L.A.’s House of Artists

Hey, wait a minute. At least one Getty entity has collected Los Angeles artists! (“Getty Trust’s Odd Corporate Tastes,” June 6) The Getty recently purchased an apartment complex on Sunset to house the visiting scholars in the Scholars and Seminars program of the Getty Research Institute. The directors wanted to have art in these apartments and I suggested that locally produced work might give a sense of place and perhaps foster curiosity about L.A.’s artistic scene, enhancing the scholars’ experience of working here.

As one of the directors’ restrictions was that the art must reflect some part of the Getty collections, we decided to relate it to the contemporary “artists books” in the Special Collections portion of the institute. The art produced in these books consisted of hand-printed etchings, and we were able to acquire additional sets of these original prints by such artists as Greg Colson, Joe Goode, Susan King, Peter Shelton and Robert Therrien. The work by Therrien, “Dream Hospital,” was a collaboration with poet John Yau, who was a Getty visiting scholar. Monoprints by Peter Alexander and Ed Moses were also purchased, and while these artists are not represented in the handmade book collection, they are well represented in the Getty Library. Also included were an etching by Richard Long from a project at California’s Joshua Tree area, and several collages by Anne and Patrick Poirier made during their stay as Getty scholars.

There are people here in the Getty Research Institute who care about the concerns and needs of L.A.’s art community. I appreciate the people who were open to this project; and who supported and approved the art presented to them; and who funded this nice beginning of a small collection in the living spaces for scholars.

JANICE SCHMITZ

Scholar Assistant

The Getty Research Institute

Los Angeles