Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
bgcolour	#6495ED
name	J. M. W. Turner
birth date	April 23, 1775
birth place	Covent Garden, London, England
death date	December 19, 1851
death place	Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London, England
nationality	English
field	Painting
training	Royal Academy of Art
movement	Romanticism
inspired by	Dutch artists
influenced	}}

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775–19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. He is commonly known as "the painter of light" and his work regarded as a Romantic preface to Impressionism.

Early life

Turner was born in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London, England. His father, William Turner (1738–7 August 1829), was a barber and wig maker. His mother, Mary Marshall, became increasingly mentally unstable, possibly due in part to the early death of Turner's younger sister, Mary Ann Turner, in 1786. Mary Marshall died in 1804, after having been committed in 1799 to St Luke's Hospital and then to the Bethlem Royal Hospital, a mental asylum otherwise known as "Bedlam".

Possibly due to the load placed on the family by these problems, the young Turner was sent to stay with his maternal uncle, Joseph Mallord William Marshall, in Brentford in 1785, which was then a small town west of London on the banks of the River Thames. It was here that he first expressed an interest in painting. A year later he attended a school in Margate on the north-east Kent coast. By this time he had created many drawings, which his father exhibited in his shop window.

He entered the Royal Academy of Art schools in 1789, when he was only 14 years old, and was accepted into the academy a year later. Sir Joshua Reynolds, president of the Royal Academy, chaired the panel that admitted him. At first Turner showed a keen interest in architecture but was advised to continue painting by the architect Thomas Hardwick (junior). A watercolour by Turner was accepted for the Summer Exhibition of 1790 after only one year's study. He exhibited his first oil painting in 1796, ''Fishermen at Sea'', and thereafter exhibited at the academy nearly every year for the rest of his life.

Career

Turner travelled widely in Europe, starting with France and Switzerland in 1802 and studying in the Louvre in Paris in the same year. He also made many visits to Venice. On a visit to Lyme Regis, in Dorset, England, he painted a stormy scene (now in the Cincinnati Art Museum).

Important support for his work also came from Walter Ramsden Fawkes, of Farnley Hall, near Otley in Yorkshire, who became a close friend of the artist. Turner first visited Otley in 1797, aged 22, when commissioned to paint watercolours of the area. He was so attracted to Otley and the surrounding area that he returned to it throughout his career. The stormy backdrop of ''Hannibal Crossing The Alps'' is reputed to have been inspired by a storm over Otley's Chevin while Turner was staying at Farnley Hall.

Turner was also a frequent guest of George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont at Petworth House in West Sussex and painted scenes that Egremont funded taken from the grounds of the house and of the Sussex countryside, including a view of the Chichester Canal. Petworth House still displays a number of paintings.

Style

Turner's talent was recognised early in his life. Financial independence allowed Turner to innovate freely; his mature work is characterised by a chromatic palette and broadly applied atmospheric washes of paint. According to David Piper's ''The Illustrated History of Art'', his later pictures were called "fantastic puzzles." However, Turner was still recognised as an artistic genius: the influential English art critic John Ruskin described Turner as the artist who could most "stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of Nature." (Piper 321)

Suitable vehicles for Turner's imagination were to be found in the subjects of shipwrecks, fires (such as the burning of Parliament in 1834, an event which Turner rushed to witness first-hand, and which he transcribed in a series of watercolour sketches), natural catastrophes, and natural phenomena such as sunlight, storm, rain, and fog. He was fascinated by the violent power of the sea, as seen in ''Dawn after the Wreck'' (1840) and ''The Slave Ship'' (1840).

Turner's major venture into printmaking was the ''Liber Studiorum'' (Book of Studies), a set of seventy prints that the artist worked on from 1806 to 1819. The ''Liber Studiorum'' was an expression of his intentions for landscape art. Loosely based on Claude Lorrain's ''Liber Veritatis'' (Book of Truth), the plates were meant to be widely disseminated, and categorised the genre into six types: Marine, Mountainous, Pastoral, Historical, Architectural, and Elevated or Epic Pastoral. His printmaking was a major part of his output, and a whole museum is devoted to it, the Turner Museum in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1974 by Douglass Montrose-Graem to house his collection of Turner prints.

Turner placed human beings in many of his paintings to indicate his affection for humanity on the one hand (note the frequent scenes of people drinking and merry-making or working in the foreground), but its vulnerability and vulgarity amid the 'sublime' nature of the world on the other hand. 'Sublime' here means awe-inspiring, savage grandeur, a natural world unmastered by man, evidence of the power of God–a theme that artists and poets were exploring in this period. The significance of light was to Turner the emanation of God's spirit and this was why he refined the subject matter of his later paintings by leaving out solid objects and detail, concentrating on the play of light on water, the radiance of skies and fires. Although these late paintings appear to be 'impressionistic' and therefore a forerunner of the French school, Turner was striving for expression of spirituality in the world, rather than responding primarily to optical phenomena.

