Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
We are off on an adventure!!
Time for an adventure, and today is the J. Paul Getty Museum in West Los Angeles.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, with its two main locations, the Getty Center and the Getty Villa, is a renowned art museum in Los Angeles. It’s known for its diverse collections, free admission, and extensive resources for research and conservation. A few trivia points:
The “J” in J. Paul Getty stands for Jean.
The Getty Center was designed by architect Richard Meier.
The Getty is one of the most visited museums in the United States, attracting nearly two million visitors annually.
The museum’s collections include European paintings, sculpture, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, and photographs.
The Getty Center’s travertine was quarried in Rome and is up to 10 million years old, dating to the Miocene epoch.
The Getty also has an Open Content Program, making over 100,000 images free to download.
The Getty Villa, a Roman-style villa, was modeled after the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum.
The museum was originally established in J. Paul Getty’s ranch house in Pacific Palisades.
The Getty is the world’s wealthiest art institution, operating under the J. Paul Getty Trust.
Van Gogh’s “Irises” is a notable piece in the Getty Center’s collection.
The museum is much larger than it appears from the freeway.
The museum is huge!
We met Bonnie and her kids there and moseyed around with them.
The kids were always busy!
They have a collection of medieval glassware. “The Joke Glass” is hilarious because you must drink through his nose to get the contents!
This rare glass was designed to be as difficult as possible to drink from without spilling the alcoholic beverage within. The tube attached to the head and terminating in the man’s open nose could serve as a straw. The goal was to amuse the onlookers at the expense of the imbiber: in drinking competitions, the drinker had to guess how to drink from the vessel; if any liquor was spilled, he was required to start again with a full glass.
Called a “joke glass,” this is the world’s only intact example resembling a man. These glasses more commonly took the form of a stag, another animal, a horn, a penis, or a boot. This man’s elaborate decoration in glass and silver is also unusual. Delicate pincered glass thread forms the hat brim, collar, vest, and ribbon trim on the breeches. The plumed hat band, belt, buckle, and sword were added in silver.
You must drink the contents of this glass through his nose!
The gardens were quite amazing in their own right. The Getty Center’s Central Garden, designed by Robert Irwin, is a 134,000-square-foot outdoor sculpture that integrates art and nature. Water is a central element, flowing from a fountain near the restaurant into a stream that cascades down a hillside, eventually reaching a pool with a maze of azaleas. The garden utilizes over 500 plant varieties and features specialty gardens around the pool.
The gardens were spectacular.
I brought the cane JUST IN CASE the sciatica acted up. After walking two miles plus, I was in great shape!
We were warmed up and ready to go!
The plants in the water change frequently and often display different colors depending on the time of year.
The puzzle.
We ambled down to the lower garden and were amazed at the variety of flowers.
The grounds were immaculate
The iron plant holders were as solid as a rock!
Different colors everywhere!
The wispy flower was quite attractive, making you wonder about Mother Nature’s mental stability. Which reminds me, what happens when you cross a dog with a flower?
You get a collie-flower.
Interesting!
Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota), also known as wild carrot, is a plant native to Europe that has become invasive in North America. It’s a biennial herb that grows up to 4 feet tall, with a carrot-like root, fern-like leaves, and white, umbrella-shaped flower clusters. The plant is named after Queen Anne, who was said to have pricked her finger while making lace, leaving a drop of blood on the lace that became the small purple flower in the center of the cluster.
Looks like Queen Anne’s Lace
These flowers were amazing, and they looked like they were awaiting rain to quench their thirst.
The cup runneth over!
The vividness of the colors, even on a grey overcast day, was astonishing.
Here’s looking at you!
At the end of the walk, we had traveled over two and a half miles!
We walked and walked and walked!
Since it was a museum, Mary kept looking for old fossils, and she finally found one!
Yes, it was a Paul-a-saurus Rex!!
We departed at 2:15, thinking we would be at Old Ranch within thirty minutes. WRONG!!! It took almost ninety minutes to make it to Old Ranch (our country club) where we met up with Charlotte. After Charlotte departed, we decided to have dinner and avoid more traffic on the way home. Mary decided to call Vicky and have her join us; the three of us laughed and giggled for another hour or so!
Dinner at Old Ranch!
These two are like a barrel of monkeys! Sit them next to each other and sit back and watch!!
They are fun to be with!!
Departing Old Ranch the traffic on the 22 Freeway was almost nil! We made it home in 18 minutes flat.
We had a lovely day!
