BRINGING TRUST BACK TO THE GETTY AS L.A. GIANT STRUGGLES, NEW CHIEF TAKES HELM.

Byline: Jim Farber

Staff Writer

With a scant three months on the job under his belt, James Wood, the new president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is trying to get his arms around his new position.

At the same time, he's confronting the Gulliver-esque challenge of being a stranger in the strange land of Los Angeles.

The 66-year-old Bostonian, who from 1980 to 2004 served as director and president of the Art Institute of Chicago, finds himself presiding over the third-largest foundation in America, at a time when the Getty Trust is eager to dispel the clouds of scandal that have blackened its reputation.

Entering eye of the storm

Wood replaces former president Barry Munitz, who resigned under pressure in February 2006, following revelations that he had abused the trust's not-for-profit status.

A civil investigation by the state Attorney General's Office, the results of which were released Oct. 2, concluded that "while improper expenditures were made" -- such as using charitable funds for first-class travel and luxury lodging and dining for Munitz -- no crimes had been committed.

Nevertheless, the attorney general determined, "It is appropriate to appoint an independent monitor to ensure that trustees and employees of the trust implement and comply with the policy and procedural reforms" recommended in the report.

Seated in the trust's panoramic boardroom atop the Getty Center in Brentwood, with its Olympian view of the city below, Wood comes across as candid and enthusiastic about his new role.

White-haired, tall and distinguished, the first thing he does is shed the jacket of his elegant black suit, revealing a scarlet and black knit tie that, perhaps, hints at a piquant subversiveness beneath his otherwise conservative exterior.

Wood's love and appreciation of art is obvious, especially as the recipient of multiple degrees in art history nostalgically recalls the year he spent as a student exploring the treasures of Italy on a motorcycle.

He's also a realist and a sufficiently skilled administrator to admit that, at this point, he doesn't have all the answers to the hard questions that confront the Getty.

The critical consideration

Before accepting the job, Wood says, there was one important factor he needed to determine -- whether the Getty had hit bottom with its problems.

Was the institution on the way up, or was it still spiraling down?

"I had plenty of chances to talk with the board," he says. "And it was clear to me that they had absolutely hit bottom. They had grasped the problems. They had dealt with the problems. I wanted to know enough not to repeat mistakes."

Wood points out that the institution has a monitor overseeing it, which he calls "understandable given what we went through."

"The board has totally redone its guidelines for expenditures, which they should. We are a nonprofit institution, a public trust. Every penny that is not spent on salaries, operations and expenses needs to go into programs and collection acquisitions. ... We have an opportunity to set an example of correct governance and the wise use of funds. And we damn well better."

There still remains, however, one rattling skeleton in the Getty's closet -- former curator of antiquities Marion True, who remains on trial in Rome (and could go on trial in Greece) for conspiring to purchase and import for the Getty's collection of antiquities that prosecutors allege were looted and smuggled out of the country. True has denied any wrongdoing.

"The Getty made mistakes in acquisition," Wood says categorically.

"But with hindsight -- and I am not trying to justify it -- the ethics of collecting have changed a lot over the last 30 years. And they should have changed.

"The Getty's not the only museum that's struggled through that evolution, but I think it was more about poor governance and management. We hope we can resolve the problem with the Italians. It will take time."

Maximizing its potential

In Wood's estimation, the components that make up the Getty Trust -- the Foundation, the Conservation Institute, the museums and the Research Institute -- should add up to something greater than the sum of its parts.

"It's a question of getting together the right creative mix of people, expertise and programming," Wood says. "The Getty has the resources and capabilities to go way beyond the needs of its own collections. We can literally go out and create a project to preserve cave paintings in China. That's totally different from a regular museum and something I find very exciting."

A justified image?

Accurate or not, the Getty has always had something of an ivory tower image, whether it's the perception of the Getty Villa as a hidden refuge or the imposing architecture of the Getty Center (conceived by architect Richard Meier) that stands above the 405 Freeway like a fortress.

"Everyone has their analogy. The worst is Masada," he says with a laugh.

A key question he faces -- and it's not a new one -- is, how can he and his institution best relate to such a sprawling megalopolis.

"That's a really important issue to me," Wood says. "We've got to be a strong, generous citizen. But, at the same time, we are an institution with international responsibilities. They should not be contradictory. It's a balancing act.

"The kids on the buses and the scientific project in China are the ends of a spectrum that should help each other," he says.

As for his own description of the Getty, the former student of Italian art and architecture chooses one in keeping with his background.

"To me, the really important analogy is the piazza. It's the place where art and the public mingle."

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(color) James Wood, 66, takes over as CEO of the Getty Trust, replacing Barry Munitz, who resigned following revelations that he had abused the trust's not-for-profit status.

Robert Casillas