research Institute completed the cataloguing of themassive archive of the Duveen Brothers art dealership and its transfer tomore than 450 reels of microfilm. Soon after, the value of this increasedaccessibility became apparent when an enterprising curator from theMuseum made an amazing discovery in the Duveen Brothers records thatled to the reunion of two remarkable ceramic objects—a majolica basinand ewer (or pitcher)—that had been separated for more than 80 years.

C a t h e rine Hess, associate curator in the department of sculpture and wo r k sof art at the Museum, had turned to documents at the Research Institute totrace the history of a magnificent basin in the Getty collection that was craft-ed at the famed Fontana workshop in Italy in the late 1500s. Based on herpast experi e n c e, Hess suspected that the Getty’s basin had a matching ewe r.She knew that the basin had passed through the Duveen dealership andimmediately set to work looking for clues in the arc h ive.

The celebrated Duveen Brothers dealership operated from 1869 to1964 and was involved in the sale of art to almost every major museum inthe United States and Euro p e.The arc h ive includes rare personal corre-spondence and the firm’s business records. In 1968, the Duveen documentspassed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NewYork with restrictionson its use.Access to the archive was limited for 30 years until its transfer tothe special collections of the Research Library. At the Getty Center, thefragile documents were treated and work began on the archival process thatwould eventually open up the materials to researchers like Hess.

Searching through the Duveen Brothers records, Hess found evidenceof the matching ewer’s existence in the form of a photograph. She alsolearned from the documents that both basin and ewer had indeed enteredthe 20th century together, arriving at the shop of the Duveen Brothers inNewYork in the 1910s. Further investigation brought the surprising reve-lation that the ewer was actually only a few miles away from the GettyCenter—it was bought by Henry E. Huntington in 1926 and put on dis-play at the Huntington Library,Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in

BELOW LEFT. A researcher uses an assignedstudy carrel in the Research Library at the GettyResearch Institute. Photo: Bart Bartholomew

BELOW RIGHT. FONTANA WORKSHOP (possiblyOrazio or Flamino). Basin with Deucalion andPyrrha, ca. 1565–75. Tin-glazed earthenware.(JPGM)

FO N TANA WO R KSHOP ( p ossibly Orazio or Flamino).Ewer, ca. 1565–75. Tin-glazed earthenware.(The Huntington Library, Art Collections, andBotanical Gardens, San Marino, California)

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CORNELIUS JACOBUS VAN OECKELEN.Android Clarinetist, 1838. Mixed media.(Courtesy of the John Gaughan collection)

San Mari n o.With documentary evidence from the Duveen Bro t h e rs re c o rd s,Hess approached the Huntington and, b e f o re long, the pair of precious objectswas reunited for six months at the Getty Center.

The Getty has deposited microfilm copies of the Duveen Bro t h e rsre c o rds in the Watson Library of the Metropolitan Museum of A rt , the Wi t tL i b r a ry of the Courtauld Institute of A rt in London, and the Institut nationald ’ H i s t o i re de l’Art in Pa ri s . So in time, the arc h ive will surely yield morei n t e resting discove ri e s .

R E S E A R C H E X H I B I T I O N S

On the last day of the Research Institute exhibition Devices of Wonder:Fromthe World in a Box to Images on a Screen, the line of people waiting to takeone last look was so long that the show’s curator could barely get inside.By the close of the show, a total of 165,844 visitors had come to see thedisplay that explored our fascination with the artful instruments and mag-ical technologies that alter our perception of the world.

The Research Institute presents about three exhibitions a ye a r. Devices ofWo n d e r was by far the largest ever initiated, i nvolving more than 350 objectsdating from the 17th century to the pre s e n t . M a ny of the pieces, i n c l u d i n goptical dev i c e s ,b o o k s ,m a nu s c ri p t s ,p ri n t s , l e t t e rs , and games,came from the spe-c i a l collections of the Research Library.