His early works, such as ''Tintern Abbey'' (1795), stayed true to the traditions of English landscape. However, in ''Hannibal Crossing the Alps'' (1812), an emphasis on the destructive power of nature had already come into play. His distinctive style of painting, in which he used watercolour technique with oil paints, created lightness, fluency, and ephemeral atmospheric effects.

One popular story about Turner, though it likely has little basis in reality, states that he even had himself "tied to the mast of a ship in order to experience the drama" of the elements during a storm at sea.

In his later years he used oils ever more transparently, and turned to an evocation of almost pure light by use of shimmering colour. A prime example of his mature style can be seen in ''Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway'', where the objects are barely recognizable. The intensity of hue and interest in evanescent light not only placed Turner's work in the vanguard of English painting, but later exerted an influence upon art in France, as well; the Impressionists, particularly Claude Monet, carefully studied his techniques.

High levels of ash in the atmosphere during 1816 the "Year Without a Summer", led to unusually spectacular sunsets during this period, and were an inspiration for some of Turner's work.

John Ruskin says in his "Notes" on Turner in March 1878, that an early patron, Dr Thomas Monro, the Principal Physician of Bedlam, was a significant influence on Turner's style:

His true master was Dr Monro; to the practical teaching of that first patron and the wise simplicity of method of watercolour study, in which he was disciplined by him and companioned by Giston, the healthy and constant development of the greater power is primarily to be attributed; the greatness of the power itself, it is impossible to over-estimate.

On one of his trips to Europe he met the Irish physician Robert James Graves. Graves was travelling in a diligence in the Alps when a man who looked like the mate of a ship got in, sat beside him, and soon took from his pocket a note-book across which his hand from time to time passed with the rapidity of lightning. Graves wondered if the man was insane, he looked, saw that the stranger had been noting the forms of clouds as they passed and that he was no common artist. The two travelled and sketched together for months. Graves tells that Turner would outline a scene, sit doing nothing for two or three days, then suddenly, "perhaps on the third day he would exclaim 'there it is', and seizing his colours work rapidly till he had noted down the peculiar effect he wished to fix in his memory."

The first American to buy a Turner painting was James Lenox of New York City, a private collector. Lenox wished to own a Turner and in 1845 bought one unseen through an intermediary, his friend C. R. Leslie. From among the paintings Turner had on hand and was willing to sell for £500, Leslie selected and shipped the 1832 atmospheric seascape ''Staffa, Fingal's Cave''. Worried about the painting's reception by Lenox, who knew Turner's work only through his etchings, Leslie wrote Lenox that the quality of ''Staffa'', "a most poetic picture of a steam boat" would become apparent in time. Upon receiving the painting Lenox was baffled, and "greatly disappointed" by what he called the painting's "indistinctness". When Leslie was forced to relay this opinion to Turner, Turner said "You should tell Mr. Lenox that indistinctness is my forte." ''Staffa, Fingal's Cave'' is currently owned by the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut.

Personal life

As he grew older, Turner became more eccentric. He had few close friends except for his father, who lived with him for 30 years, eventually working as his studio assistant. His father's death in 1829 had a profound effect on him, and thereafter he was subject to bouts of depression. He never married but had a relationship with an older widow, Sarah Danby. He is believed to have been the father of her two daughters born in 1801 and 1811.

Death

He died in the house of his mistress Sophia Caroline Booth in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea on 19 December 1851. He is said to have uttered the last words "The sun is God" before expiring. At his request he was buried in St Paul's Cathedral, where he lies next to Sir Joshua Reynolds. His last exhibition at the Royal Academy was in 1850.

The architect Philip Hardwick (1792–1870) who was a friend of Turner's and also the son of the artist's tutor, Thomas Hardwick, was in charge of making his funeral arrangements and wrote to those who knew Turner to tell them at the time of his death that, "I must inform you, we have lost him." Other active executors were his cousin and executor, and chief mourner at the funeral, Henry Harpur IV (benefactor of Westminster - now Chelsea & Westminster - Hospital), Revd. Henry Scott Trimmer, George Jones RA and Charles Turner ARA.

