Research Institute

An international center for the study of visual culture

What We Do

The Getty Research Institute cultivates advanced knowledge of art and its varied histories through scholarship, collections, programs, and public resources.

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Who We Are

  1. About the Getty Research Institute

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    Discover our mission and history

    Learn about our purpose

  2. Getty Library and Special Collections

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    Explore our research collections, including books, rare materials, and archives

  3. Research Programs and Tools

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    Find grants, programs, tools, and databases that support research and scholarship

Exhibition

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Exhibition How to Be a Guerrilla Girl

Coinciding with the Guerrilla Girls’ 40th anniversary, the exhibition tells the story of their collaborative process and longstanding commitment to call for equity for women and artists of color in the art world

A nude female with the head of a gorilla mask reclines against a background of neon pink showing photo strips of people in skirts, boots, and gorilla masks posting in a studio.
Overleaf, foreground: Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into The Met Museum? (detail), 1989, Offset print; background: Contact Sheets (details), ca. 1987, Gelatin silver prints. Guerrilla Girls (American, active since 1985). Getty Research Institute, [2008.M.14][1]. Courtesy Guerrilla Girls. © Guerrilla Girls. Design © 2025 J. Paul Getty Trust [1]: http://primo.getty.edu/GRI:GETTY_ALMA21141175040001551

Events

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  1. Cocktails with a Curator: Creative Complaining

    Food

    Yellow exhibition poster for "Guerrilla Girls Review The Whitney" featuring an image of a person wearing stockings, a jacket, and gorilla mask pointing at a banana.
    Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 12am

  2. The Baddest Feminists: The Guerrilla Girls and Roxane Gay in Conversation

    Talk

    A person in a gray sweater rests her head on her hand and smiles
    Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 1am

  3. Rewriting History with Fabiola Jean-Louis

    Talk

    A photograph of a Black woman wears an elaborate 18th-century gown in aqua blue with pink ribbons
    Sat, Jan 24, 2026, 2am

Explore Our Work

Announcement Submit to the Getty Research Journal

We are pleased to invite submissions to the Getty Research Journal, an open-access publication presenting peer-reviewed articles on the visual arts of all cultures, regions, and time periods. Submissions are accepted through the journal’s portal on Scholastica, which will reopen on January 2, 2026. The next submission deadline is January 30, 2026.

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Finding Aid Simone Forti Papers

Black and white photograph of a person in a white shirt and pants doing an expressive dance in front of a group of seated people

Project Expanding the Study of Performance in Women Artists' Archives

Interrogating the historiography of feminist performance art

Black and white photograph of female figure draped in white fabric with a painted face and feathers on head, holding a tall board attached to a fan.

Resources

Access tools, databases, grants, and initiatives that advance research, teaching, and scholarship in the histories of visual art and cultural heritage

  1. Tools and Databases

    Find free tools and resources that support research

  2. Getty Library and Special Collections

    Explore one of the world’s largest art historical research libraries

  3. Funding Opportunities

    Find grants and fellowships that support new scholarship

  4. Research Initiatives

    Discover our collaborations and projects that support art research

  5. Academic Outreach

    Learn about our resources, partnerships, and programs for faculty and students

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Publications

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News & Stories

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  1. Art World, Roxane Gay Is Ready to Discuss Your Grade

    Article

    A seated woman rests her left hand on her face and smiles at the camera in a white room with a window to her left.

    We asked acclaimed author and cultural critic Roxane Gay for her thoughts on the Guerrilla Girls—an anonymous art collective with a 40-year history—and how art activism can push museums, and the wider world, toward equity for all

    Dec 18, 2025

  2. Saving Lost Feminist Video Letters

    Article

    Back of a person facing a wall of video screens and other technological equipment

    A Getty conservator preserves rare pieces of guerrilla media

    Nov 4, 2025

  3. Why I Was Late to the Office

    Article

    A vintage photo postcard of a prairie fire in Dallas, South Dakota, with the text, "A midnight view of the Tripp Co, Prairie Fire. Dallas. S.D. Copyright by S. Downey."

    Photo postcards were the social media posts of the early 20th century

    Oct 28, 2025

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Staff & Contact

Senior Leadership

  1. Andrew Perchuk

    Interim Director, Getty Research Institute

  2. Susan Baldocchi

    Associate Director, Administration

  3. Kara Olidge

    Associate Director, Collections & Discovery

  4. Nancy Um

    Associate Director, Research & Knowledge Creation

  5. Khristaan Villela

    Associate Director, Dissemination & External Affairs

General Inquiries