Getty Research Institute

Administrative History

The Getty Research Institute (GRI) is dedicated to the study of the visual arts, approaching the topic from broad historical and cultural perspectives. The GRI's goals are to promote innovative scholarship in the arts and humanities, to bridge traditional academic boundaries, and to provide a unique environment for research, critical inquiry, and debate. The GRI is an operating program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, an international cultural and philanthropic organization serving both general audiences and specialized professionals. The Trust is a not-for-profit institution, educational in purpose and character, that focuses on the visual arts in all of their dimensions. As of 2009 the Trust supports and oversees four programs: the J. Paul Getty Museum; the Getty Foundation; the Getty Conservation Institute; and the Getty Research Institute.

The Getty Research Institute grew out of the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities (GCHAH), which was established to advance and disseminate research in the history of art and the humanities. The GCHAH was one of the original programs established by the J. Paul Getty Trust. In 1981 the Trust began a year of exploration to determine where it would focus its resources and energies in order to make the greatest possible contribution to the field of art and art history as a whole. In 1982, following extensive international deliberations with knowledgeable individuals, the trustees made commitments to three new entities, a Conservation Institute, a Center for Education in the Arts, and a Center for the History of Art and the Humanities (GCHAH).

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