Legacy

Turner left a small fortune which he hoped would be used to support what he called "decayed artists". He planned and designed an almshouse for them at Twickenham with a gallery for some of his works. His will was contested and in 1856, after a court battle, part of his fortune was awarded to his first cousins including Thomas Price Turner. Another portion of the money went to the Royal Academy of Arts, which does not now use it for this purpose, though occasionally it awards students the Turner Medal. His collection of finished paintings was bequeathed to the British nation, and he intended that a special gallery would be built to house them. This did not come to pass owing to a failure to agree on a site, and then to the parsimony of British governments. Twenty-two years after his death, the British Parliament passed an Act allowing his paintings to be lent to museums outside London, and so began the process of scattering the pictures which Turner had wanted to be kept together. In 1910 the main part of the Turner Bequest, which includes unfinished paintings and drawings, was rehoused in the Duveen Turner Wing at the Tate Gallery. In 1987 a new wing of the Tate, the Clore Gallery, was opened specifically to house the Turner bequest, though some of the most important paintings in it remain in the National Gallery in contravention of Turner's condition that the finished pictures be kept and shown together. Increasingly paintings are lent abroad, ignoring Turner's provision that they be kept "constantly" in Turner's Gallery. thumb|Turner's 1813 watercolour ''[[Ivybridge|Ivy Bridge'']] After the Turner content was diminished and diluted in the Clore Gallery from c. 2002, in 2010-12 only two of the nine rooms on the main floor were devoted to Turner. The claim that the Tate was fulfilling Turner's wishes was dropped in 1995, when the Charity Commission said that the Turner Bequest had been free of Turner's conditions. This was challenged by Leolin Price QC.

A commemorative stained glass window was added to St. Mary's Church, Battersea between 1976 and 1982. There are statues representing him at St Paul's Cathedral, Victoria & Albert Museum, Royal Academy of Arts and Victoria & Albert Museum. A portrait drawing by Cornelius Varley with his patent graphic telescope (Sheffield Museums & Galleries) was compared with his death mask (National Portrait Gallery, London) by Kelly Freeman at Dundee University 2009-10 to ascertain whether it really depicts Turner (www.faceofturner.com).

The Turner Society was founded by Selby Whittingham at London and Manchester in 1975. After that endorsed the Tate Gallery's Clore Gallery wing as the solution (on the lines of the Duveen wing of 1910), to the controversy of what should be done with the Turner Bequest, Selby Whittingham resigned from that and founded the Independent Turner Society.

A prestigious annual art award, the Turner Prize, created in 1984, was named in Turner's honour, and twenty years later the Winsor & Newton Turner Watercolour Award was founded.

A major exhibition, "Turner's Britain", with material (including ''The Fighting Temeraire'') on loan from around the globe, was held at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery from 7 November 2003 to 8 February 2004.

In 2005, Turner's ''The Fighting Temeraire'' was voted Britain's "greatest painting" in a public poll organised by the BBC.

In October 2005 Professor Harold V. Livermore (1914-2010), its owner for 60 years, gave Sandycombe Lodge, the villa at Twickenham which Turner designed and built for himself, to the Sandycombe Lodge Trust to be preserved as a monument to the artist. In 2006 he additionally gave some land to the Trust which had been part of Turner's domaine. The organisation The Friends of Turner's House was formed in 2004 to support it.

In April 2006, Christie's New York auctioned ''Giudecca, La Donna Della Salute and San Giorgio'', a view of Venice exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1841, for US$35.8 million, setting a new record for a Turner. The ''New York Times'' stated that according to two sources who had requested anonymity the buyer was casino magnate Stephen Wynn.

In 2006, Turner's ''Glaucus and Scylla'' (1840) was returned by Kimbell Art Museum to the heirs of John and Anna Jaffe after a Holocaust Claim was made. The painting was repurchased by the Kimbell for $5.7 million at a sale by Christie's in April 2007.

Between 1 October 2007 and 21 September 2008, the first major exhibit of Turner's works in the United States in over forty years came to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Dallas Museum of Art. It included over 140 paintings, more than half of which were from the Tate.

An art gallery known as the Turner Contemporary has been built in Margate to celebrate the association of the artist with the town.

The "Turner and his painters" exhibition (Tate Britain, London, 23 September 2009 to 31 January 2010, Paris, Grand Palais, 22 February to 24 May 2010) retraces and illustrates the development of Turner's very personal vision, through the many chance or deliberate, but always opportune and enriching interaction that influenced his remarkable career. Nearly 100 paintings and other graphic works (studies and engravings) from major British and American collections, as well as the Louvre and the Prado will be on show.

