20th-century art fraud; artists’ intimate revelations; wine + the meaning of life

The forgery that shocked the art world

A fake Millet is now on view in the new Getty exhibition Reckoning with Millet’s “Man with a Hoe” (yep, you read that right). But you won’t believe who’s responsible for the fake: Millet’s own grandson, Jean-Charles. Find out why the petit fils would do such a thing, why he proclaimed, “the English like fakes better,” and how experts eventually spotted the forgeries.

How Jean-François Millet’s grandson perpetrated one of the biggest art frauds of the 20th century

Watch a related online presentation and learn about Man with a Hoe‘s other scandals

In a new podcast, old letters let us peek into artists’ private lives

Intimate Addresses, the new season of Getty’s Recording Artists podcast, focuses on artists’ personal letters. Pulitzer Prize–nominated actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith reads them aloud, while poet Tess Taylor, alongside guest artists, critics, and scholars, probes the artists’ private lives, work, and environment. “We wanted to capture artists in these moments in their ordinary lives…as they were falling in love, asking for money, or working through pain,” Taylor says.

Get a sneak peek

The “scandalous life” of César Moro

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re resurfacing the story of surrealist artist and poet César Moro, a central figure in the early 20th-century avant-garde and self-proclaimed lover of the “vida escandalosa.”  

Moro’s adventures and influence in Lima, Paris, and Mexico City

Making Scents of the Ancient World: Rome

Saturdays, September 23 and 30, 11:00 am
Getty Villa

Make your own Roman perfumes by exploring ancient Roman spices and oils, and learn why these materials were considered alluring.

Learn more about this free, drop-in workshop

Drinking and Thinking—Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism

Saturday, October 14, 5:15–8:30 pm
Getty Villa

Romans took wine and conversation seriously. Learn about the emperor Marcus Aurelius and Stoic thinking from philosopher Barry Smith, then sip wines and engage in conversation with roaming philosophers in the Villa’s Inner Peristyle garden.

Mark your calendars! Tickets available September 26.

Learn more

Mondrian Re-Examined, with John Walsh

Sunday, September 24, 3:00 pm

Hammer Museum

Join John Walsh, a former Getty Museum director, in the first of a four-part lecture series discussing the career of the pioneer abstractionist Piet Mondrian (1892–1944). Walsh traces the artist’s origins as a Dutch realist landscape painter, his absorption of Cubism, and his visionary creation of a purely abstract art.

Learn more about this free talk

Akram Khan Company: Jungle Book reimagined

Thursday and Friday, October 26 and 27,

7:30 pm; Saturday, October 28, 4:00 pm

BroadStage

Akram Khan’s new spin on an old classic reinvents the journey of young Mowgli as a refugee caught in a world devastated by the impact of climate change. The bold movement, startling animation, and video/sound design speak to all generations as a step to remind, relearn, and reimagine a new world together.

Learn more and get tickets