A Klimt Purchase Could Help Restore Getty Image

The J. Paul Getty Museum might seem a logical buyer for the rare and expensive ensemble of great Klimt paintings currently at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art -- but actually it’s not. The museum’s collection of European paintings predates the 20th century.

However, that restriction does not prohibit the Getty Trust -- the museum’s parent organization -- from acquiring art. The trust has commissioned a number of sculptures and paintings by living artists for its Brentwood campus, assembled a collection of contemporary drawings for its offices and last year accepted a gift of Modern sculptures.

The trust could now establish, say, a Getty Center for Klimt Studies at LACMA, and acquire the paintings jointly with the county museum.

The scholarly libraries at the Getty Research Institute, rich in Modern art material, and LACMA’s Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies are natural adjuncts.

The Getty Trust has been through a lot during the last 18 months, much of it degrading and debilitating -- and some of it, ironically, concerning the contentious issue of looted art. An unexpected opportunity for a bit of redemption has just fallen in its lap.