On July 7, 2010, Turner's final painting of Rome, “Modern Rome — Campo Vaccino”, from 1839, was bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum at a Sotheby’s auction in London for $44.9 million. In January 2011 ''The Painter'', a biographical play on his life by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, premiered at the Arcola Theatre in London.

Selected works

1796–''Fisherman at Sea'', oil on canvas, 36 x 48 1/8 in., Tate Gallery, London

1796– circa. ''Fishing Fleet'', oil on canvas, Melbourne, Australia

1799–''Warkworth Castle, Northumberland–Thunder Storm Approaching at Sun-Set'', oil on canvas–Victoria and Albert Museum, London

1806–''The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory'', oil on canvas–Tate Gallery, London

1807–''The Junction of the Thames and the Medway'', oil on canvas–National Gallery of Art, Washington

1812–Snow Storm: ''Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps'', oil on canvas, Tate Gallery, London

1817–''Eruption of Vesuvius'', oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT

1817–''Raby Castle, the Seat of the Earl of Darlington'', oil on canvas, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

1822–''The Battle of Trafalgar'', oil on canvas, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

1826–''Mortlake Terrace, the Seat of William Moffatt, Esq.; Summer's Evening'', oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington

1829–''Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus'', oil on canvas, National Gallery, London

1833–''Rotterdam Ferry Boat'', oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington

1834–''Venice: The Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore'', oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington

1835–''Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight'', oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington

1835–''The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons'', oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

1835–''The Grand Canal, Venice'', oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1838–''The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken up'', oil on canvas, National Gallery, London

1839–''Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino'', oil on canvas, The Getty, Los Angeles.

1839–''The Rape of Proserpine'', oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington

1840–''Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On)'', oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

1840–''Glaucus and Scylla'', oil on canvas, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX

1840–''Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water'', oil on canvas, Clark Art Museum, Williamstown, MA

1843–''The Evening of the Deluge'', oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington

1844–''Approach to Venice'', oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington

1844–''Rain, Steam and Speed–The Great Western Railway'', oil on canvas, National Gallery, London

Date unknown–''Shrimpers, Lyme Regis'', oil on board, National Trust for England and Wales, Nunnington Hall, North Yorkshire, UK

See also

British art

Cloudscape (art)

English school of painting

History of painting

List of British painters

Romanticism

Sketchbook

Theory of Colours

Turner Prize

Western painting

Notes

Bibliography

Anthony Bailey, ''Standing in the Sun: a life of J.M.W.Turner (Sinclair Stevenson, London; HarperCollins, New York. 1997)

James Hamilton, '' Turner'' (New York: Random House, c1997)

A.J.Finberg, '' The Life of J.M.W.Turner, R.A.'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939 and 1961)

Selby Whittingham. '' An Historical Account of the Will of J.M.W.Turner, R.A.'' (J.M.W.Turner, R.A., Publications, London, 1993-6)

Colin Harrison, ''Turner's Oxford'' (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 2000)

Stanley Warburton, ''Discovering Turner's Lakeland'' (Lytham St Annes, 2008)

David Hill, ''Turner and Leeds: Image of Industry'' (Jeremy Mills Publishing, 2008)

External links

J.M.W. Turner's Biography, artwork collection and critical reception

Works at The Athenaeum

www.william-turner.org - The Complete Works

J.M.W. Turner at the National Gallery of Art

Film Threat Documentary Review

The Turner Museum (Sarasota, Fla.)

Katharina Fritsch, The Artist and the Emperor, ''Tate etc.'', Spring 2007

Turner's Journeys of the Imagination

J.M.W. Turner at Olga's Gallery

The Twickenham Museum—J.M.W. Turner

The Independent Turner Society

A A Gill, The Turner Surprise: David Hockney on Turner, ''The Times'', 17 June 2007

Turner Sothebys London to Offer J.M.W. Turners Masterpiece Popes Villa at Twickenham, Artdaily.org, 26 April 2008

Turner painting sold to Getty Museum in Los Angeles for record £29.7m ''The Guardian'', 7 July 2010

Christie's Videos - Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio Joseph Mallord William Turner,RA

Sotheby's Videos - The Temple Of Jupiter Panellenius Joseph Mallord William Turner,RA

Sotheby's Videos - Modern Rome Campo Vaccino and The condition of Modern Rome, Campo Vaccino Joseph Mallord William Turner,RA

