Getty’s photo curator to retire

Weston Naef, who has led the J. Paul Getty Museum’s department of photographs since its inception in 1984 and shaped a collection that has developed into one of the nation’s biggest and best, is planning to retire. Naef will leave his post on Jan. 31 and become curator emeritus on Feb. 1, the museum announced Monday.

“You can’t underestimate Weston’s contribution to the museum,” said Michael Brand, director of the Getty Museum. “It’s about a quarter-century of work that has put him at the forefront of the field. It’s a rare thing for a founding curator to see a collection through for 25 years. And now we have this outstanding resource that is recognized as one of the great photography collections of the world.”

Photography, the only area in which the Getty has collected post-19th century art, “also has been our window onto the 20th and 21st centuries,” he said, “and it includes many works by California and Los Angeles artists.”

Naef, educated at Claremont Men’s College (now Claremont McKenna College), Ohio State University and Brown University, worked in the department of prints, photographs and books at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York before joining the Getty’s staff, in conjunction with the museum’s initial acquisition of about 25,000 photographs. He has overseen the growth of the collection to more than 100,000 images, including large holdings of leading figures such as William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Walker Evans and Manuel Alvarez Bravo.

He also has presided over nearly 100 exhibitions. His final show, “Dialogue Among Giants: Carleton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California,” on view through March 1, is largely drawn from the museum’s holding of more than 1,700 pictures by the artist. It is a product of years of research by Naef, who is working on a catalogue raisonne of Watkins’ work.

Naef, who has been on sabbatical this year, credited his colleagues as invaluable to his accomplishments. He said he is looking forward to teaching, consulting, writing and spending more time studying photographs without the pressure of administrative duties.

“I also want to use my influence to make known artists of our time whose work deserves more attention,” Naef said. “And I hope to help bring online a young generation of strong curators of photographs.”

A search for a new senior curator of photographs will begin immediately, said Brand, who expects to receive applications within the Getty and from afar. Judith Keller, a longtime Getty curator, will continue as interim head, a position she has held during Naef’s sabbatical.

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suzanne.muchnic@latimes.com