The exhibition traced the ancestry of contemporary gadgets like pers o n-a l digital assistants and talking robotic toys, and featured a display of historiczoetropes, magic lanterns, and panoramas that are precursors to modern-day cinema and virtual reality. Another highlight, the Wunderkabinett(cabinet of wonders)—a 16th-century collection of specimens housed in acabinet for study and delight—suggested the ori gins of the computer,with itsdata storage functions.

In bri n ging together hundreds of art i facts related tomodes of perc e p t i o n , the exhibition created a history ofvisual thinking, illustrating how technology continu e sto mediate our interaction with the wo r l d .

Virtual Life

Devices of Wo n d e r reached audiences outside the GettyCenter via an online interactive ve rsion of the show,ava i l a ble on w w w. g e t t y. e d u , which allowed visitors to“ o p e r a t e ” objects that we re too fragile to be handled inthe e x h i b i t i o n . The cutting-edge Web pre s e n t a t i o ne a rn e d the Getty site a coveted We b by Awa rd in 2001. Within just a fewmonths after its launch, the online exhibition re gi s t e red nearly 70,000 visits,ave r a ging over 800 per day from visitors eager to explore the wo n d ro u sworld of these futuristic machines from the past. Still accessibl e, the onlineve rsion of Devices of Wo n d e r has expanded the reach of the pre s e n t a t i o nb eyond its showing at the Getty Center and will continue to be a lasting anduseful document of the exhibition.

M e x i c o : From Empire to Revo l u t i o n is another Research Institute exhibitionthat has had an extended virtual life on the We b. Launched on w w w. g e t t y. e d uin A p ril 2002, the re s e a rch and educational Web re s o u rc e, based on the exhi-b i t i o n , p rovides a visual chronicle of Mexico from approximately 1857 to1 9 2 3 , o f f e ring re p roductions of cabinet card s , c a rt e s - d e - v i s i t e, a l bu m s , p o s t-c a rd s , and other forms of p h o t ogr a p hy drawn from the collections of the

An online interactive version of

Devices of Wonder allowed visitors to

“operate” objects that were too fragile to be

handled in the exhibition. The cutting-edge

Web presentation earned the Getty site

a coveted Webby Award in 2001.

R e s e a rch Institute. Accompanied by maps, a historical chro n o l og y, and biog-raphies of the photogr a p h e rs re p re s e n t e d , the online re s o u rce interwe ave st wo narr a t ives—the social and cultural history of Mexico and the emerg-ing story of photogr a p hy as a powerful new art form .

N E W C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O G R A M M I N G

The presence of modern art at the Getty has grown with the creation ofthe department of contemporary programming at the Research Institute.The new effort aims to incorporate contemporary art and artists, includ-ing those working in film and video, into the Getty’s programs throughexhibitions, seminars, workshops, conferences, and screenings. This willhelp foster an important link between the art of today and the Getty’sholdings of more traditional works from the past.

On the Record: Art in L.A. 1945—1980

Among the initiatives undert a ken was On the Record : A rt in L.A.1945–1980. Focusing on the pivotal role of Los Angeles in the modern artmovement, the project has been amassing and preserving documents

devoted to the city’s thriving postwar artscene.This period includes the rise of theCalifornia Light and Space movement andsuch notable artists as Ed Ruscha, Billy AlBengston, Robert Irwin, Larry Bell, MariaNordman, and John McCracken.

An extensive survey funded by a Gettygrant was the starting point for this pro j e c t ,which has been working against time to col-lect information from key participants whilet h ey are still alive. It is also fighting to save

i m p o rtant documents before they are lost due to the deteriorating state ofm a ny Los Angeles arc h ives suffering from a lack of funds or other re s o u rc e s .

The oral history project was one of the first ideas implemented to helpidentify and interv i ew leading figures of the postwar Los Angeles art wo r l d .The inaugural oral history eve n t , held in 2003, f e a t u red two days of in-depthi n t e rv i ews and a public conve rsation with artist Fre d e rick Hammers l ey andmuseum professionals Walter Hopps, H e n ry Hopkins, and James Byrn e s .