Category:1775 births Category:1851 deaths Category:Burials at St Paul's Cathedral Category:English printmakers Category:Landscape artists Category:Marine artists Category:English romantic painters Category:Royal Academicians Category:People from Covent Garden Category:Tate Gallery Category:English watercolourists

af:J.M.W. Turner bg:Джоузеф Търнър ca:Joseph Mallord William Turner cs:William Turner cy:Joseph Mallord William Turner da:J.M.W. Turner de:William Turner el:Τζόζεφ Μάλλορντ Ουίλλιαμ Τέρνερ es:Joseph Mallord William Turner eo:Joseph Mallord William Turner eu:Joseph Mallord William Turner fa:ویلیام ترنر fr:Joseph Mallord William Turner fy:William Turner ga:J. M. W. Turner gd:J. M. W. Turner gl:Joseph Mallord William Turner ko:조지프 말러드 윌리엄 터너 hr:William Turner os:Тёрнер, Джозеф Мэллорд Уильям is:William Turner it:William Turner he:ויליאם טרנר (צייר) ka:უილიამ ტერნერი la:Iosephus Mallord Gulielmus Turner lb:William Turner hu:William Turner ml:ജെ.എം.ഡബ്ൾയൂ. ടേണർ my:တားနား ဂျေ၊ အမ်၊ ဒဗျူ (ခရစ် ၁၇၇၅-၁၈၅၁) nl:William Turner ja:ジョゼフ・マロード・ウィリアム・ターナー no:J.M.W. Turner pl:William Turner pt:William Turner ro:Joseph Mallord William Turner ru:Тёрнер, Уильям simple:J. M. W. Turner sr:Вилијам Тарнер sh:William Turner fi:William Turner (taidemaalari) sv:William Turner th:วิลเลียม เทอร์เนอร์ tr:Joseph Mallord William Turner uk:Вільям Тернер vi:J. M. W. Turner fiu-vro:Turneri Joseph Mallord William zh:约瑟夫·玛罗德·威廉·透纳

William Turner Logan (June 21, 1874 - September 15, 1941) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina.

Born in Summerville, South Carolina, Logan attended the public schools, and was graduated from the College of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1895. He studied law at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. He was admitted to the bar in 1895 and commenced practice in Charleston, South Carolina. He served as member of the State house of representatives 1901-1904. Corporation counsel of Charleston 1914-1918. He served as chairman of the Democratic executive committee of Charleston County 1916-1918. He served as chairman of the city Democratic executive committee 1918-1922 and reelected in 1922.

Logan was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1921-March 3, 1925). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1924. He continued the practice of his profession in Charleston, South Carolina, until his death in that city on September 15, 1941. He was interred in Magnolia Cemetery.

Source

Category:1874 births Category:1941 deaths Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina

de:W. Turner Logan

Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
name	Getty Center
alt	Getty Center Exhibitions Pavilion
established	1997
location	Los Angeles, California
collection	art museum
visitors	1,153,903 for 2009
director	David Bomford (Acting)
publictransit	Metro Rapid Line 761
website	http://www.getty.edu/museum/ }}

The Getty Center, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, is a campus for cultural institutions founded by oilman J. Paul Getty. The $1.3 billion center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles. The center sits atop a hill connected to a visitor's parking garage at the bottom of the hill by a three-car, cable-pulled tram. The center draws 1.3 million visitors annually.

It is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum. This branch of the museum specializes in "pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs". Among the works on display is the painting ''Irises'' by Vincent van Gogh. Besides the museum, the center's buildings house the Getty Research Institute (GRI), the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, and the administrative offices of the J. Paul Getty Trust, which owns and operates the center. The center also has outdoor sculptures displayed on terraces and in gardens. Designed by architect Richard Meier, the campus includes a central garden designed by artist Robert Irwin. GRI's separate building contains a research library with over 900,000 volumes and two million photographs of art and architecture. The center's design included special provisions to address concerns regarding earthquakes and fires.

Location and history

upright|thumb|left|[[United States Geological Survey|USGS satellite image of the Getty Center. The circular building to the left is the Getty Research Institute. The two buildings at the top are the Getty Trust administrative offices and the rest is the museum.]]Originally, the Getty Museum started in J. Paul Getty's house located in Pacific Palisades in 1954. He expanded the house with a museum wing. In the 1970s, Getty built a replica of an Italian villa on his home's property to better house his collection, which opened in 1974. After Getty's death in 1976, the entire property was turned over to the Getty Trust for museum purposes. However, the collection outgrew the site, which has since been renamed the Getty Villa, and management sought a location more accessible to Los Angeles. The purchase of the land upon which the center is located, a campus of on a site in the Santa Monica Mountains above Interstate 405, surrounded by kept in a natural state, was announced in 1983. The site cost $25 million. The top of the hill is above I-405, high enough that on a clear day it is possible to see not only the Los Angeles skyline but also the San Bernardino Mountains to the east as well as the Pacific Ocean to the west.

