Get a rare up-close view of Van Gogh’s Irises
Because it is so widely beloved, Vincent van Gogh’s Irises is always on view. The painting does not travel to other museums, and almost never comes off the wall of our 19th-century gallery. But Getty’s unprecedented closure allowed us to temporarily move Irises into our laboratory and conservation studio for an in-depth examination. And what did we learn about the painting while it was off the wall?
Watch a video and read the story
Investigating Herakleides: A Portrait Mummy from Roman Egypt
In this new exhibition on Google Arts & Culture, learn about Herakleides, a young man who lived in Roman Egypt in the 2nd century A.D. and whose mummy is in the Getty collection. The methods and materials used in Herakleides' burial reflect the diverse cultural influences and international trade connections in ancient Egypt under the Roman empire.
The personal, political photography of Ishiuchi Miyako
Ishiuchi Miyako is widely recognized as one of Japan’s greatest photographers. Her career began at a time when photographers in Japan, among them Moriyama Daido and Tomatsu Shomei, often created work that confronted the national trauma surrounding Word War II and its aftermath. Ishiuchi negotiated the male-dominated field in Japan with her distinctive aesthetic, powerfully fusing the personal and the political.
See Ishiuchi Miyako’s work and learn more about her life
How ancient people fought their greatest fears
The ancient Mesopotamians believed that the world was populated by powerful demons that affected many aspects of human life. Sometimes these demons were identified with natural phenomena, such as winds or thunderstorms, but they could also represent the devastating illnesses that afflicted the population. With Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins now on view at the Getty Villa Museum, curator Jeffrey Spier introduces us to evil demons, demons who could fight off other demons, protective spirits, and other semi-divine spirits.
Rescuing art by women in Florence
Where are the women artists in museums? The nonprofit Advancing Women Artists (AWA) was inspired by this simple, powerful question. Though artists like Artemisia Gentileschi and Plautilla Nelli were prolific and successful in their lifetimes, their works often languished in storage or were left in states of disrepair in Florence’s museums. In this podcast episode, AWA director Linda Falcone discusses AWA’s quest to restore and conserve art by women. She also shares the stories of several groundbreaking women who worked from the 17th to the 20th centuries in Florence.