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Monday, June 10, 2024

Getty Museum, Part 1 - Collection and Borrowings


Today we will look at some male nude art shown at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.  When I first saw the statue of Hermes above, I thought it was a modern take on the subject.  It is, however, a Greek original from 200 BC attributed to the workshop of Boethos.

 

10 comments:

  1. Very interesting! They got the important parts in there! It is difficult to believe that they allowed this, but I approve, even though it does look silly.

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    1. The impact of the square column with the package protruding can't be overstated.

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  2. Remarkable. An interesting take on the portrait.

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    1. Truly. I was sure that it was a 20th Century piece until I read the Getty's notes.

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  3. Er sieht aus wie Henry VIII.:)

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  4. I would have thought it was a modern piece also, this is incredible.

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    1. Right. I looked up two additional takes on its provenance before I really believed it.

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  5. Well done survey of works from the Getty Museum. I find the Getty to be a bit overwrought with its campus of buildings, I found the art works they have on display could be placed in one building. I much prefer the intimate atmosphere and setting of the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades. The Getty Villa is much more relaxing, like the Huntington Museum and Gardens in San Marino.
    I’m surprised neither museum has done a retrospective on the classic physique photographers like Forbes, Lon, the Ritter Brothers, Townsend, Juleff, Bellas and Whitman. Not all their works were explicit, many of their models were posed in a classical style and are classics of the male nude….:)

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    1. I was somewhat surprised to find none of the works of the classic era physique photographers in the Getty collection. Several other LA area museums and libraries have considerable amounts of their better photos.

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