In 1984, Richard Meier was chosen to be the architect of the center. After an extensive conditional-use permit process, construction by the Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company began in August 1989. The construction was significantly delayed, with the planned completion date moved from 1988 to 1995 (as of 1990). By 1995, however, the campus was described as only "more than halfway complete".

The center finally opened to the public on December 16, 1997. Although the total project cost was estimated to be $350 million as of 1990, it was later estimated to be $1.3 billion. After the center opened, the villa closed for extensive renovations and reopened on January 28, 2006, to focus on the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. Currently, the museum displays collections at both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades.

In 2005, after a series of articles in the ''Los Angeles Times'' about the spending practices of the Getty Trust and its then-president Dr. Barry Munitz, the California Attorney General conducted an investigation of the Getty Trust and found that no laws had been broken. The trust agreed to appoint an outside monitor to review future expenditures. The Getty Trust experienced financial difficulties in 2008 and 2009 and cut 205 of 1,487 budgeted staff positions to reduce expenses. Although the Getty Trust endowment reached $6.4 billion in 2007, it dropped to $4.5 billion in 2009.

Architecture

Meier has exploited the two naturally-occurring ridges (which diverge at a 22.5 degree angle) by overlaying two grids along these axes. These grids serve to define the space of the campus while dividing the import of the buildings on it. Along one axis lie the galleries and along the other axis lie the administrative buildings. Meier emphasized the two competing grids by constructing strong view lines through the campus. The main north-south axis starts with the helipad, then includes a narrow walkway between the auditorium and north buildings, continues past the elevator kiosk to the tram station, through the rotunda, past the walls and support columns of the exhibitions pavilion, and finally the ramp besides the west pavilion and the central garden. Its corresponding east-west visual axis starts with the edge of the scholar's wing of the Getty Research Institute (GRI), the walkway between the central garden and the GRI, the overlook to the azalea pool in the central garden, the walkway between the central garden and the west pavilion, and finally the north wall of the west pavilion and the courtyard between the south and east pavilions.

The main axes of the museum grid that is offset by 22.5 degrees begins with the arrival plaza, carries through the edge of the stairs up to the main entrance, aligns with the columns supporting the rotunda as well as the center point of the rotunda, aligns with travertine benches in the courtyard between the pavilions, includes a narrow walkway between the west and south pavilions, a staircase down to the catus garden and ends in the garden. The corresponding cross axis starts with the center point of the circle forming the GRI library garden, then passing to the center of the entrance rotunda, and aligning with the south wall of the rotunda building. Although all of the museum is aligned on these alternative axes, portions of the exhibitions pavilion and the east pavilion are aligned on the true north-south axis as a reminder that both grids are present in the campus.

The primary grid structure is a square; most wall and floor elements are squares or some derivative thereof. The buildings at the Getty Center are made from concrete and steel with either travertine or aluminium cladding. Around of travertine was used to build the center.

Throughout the campus, numerous fountains provide white noise as a background. The initial design has remained intact; however benches and fences have been installed around the plaza fountains to discourage visitors from wading into the pools. Some additional revisions have been made in deference to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The north promontory is anchored by a circular grass area, which serves as a heliport in case of emergencies, and the south promontory is anchored by a succulent plant and cactus garden. The complex is also encircled by access roads that lead to loading docks and staff parking garages on both the west and east sides of the buildings. The hillside around the complex has been planted with California Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) trees.

The museum has a seven-story deep underground parking garage with over 1,200 parking spaces. Its roof has an outdoor sculpture garden. An automated three-car, cable-pulled tram takes passengers between the parking garage at the bottom of the hill and the museum at the top of the hill.

Arrival court and central rotunda

Visitors typically arrive at a tram station in the arrival plaza located between the administrative buildings and the museum entrance. A large set of steps leads to the main doors of the rotunda building. The rotunda building houses information desks, two orientation theatres and museum shops. It also holds a grand staircase that starts a path toward the paintings located on the second floor of each art pavilion. The rotunda opens to the south to a terrace that links all five of the museum pavilions. A separate building to the west of the arrival plaza and stairs holds a cafeteria and restaurant. Next to the restaurant is a stone arch, which separates the museum from the GRI. Stairs from the terrace connecting the GRI and the restaurant lead down to the central garden.

