The Getty: A world of art, research, conservation, and philanthropy

Diamond Sutra (detail), 868 CE, ink on paper. British Library, London, Or.8210/P.2. © The British Library Board

CONTINUING THIS MONTH

Diamond Sutra (detail), 868 CE, ink on paper. British Library, London, Or.8210/P.2. © The British Library Board

Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road

敦煌莫高窟: 中國絲綢之路上的佛教藝術
Through September 4, 2016 | The Getty Center

One of the most influential Chinese Buddhist scriptures, the copy of the Diamond Sutra (868 CE) on display in Cave Temples of Dunhuang is also the earliest complete printed book that bears a date. The exhibition includes nearly 50 exquisite manuscripts, drawings, and sculptures from the Mogao cave temples, as well as three spectacular full-size cave replicas and a virtual immersive experience of Cave 45.

Public tours of the gallery portion of this exhibition will be offered Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:00 p.m.

Find out more about the exhibition.

Browse related events.

Plan your visit.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Photographer Charles Brittin in 2007.

Oral Histories Collection

Documenting and preserving the stories of artists, architects, curators, critics, and tastemakers, the more than 1,000 oral histories at the GRI offer a firsthand account of the making and meaning of visual art. Browse a selection of video interviews that include photographer Charles Brittin, artist Judy Chicago, and architect Frank Gehry. Also included is a selected list of audio interviews and a link to all of the digitized oral histories at the GRI.

Browse the collection.

Read more about the oral histories.

EVENTS

Still image from O Século/The Century (detail), Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machado, 2011. © Cinthia Marcelle and Tiago Mata Machado

Dissonance

Video Art Screening | June 8, 2016 | 7:00 p.m. | The Getty Center

This 90-minute screening features video artworks that highlight opposing and often discordant realities as they are lived in different contexts within Latin America. The videos range from the 1970s until today, and include artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay.

Reserve a free ticket.

Cornelia Funke at the Getty Center in June 2015.

Cornelia Funke's Voyage into the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas

Storytelling and Book Signing | June 19, 2016 | 11:00 a.m. | The Getty Center

Award-winning children's author Cornelia Funke reads her latest story featuring William Dampier, a pirate and ghost tasked with keeping the other spirits haunting the Getty Center at bay. In this tale, Dampier explores ancient Buddhist caves on the occasion of the exhibition, Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road. This afternoon storytelling adventure is followed by a book signing and is recommended for families and kids ages 8 and up.

Reserve a free ticket.

Watch the video of Cornelia Funke's April 2014 Getty Center appearance.

Watch the video of Cornelia Funke's June 2015 Getty Center appearance.

Find out more about the exhibition.

NEW FOR RESEARCHERS

Pure Food performed in Costa Mesa, California, Barbara T. Smith, 1973. The Getty Research Institute, 2014.M.14. Photo: Tom Horowitz

Barbara T. Smith Archive

Finding Aid

Artist Barbara T. Smith (b. 1931) has been at the forefront of artistic movements in Southern California for over 50 years. Her artwork—which ranges from paintings and artist's books to installations and performances—explores concepts such as sexuality, physical and spiritual sustenance, and death. Among other items, this archive contains 160 diaries, 54 sketchbooks, and nearly 1,100 audio and videotapes.

Browse the finding aid.

Find out more about the Barbara T. Smith Archive.

Read an interview with Barbara T. Smith about her archive.

VIDEO

Detail of page from David Tudor's second realization of John Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra: Solo for Piano, from 1959. The Getty Research Institute, 980039

Cage, Tudor, and the Visual Language of Indeterminacy

Video of April 19, 2016, Lecture

The scores of avant-garde artist and composer John Cage (1912–1992) present their own challenges to the artists who perform them. In this recent Hammer Museum lecture, GRI Curator of Modern and Contemporary Collections Nancy Perloff—accompanied by pianist Aron Kallay—discusses two of pianist David Tudor's (1926–1996) realizations of Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra: Solo for Piano (1958), which are part of the GRI's David Tudor Papers.

Watch the video.

Browse the digitized version of Tudor's second realization.

Read more about the work of David Tudor.