Getty Museum in LA ‘confident’ art collections will be protected amid wildfires
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The J Paul Getty Museum is “confident” its art collections will be protected amid the wildfires raging across the Los Angeles area. There were fears that winds could fan the flames towards the Getty Centre, which is located in the Brentwood area and houses world-famous works including Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises.
The sweeping fires in California have killed 24 people, ravaged communities, and sent thousands frantically fleeing their properties, including areas dotted with celebrity homes. President and chief executive of the J Paul Getty Trust Katherine Fleming told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We try to be super-responsible stewards of global cultural heritage, and don’t take at all lightly the fact that we’re holding all of these treasures.
“And consequently our facility was built to withstand the various things that this region tends to throw our way, earthquakes and forest fires or brush fires among them. “So, yes, we’re certainly not cavalier or cocky, but we are confident.”. Opened in 1997, the Getty Centre hails itself as a “marvel of anti-fire engineering”, with its exterior walls made of travertine and the building reinforced with concrete on the inside.
Fleming said the building also has “very sophisticated air circulation systems” because the main concern is smoke damaging the collection, and sections of the gallery can be isolated if one was to be breached. She said the threat level has been reduced in recent days, but they are conscious that the winds may change.