Museum

The Getty Center's estimated 1.3 million visitors annually make it one of the most visited museums in the United States. The collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum on display at the Getty Center includes "pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs". The paintings include: ''Arii Matamoe'' (The Royal End) by Paul Gauguin (1892). The Museum's director, Michael Brand, stated that the purchase of the painting was "one of the key moments in the history of our collection." The literal translation of the Tahitian words of the title are "noble" and "sleeping eyes", which implies "death". ''Irises'' by Vincent Van Gogh (1889). The museum purchased the painting in 1990; it had sold for $53.9 million in 1987. ''Portrait of a Halberdier'' by Pontormo (1528–1530). When the museum bought the painting for $35.2 million at an auction in 1989, "the price more than tripled the previous record at auction for an Old Master painting". A copy of ''Portrait of Louis XIV'', which measures 114 x 62-5/8 inches, by the workshop of Hyacinthe Rigaud (after 1701). Getty's photograph collection is located on the lower level of the west pavilion. It includes 35,000 individual prints, 1,500 daguerreotypes and other cased objects, 30,000 stereographs and cartes-de-visite, and 475 albums containing almost 40,000 mounted prints.

The museum building consists of a three-level base building that is closed to the public and provides staff workspace and storage areas. Five public, two-story towers on the base are called the North, East, South, West and the Exhibitions Pavilions. The Exhibitions Pavilion acts as the temporary residence for traveling art collections and the Foundation's artwork for which the permanent pavilions have no room. The permanent collection is displayed throughout the other four pavilions chronologically: the north houses the oldest art while the west houses the newest. The first-floor galleries in each pavilion house light-sensitive art, such as illuminated manuscripts, furniture, or photography. Computer-controlled skylights on the second-floor galleries allow paintings to be displayed in natural light. The second floors are connected by a series of glass-enclosed bridges and open terraces, both of which offer views of the surrounding hillsides and central plaza. Sculpture is also on display at various points outside the buildings, including on various terraces and balconies. The lower level (the highest of the floors in the base) includes a public cafeteria, the terrace cafe, and the photography galleries.

Central Garden

The Central Garden at the Getty Center is the work of artist Robert Irwin. Planning for the garden began in 1992, construction started in 1996, and the garden was completed in December 1997.

Irwin was quoted as saying that the Central Garden "is a sculpture in the form of a garden, which aims to be art." Water plays a major role in the garden. A fountain near the restaurant flows toward the garden and appears to fall into a grotto on the north garden wall. The resulting stream then flows down the hillside into the azalea pool. The designers placed rocks and boulders of varying size in the stream bed to vary the sounds from the flowing water. A tree-lined stream descends to a plaza, while the walkway criss-crosses the stream, which continues through the plaza, and goes over a stone waterfall into a round pool. A maze of azaleas floats in the pool, around which is a series of specialty gardens. More than 500 varieties of plant material are used for the Central Garden, but the selection is "always changing, never twice the same".

After the original design, an outdoor sculpture garden, called the "Lower Terrace Garden" was added in 2007 on the west side of the central garden just below the scholar's wing of the GRI building.

Getty Research Institute (GRI)

The Getty Research Institute (GRI) is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts." Among other holdings, GRI's research library contains over 900,000 volumes of books, periodicals, and auction catalogs; special collections; and two million photographs of art and architecture. GRI's other activities include exhibitions, publications, and a residential scholars program. At the Getty Center, GRI is located to the west of the museum. The round building encircles a landscaped garden and is located to the west of the central garden. The main entrance of GRI is connected by a terrace to the main arrival court of the museum, with outdoor sculptures placed along the route. GRI has one art gallery on its entrance level that is open to the public.

Other offices

Meier also designed three other buildings located next to the north promontory and offset at a 22.5 degree angle from the main axis of the museum pavilions. The north-most building is an auditorium. Next to it is the North Building, with the East Building sitting between the North Building and the rotunda. The main entrance to the East Building is flanked by two round silos that hold its elevators. A bridge over a sunken courtyard links the main entrance of the East Building to the main walkway that connects the auditorium and North Buildings to the rotunda. These buildings house the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Getty Foundation. These buildings are generally closed to the public except for special events held in the auditorium. They are linked to the museum both by landscaped terraces and by an enclosed glass walkway that leads from the main rotunda of the museum. GCI, which is headquartered at the Getty Center but also has facilities at the Getty Villa, commenced operation in 1985. It "serves the conservation community through scientific research, education and training, model field projects, and the dissemination of the results of both its own work and the work of others in the field" and "adheres to the principles that guide the work of the Getty Trust: service, philanthropy, teaching, and access". GCI has activities in both art conservation and architectural conservation.

