Getty Center
- Hours today
- 10 AM – 5:30 PM
- Visit time
- 3–4 hours
- Best for
- Art, architecture, free entry
- Founded
- 1997
About this museum
J. Paul Getty's 110-acre hilltop museum, designed by Richard Meier and reached by a tram from the parking lot. Strong European paintings (Van Gogh's Irises, Cézanne, Rembrandt), but the campus and gardens compete with the collection for attention. Read the full review →
Visitor tips
- FREE Admission is free, but parking is $25 (cheaper after 3 PM).
- TIP The Central Garden by Robert Irwin changes seasonally — worth its own loop.
Don't miss
- NORTH PAVILION Irises, Vincent van Gogh, 1889
- SOUTH PAVILION Rembrandt's Old Man in Military Costume
- CENTRAL GARDEN Robert Irwin's living-art installation
The full review
The Getty Center is two things at once: a serious museum of pre-20th-century European art (Van Gogh's Irises, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Manet, illuminated manuscripts) and Richard Meier's most extensive American work, a 110-acre hilltop in travertine and aluminum. The tram from the parking lot to the museum is part of the architectural sequence.
Free admission (parking is the only paid element), open until late on Saturdays, with arguably the best museum café terrace in the country.