'Hood #31: Brentwood - The Getty & a Jackson Pollock

I haven't been to The Getty in years, even though it's only a 10-minute shot up the 405 Freeway from where I live.  When I heard they had a special exhibition all about how they restored an iconic Jackson Pollock painting, I decided it was time to finally go there—and while I was at it, check the neighborhood of Brentwood off my list.

(Brentwood, btw, is an affluent, celebrity-infested neighborhood on the Westside of LA.)

My Aunt Marcy joined me, and we timed our visit for a guided tour of the exhibition at 1:30.  Before doing so, however, we perused the museum's permanent collection (which, as a side note, I learned has no modern art in it because J. Paul Getty was not a fan).

Then on to see the Jackson Pollock painting Mural.  The docent explained that this painting, commissioned by Peggy Guggenheim in 1943, made Pollock an overnight sensation. While the legend is that he painted it in one night in a flurry of creative inspiration, xrays done of the painting during conservation efforts showed it had to have taken months.

Mural belongs to University of Iowa, which—in an effort to protect the painting because it was starting to flake—applied a layer of varnish.  While it seemed like a good idea at the time, over the years it dulled the painting.  

I love hearing about stuff like this, and I was probably annoying the docent with all my questions about exactly how did they remove all that pesky varnish?  (The answer:  two years, Q-tips, and gently rolling over it bit by bit with a solvent that was safe for the paint but the restorers had to wear protective gear.)  

The Before & After photos were more fun than the reveal in an episode of  Extreme Makeover.  Sorry I don't have those, but here's the painting (which, btw, is a gigantic 20' x 8'):

The exhibition runs until June 1. Admission to The Getty Center is free; parking is $15.