I N T E G R AT E D P R O G R A M M I N GThe increased focus on contemporary art complements the Getty’s effortsto develop programs that are integrated across disciplines and departments,involving artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, students, cura-t o rs , c o n s e rva t o rs , h i s t o ri a n s , and others . By taking a mu l t i faceted appro a c h ,the Research Institute hopes to widen the boundaries of study and re s e a rc hin the arts.

This integrated programming is reflected in a series of events organizedin this report period that examined the work of Harry Smith, the p i o n e e r-i n g , self-taught filmmake r, a n t h ro p o l ogi s t , p a i n t e r, and mu s i c o l ogi s t . Tocelebrate the re s u rrection of Smith’s final epic M a h a g o n ny (sometimes calledFilm No. 18 ), based on the Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, the Research Institute organized a screening,a tribute performance, and a symposium featuring alternative rock icon

The increased focus on contemporary art

co m p l e m e nts the Getty ’s effo rts to develop

p ro g ra m s that are inte g ra ted across disc i p l i n es

and depa rt m e nts, involving artists, writers,

filmmakers, musicians, journalists, students,

curators, conservators, historians, and others.

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Patti Smith, n ove l i s t - c ritic Gary Indiana, and other dive rse vo i c e s . M a h a g o n ny,a four-screen projection incorporating a variety of film genres, had beenshown only a few times in the early 1980s. It includes portraits of avant-garde figures such as Allen Ginsberg, along with images of RobertMapplethorpe installation pieces, NewYork landmarks, and Smith’s vision-ary animation.

This mix of activities re p resented one of the Getty’s most ambitiousattempts to span media and bring together a wide range of pers p e c t ive s .T h eH a rry Smith events not only re n ewed interest in the under-re c og n i z e dA m e rican artist but also expanded the Getty’s core visual arts audience toencompass film enthusiasts, d evotees of folk and rock mu s i c, and followe rs ofs p o ken wo rd .

C Y C L E S O F L E A R N I N G The Research Institute’s va rious efforts are designed to foster a continu o u scycle of learn i n g : an acquisition might inspire a new exhibition, launching as e ries of related events that could give rise to a new topic of interest and an ew scholar year theme. R e s e a rch findings based on that theme might thenbe published in a book that would come full circle to the shelves of theR e s e a rch Library, ready to spark another wave of intellectual curi o s i t y.

Tracing the 2001—02 scholar year theme “Frames of Viewing:Perception, Experience, Judgment”

The ori gins of the Research Institute’s 2001–02 scholar year theme—“Frames of V i ew i n g : Pe rc e p t i o n , E x p e ri e n c e, Judgment”—can be traced to1 9 9 3 . The Institute had acquired a pre-cinema collection belonging toexperimental filmmaker Werner Nekes that contained an assortment ofpopular optical games including anamorphic picture s , 1 8 t h - c e n t u ry papert h e a t e rs , and a French camera obscura dating from about 1750.The quirkyobjects inspired the idea for the major exhibition Devices of Wo n d e r, w h i c hin turn led to the formulation of the “Frames of V i ew i n g ” t h e m e.

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LEFT. Writer Gary Indiana speaks at the Getty’ssymposium “Investigating Mahagonny,” May 2002.

RIGHT. Film still from HARRY SMITH’s Mahagonny,1970–80. (Courtesy of Harry Smith Archives andAnthology Film Archives)

T h i rt y - t h ree residential scholars from around the world came to the GettyCenter to expand on that theme.The wide range of topics reflected the va r-ied backgrounds of the scholars—a professor of neuro b i o l ogy from UCLA’sSchool of Medicine included the study of multiple-frame imaging in hisp ro j e c t , while a re s e a rch fellow in philosophy from Queen’s College in theUnited Kingdom focused on the nature of pictorial art , and a professor ofl i t e r a ry theory from the Unive rsity of A m s t e rdam explored the concept of“ f r a m i n g ” in cultural analysis.

To support the work of scholars , the Research Institute builds a calendarof va rious events around each ye a r ’s theme. In this re p o rt peri o d , one of thekey programs related to the “Frames of V i ew i n g ” theme was “Seeing Rothko,”

a two - d ay conference that brought Gettys c h o l a rs together with Rothko histori a n s ,c ri t i c s , and curators to examine the art i s t ’sworks in relation to the viewe r ’s perc e p t i o nand aesthetic experi e n c e.

