J. Paul Getty Museum. Publications

Administrative History

The J. Paul Getty 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 J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs serve a varied audience from two locations: the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa near Malibu, California.

The origins of the J. Paul Getty Trust date to 1953, when J. Paul Getty established the J. Paul Getty Museum as a California charitable trust to house his growing art collections. Mr. Getty died in 1976 and bequeathed the majority of his estate to the museum 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. Out of this resolve grew an expanded commitment to the arts in the general areas of scholarship, conservation, and education. This took the shape of new Getty programs including the Center for the History of Arts and Humanities, Art History Information Institute, Conservation Institute, and Center for Education in the Arts as well as smaller programs such as the Museum Management Institute and the Program for Art on Film. In 1983 the estate funds became available to the museum trust, the trust's name was officially changed from the J. Paul Getty Museum to the J. Paul Getty Trust, and the museum became an operating program under the trust, retaining the name the J. Paul Getty Museum.

The Publications office / department was originally established as part of the Museum and is frequently referred to as "Getty Publications." With the founding of the Trust in 1983, the Publications department became responsible for the publications produced by the J. Paul Getty Trust and its operating programs. Since then Publications has undergone considerable restructuring. Over the years the administration of the Publications department has shifted back and forth several times between the Museum and the Trust, and at times there have been separate publications departments within various Getty programs.

In recent years Publications' primary focus has been the editing, design, production, and marketing of exhibition catalogs and books for the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Conservation Institute, and Getty Research Institute, including books on art, photography, art history, and children’s literature. Historically Publications has also produced a wider variety of materials, including Trust reports and ephemera such as event invitations, newsletters, informational brochures, site and gallery maps, and other visitor handouts.

From the guide to the Records, 1975-1999, (The Getty Research Institute Institutional Records and Archives 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100 Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688 (310) 440-7390 archives@getty.edu)