Getty Center’s art stays put as fires raged nearby. Here's why
As scores of residents flee their homes in Southern California, the artwork inside the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angles has stayed put — and for good reason.
The museum tweeted photos Monday showing the campus of The Getty Center unharmed by the wildfire raging nearby which has prompted evacuation orders for 10,000 homes and businesses.
The museum says its artworks are protected by state-of-the-art technology and that the “safest place for the art and library collections is inside.”
Moving the masterpieces housed inside the museum would "make no sense" due to the fact that there is no threat to the artwork, Lisa Lapin, vice president of communications of the J. Paul Getty Trust, told FOX Business.
The buildings have a travertine siding, which is a type of stone tile, and were "intentionally composed" of stone, metal and concrete, Lapin said. The campus has double stone walls and crushed rock on the roofs of the buildings.
LEBRON JAMES EVACUATES FAMILY FROM CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES IN MIDDLE OF NIGHT
The campus also has air systems that prevent smoke from reaching the artwork, Lapin said. If there were ever to be an internal fire, the building has automatic fire doors that can trap and seal off areas where the fire ignited.
Getty Center, 2017. (Elon Schoenholz/J. Paul Getty Trust)
The center is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles. The museum is also home to some of the world’s preeminent art collections.
MILLIONS LOSE POWER AS FIRES RIP THROUGH CALIFORNIA
Visitors come from all over to see pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts by artists such Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Fragonard, Van Gogh, and Seurat. It also houses 19th- and 20th-Century American and European photographs.
One of their collections includes 28 modern outdoor sculptures donated from film producer Ray Stark and his wife Fran.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
The Getty Research Institute, which sits on the campus, houses one of the world’s largest art and architecture research libraries, which Lapin said was equally safe.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
The Associated Press contributed to this report.