Getty Center

Getty Center, art museum complex in Brentwood, Calif. operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust. It consists of six buildings on 124 acres (50 hectares) located on a spectacular promontory overlooking Los Angeles. Designed by architect Richard Meier, the center opened in 1997. The museum houses the Getty collections of European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, and decorative arts as well as European and American and European photographs. The complex also includes a research library and archives, which includes performance and lecture facilities; conservation and art historical institutes; and educational and computer centers. The first Getty Museum was located at J. Paul Getty's home in Malibu, the second was a Roman-style villa in Malibu that opened in 1974 and is scheduled to reopen in 2001 to exhibit the Getty's outstanding collection of classical antiquities and serve as a center for comparative archaeology and cultures.