7pm - 745pm: Stopping to smell the flowers.
If my Father & Uncle ( 2 Professional College Groundsmen ) were still alive they would have spent the day in the GETTY gardens. To hell with the artsy fartsy stuff! :-)
To reach the Central Garden you must follow a zigzagging path down to its level.
As you do so you are compelled to stop at each bridge and notice how every time you cross the stream, the water produces a slightly different sound.
Boulders from the Sierra foothills, placed along the stream bed create this effect.
Along this path you will see deer grass, thyme, lavender, geraniums, and other plants arranged by color and texture.
This tree walkway leads you through 2 rows of Sycamore Yarwoods, or London Plane trees.
At the bottom of the Central Garden the water cascades into a reflecting pool with a maze of 400 Azaleas.
No, I didn't count the little darlings! That's what the brochure said! :-)
Surrounding the pool is a series of of specialty gardens that exploit the interplay of light, color, and reflection.
One of the most amazing effects of the placement of the garden is that as you go from top to bottom you get a spectacular view of the LA skyline in one direction, and the GETTY buildings in the other.
Once down in the center, well, let's just say that the penultimate perspective is an eye opener. :-)
In another area, behind the SOUTH PAVILLION, is a Cactus Garden filled with Golden Barrel and Column Cacti, among other varieties.
750pm-820pm: EXHIBITION HALL-- SACRED SPACES
This is series of rooms devoted entirely to the works of Peter Saenredam ( 1565-1607 ). Pen and ink, chalk, and oil drawings of the interiors and exteriors of churches and cathedrals in the European city of Utrecht.
825pm- 9pm: THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: GEOMETRY OF SEEING
Perspective and the dawn of virtual space:
The items here are unusual, and a must see.
Dr. Brook Taylor's Method of Perspective Made Easy (pre-1730), and other books of science, with sketches, engravings, and drawings.
Surveying devices of the 1500's.
Presentation of a Pleasant Garden Pavillion (1760): A Miniature Theatre composed of 7 individual cards placed consecutively at a certain distance from one another.
Usually situated in a Viewing Box with a viewing hole, with or without lens.
The resulting perspective shows a crowd of various people gathered in a garden area doing different things.
The intricate, painted, cutouts are awesome and beautiful.
Still Life With Peaches ( 1775 ): Watercolor on paper and a replica metal cylinder.
Sketched images of a glass of juice and 3 peaches on a bowl sitting on a table on a floor. There is also a butterfly.
One problem though: The images are elongated and distorted on paper.
You set the cylinder in a certain spot and you see the images correctly. :-)
This is what is known as "Anamorphic Drawing". The depiction of "Aberrant Perspectives".
It is a bizarre and wonderful use of imagery and perspective that was popular in the 17th and 18th century.
It goes back to the 16th when Da Vinci was the 1st to experiment with, invesitgate, the concepts of the nature of ocular images.
It is dark, & cool, as I descend back down to the street to catch the first of 4 busses home ( arrival 3pm )
My mind, however, is still full of the many bright, colorful & astonishing images of this days journey.
It is my hope that this 9 chapter tour gives you the incentive to, if not visit the GETTY and it's ever changing exhibits, then to visit museums and art galleries closer to your home, where ever in the world that may be.
Thank you for tagging along, and feel free to send me your comments. :-)
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