On day one, participants we re offere dthe unique opportunity to hold discussionssurrounded by eight magnificent Rothkopaintings in a gallery at the Museum ofContemporary Art in Los Angeles. Theimpact of seeing the works up close andd i rectly relating them to the debates was enor-m o u s . For day two, participants gathered atthe Getty Center to study a group ofn ewly acquired Rothko documents in theResearch Library’s special collections, thistime examining the background to the cre-ation of Rothko ’s wo r k s .

The “Seeing Rothko ” c o n f e rence con-cluded with a conve rsation among art i s t sL a rry Bell,M a ry Cors e, and Philip Taafe thatwas open to a large audience of art studentsf rom area unive rs i t i e s . The event sparked al ively exchange of ideas and offered new ands u rp rising accounts of Rothko ’s influenceon the California Light and Space artists ofthe 1960s.These new findings will be share din the Research Institute publication S e e i n gR o t h k o,which will become part of the body

of knowledge gained from the “Frames of V i ew i n g ” scholar year theme.

Tracing the 2002—03 scholar year theme “Biography”

The Research Institute’s 2002–03 scholar year theme “ B i ogr a p hy ” was deve l-oped through a different path.H u n g a rian artist Péter Fo r g á c s , one of Euro p e ’sb e s t - k n own independent film and video art i s t s , had come to the Getty as ascholar with the idea of turning his awa rd-winning film The Danube Exodusinto a CD-ROM.Working with the Institute and the Labyrinth Project (aresearch initiative on interactive narrative at the University of SouthernCalifornia’s Annenberg Center for Communication), Forgács’ project soond eveloped into a multidimensional time and space exhibition that launchedthe “Biography” theme.

LEFT. Getty scholar Dennis L. Sepperexamines Research Library special collec-tions materials during a viewing for the“Seeing Rothko” symposium.

RIGHT. MARK ROTHKO. Sketchbook, late1930s. © 2000 Kate Rothko Prizel andChristopher Rothko/Artist’s Rights Society(ARS), New York. (GRI)

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The Research Institute’s various efforts

are designed to foster a continuous cycle

of learning: an acquisition might inspire a

new exhibition, launching a series of related

events that could give rise to a new topic

of interest and a new scholar year theme.

In his wo r k ,Forgács re o rchestrates amateur foundfootage into new narratives, often combining themwith public images from newsreels and politicalpropaganda to expose the “schizophrenic” splitbetween private and public lives. For his exhibitionThe Danube Exodus:The Rippling Currents of the Rive r,Forgács used footage shot by Nándor Andrásovits, ariverboat captain who documented his voyagesalong the Danube as he ferried Jewish and Germanrefugees fleeing in opposite directions to avoid theonslaught of World War II. Featuring three interre-lated life stories—the Jews, the Germans, and thecaptain himself—the interactive installation invitedvisitors to touch screens to experience history asstreams of moments and memories, freely goingback and forth between the parallel lives.The exhi-bition attracted crow d s , including surv ivo rs of theexodus who came to see their stories retold in a mixe d -media biographical epic quite unlike anything else.

The Danube Exodus exhibition at the Researc hInstitute provided an interesting pers p e c t ive for the31 residential scholars who had come to the GettyCenter to work on projects based on the “ B i ogr a p hy”t h e m e. Among the topics examined we re a biogr a p hy of Ray Eames, a historyof New York City’s East Village art scene during the 1980s, and a re eva l u a-tion of port r a i t u re ’s relationship to biogr a p hy, with a focus on self-port r a i t scommissioned by women in 18th-century France.

Section of the Danube river in Danubius Pannonico-mysicus by Luigi Ferdinando Marsili, vol. 1, pl. 4, TheHague, 1726. Engraving. (GRI)

Artist Péter Forgács (far left) demonstrates his “orchestrations” for the Getty Research Institute’sinteractive installation The Danube Exo d u s : Th eRippling Cu r re nts of the Rive r. Photo: Laurel Almerinda