The Getty Museum

Someone, who shall remain nameless, asked me what else there is besides a temporary exhibit at the Getty. What I love about the museum are several things. The view for one is amazing. The gardens are beautiful, reminiscent of the gardens at the Huntington Library. But within their permanent collection are some gems.

As a kid, it was the Impressionists like Monet and Van Gogh who inspired me to paint and draw. The Getty has a couple of Monets and Van Goghs, and while they may not be Starry Night by Van Gogh or Monet's Water Lilies, I like these pieces just as much.

Within the collection Van Gogh's Irises look as if they are waving in the wind. His heavy handed brushstrokes added a level of movement to the canvas that you don't see in the post-post modern art world of unintelligible found object sculptures and installation pieces.

Perhaps my love of sailing and the sea cloud my judgment a bit but Monet's painting called Sunset is such a romanticized scene of sailboats through the sea-mist as an orange sun sinks below the water line. I can almost hear the water lapping the the hull of the sailboats in Santa Cruz when I look at it.

In my French Painting class with Donna at UCSC, an artist we studied in detail really caught my eye. David (pronounced Dav-eed) was a prolific history painter. History painting was the biggest division of the Paris Expositions that were held at the Louvre when it was used as an artists' academy in the 18th Century. The genre of history painting is fascinating, as it is the depiction of a moment in history or mythology. History paintings were extremely large scale and grand. David excelled within this genre winning the grand prize at least once that I know of. The Getty has a David. It is my favorite painting in the entire museum.

This piece is called the Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis. Telemachus is the son of Odysseus. Eucharis was a wood nymph and the consort of Telemachus. At the time of the Odyssey, Telemachus was at home with his mother. A goddess comes down to tell him to go search for his father, who at the time was trapped on an island with the Cyclops. David chose this moment of farewell and depicted it with a tenderness that you can feel from looking at the image.

Within the frame are two figures, our lovers. They are young, as you can tell from the ruddiness of the cheeks. Eucharis rests her head on Telemachus as he looks into the distance. The colors are remarkably intense, much like the bright acidic colors of Michelangelo, who was much earlier than David. Their figures are soft with youth, skin tones and cloth are true to life. You feel the tenderness of the farewell. I can sit and stare at it for hours, feeling that moment of goodbye.

Go see it and tell me what you think.