The Getty Foundation awards grants for "the understanding and preservation of the visual arts". In addition, it runs the Getty Leadership Institute for "current and future museum leaders". Its offices are north of the museum. The foundation offices are located in the two administrative buildings that are north of the museum. The J. Paul Getty Trust, which oversees the Getty Conservation Institute, Getty Foundation, Getty Research Institute, and J. Paul Getty Museum, also has offices there.

Preparation for natural disasters

Earthquakes

Although the center's site was thought to have little motion during earthquakes, which are frequent in the Los Angeles area, in 1994, as the center was being constructed, the Northridge earthquake struck. It caused "disturbing hairline cracks... in the welds and plated joints of the steel framework." As a result, the steelwork through the site was retrofitted. The Center's buildings are thought to be able to survive an earthquake of 7.5 magnitude on the Richter scale.

Fires

In the 16 electrical transformers at the center, silicone fluid is used as a coolant "with less risk of ignition" than hydrocarbon coolant. The native flammable chaparral was removed and fire-resistant poverty weed was added to the slopes around the center. Each year, a herd of goats is rented to clear brush on the surrounding hills.

At the north end of the center, a tank with of water, together with a grass-covered helipad, allow helicopters to collect water. The access ramp from the entry plaza to the museum was constructed to allow a fire truck to pass over it. Inside the museum, the sprinkler system is designed to balance "between the potential damage of a fire and the risk of water damage to valuable artwork".

Panoramic view looking south

References

Further reading

External links

J. Paul Getty Trust official website

Architecture of the Getty Center (800 photographs categorized by location and by subject of photograph)

Gardens of the Getty Center (LandLiving.com)

Microsoft Virtual Earth view of the Center at a different angle

Category:Museums established in 1997 Category:1997 architecture Category:Museums in Los Angeles, California Category:J. Paul Getty Trust Category:Art in the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:Art museums in California Category:Hovair people movers Category:Photography museums in the United States Category:Richard Meier buildings

ca:Getty Center de:Getty Center es:The Getty Center fa:مرکز گتی fr:Getty Center nl:Getty Center pt:Getty Center simple:Getty Center sv:Getty Center tr:Getty Center

Petar Tale (August 15, 1947) is a Norwegian painter. He was born ''Petar Pavicevic'' in Montenegro but has been living in Norway since 1977. Tale's art work consist of drawings, watercolours and paintings. The motives are both figurative - landscapes, people - and non-figurative. He established ''Lillestrøm kunstmuseum - Tale Art Museum'' in the mid 1980s.

External links

Tale Art Museum official website

Book information Amazon: The Art of Petar Tale

Microfilmaker Magazine: Filmcritique of the documentary film That I Stay For

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Norwegian painters Category:Contemporary painters

no:Petar Tale

The Shore is an American rock group founded in Silver Lake, CA by frontman Ben Ashley. The Shore are heavily influenced by psychedelic bands like The Byrds, The Beatles, Coldplay, and The Beach Boys as well as Britpop groups Oasis and The Verve.

Biography

In the spring of 2002, Ashley wrote a series of songs with producer Rick Parker. Parker assembled a group of local musicians, including Kyle Mullarky (bass), Cliff Magreta (guitar), and John Wilmer (drums), to record a series of demos. The demos came to Scott Austin, a Maverick A&R; Executive, and the band was given a major contract only a few months after their initial recordings. The Shore returned to the studio with Parker to record their first album. The Shore recorded the album over a period of three months. ''The Shore EP'' was released on New Year's Day of 2003. Their full length album, ''The Shore'', was released in August 2004. After guitarist Wayne Faler toured with the band, he was added as a permanent member in December 2005. It was about this time that The Shore parted ways with Maverick Records to pursue a better record deal.

The Shore released their second album, "Light Years," in October 2008 initially as a digital-only release on outlets such as Amazon, iTunes, eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody and a few other sites. A CD version was released the following year.

The band has also recently resumed touring, playing San Francisco and LA, most notably with another psych outfit, The Parties.

The Shore's song "Coming Down" was featured on the Long Way Round soundtrack, a documentary detailing the journey of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York on motorcycles.

Style

Filter magazine describes the band as having "rock solid songwriting" and credits it with a "passionate commitment to music." According to Spartan Daily, "the band portrays a very neo-psychedelic pop sound and mixes it up with lush keyboards to have a modern sound."

Discography

Singles and EPs

2003 - ''The Shore EP'' (Maverick)

Albums

2004 - ''The Shore'' (Maverick)

2008 - ''Light Years'' (Independently Released)

References

External links

External links

Official website

Facebook page

Myspace page

Category:Alternative rock groups from California