THE TREASURE OF GETTY'S VILLA RENOVATED CLASSICAL MUSEUM RETURNS TO L.A. ART SCENE.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Initial impressions count for a lot, and the people who have redesigned and renovated the Getty Villa are looking to produce some serious ``Wows!'' rather quickly.

But that first wow isn't immediate. After parking their cars, visitors to the reopened Getty Villa in Malibu - which will admit the public on Saturday - travel along a walkway into an entry pavilion. Restrooms, coat checks and an information kiosk come first, before visitors proceed forward, ultimately turning a corner and arriving at the first view of the entire campus.

Angeleno art lovers and museumgoers have indeed waited a long time for this unveiling - nearly nine years to be precise. The J. Paul Getty Museum overlooking Pacific Coast Highway closed its doors for renovation and expansion in 1997, a few months before the J. Paul Getty Trust was set to open the Getty Center adjacent to the 405 Freeway.

Now, some $275 million worth of additions and renovations later, the villa - dedicated to the art of ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria - is once again ready to meet the public. Those who didn't plan in advance will, of course, have to wait even longer. The Getty Villa has a visitor capacity of 1,200 people per day. As was the case during the early months of the Getty Center opening, advance reservations are required (Getty officials use the expression ``timed tickets''). Admission is free. Parking ($7) is not, but if you haven't already secured a ticket, don't count on getting one until March at the earliest.

``The opening will be a busy time,'' concedes Karol Wight, the villa's acting curator of antiquities. ``We can't expect to fit everyone in in the beginning, but it will be worth the wait.''

Leading a small party during a preopening tour - and perhaps sensing a bit of heightened anticipation among his visitors - design architect Jorge Silvetti pauses at the entryway, doing his level best to throw in a little bit of suspense.

``We're trying to suspend their initial impression, giving (visitors) snippets and vignettes,'' says Silvetti, whose Boston-based firm Machado and Silvetti Associates served as the project's design architects. ``With the threshold, we're trying to suspend the disbelief that you're about to enter another world.''

``It's a huge property and it was already a landmark,'' Silvetti continues. ``Our approach to the villa museum building focused on (improving) its classical architecture. This was going to be an exemplary paradigm designed to help the public understand how the Romans lived.''

It's a world that harks back to the ancient past - the villa's original 1968 design is based on the first-century Roman country house Villa dei Papiri - and also to the Getty's past. Early Getty-goers who have memories of strolling the formal and herb gardens should find, in the new Getty, numerous reminders of what used to be here.

``I like to think that the museum building here at the villa looks enough the same to meet the nostalgia factor for people who grew to love the museum and gardens. Enough looks the way it did in the past, and there are parts we hardly touched at all. And it's surrounded by a different entry sequence and exciting architecture.''

Michael Brand, the Getty's newly appointed director, recalls visiting the Getty in its prerenovation days and being impressed by the grounds. Returning as the facility's director, the former Virginia Museum of Fine Arts administrator says the site's interior, exterior and collection now seem finally to be in harmony.

``The real difference now is that the landscape, building and collection all fit together now and fit together beautifully,'' says Brand. ``I'm sure many people remember it as being beautiful when they saw it back in the '80s. Now they're probably wondering, 'What could they have done to make it even better?' ''

And, voila, you have arrived at what Silvetti calls ``the shot of the Getty.'' Emerging around a corner, you find yourself looking not at the ocean, but down across the hillside across the campus, with the buildings visible and the gardens barely peeking out.

``You get in one panorama the idea of what this new entity of the Getty is,'' says Silvetti. ``Not just a museum, but a whole institution dedicated to the presentation and exhibition of classical antiquities and archaeology.''

The fully renovated Ranch House, Getty's former residence and the first structure to have housed the Getty Museum, is in the distance. It now houses the Getty's curatorial and conservation departments as well as the campus' research library. The villa also serves the students from the joint UCLA/Getty master's program on the conservation of ethnographic and archaeological materials.

To approach the main gallery - situated directly below - you'll proceed down alongside the 450-seat open-air Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Theatre, a classical amphitheater. Outdoor concerts and performances, kicking off with a production of Euripides' ``Hippolytus,'' will begin in the fall.

``First we were going to put it in the hills,'' says Silvetti. ``Then the idea of moving hundreds of people up the hill and back, it would have been difficult. It was a gorgeous location, but it just wouldn't do. Then there's this location, which is historically incorrect, but nothing is, in the end, correct.''

Some 1,200 pieces from the Getty's permanent collection are displayed in 23 galleries. Grouped thematically, galleries have now assembled works either according to material (bronze vessels, terra-cotta and marble vessels), by theme (stories of the Trojan War, mythological heroes) or by category (coins, gems and jewelry).

The villa's first three temporary exhibitions include ``Antiques and Photography: Early Views of Ancient Mediterranean Sights,'' ``Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity'' and, in tribute to the reopened site itself, ``The Getty Villa Reimagined,'' an examination of the remade villa from vision to construction.

The galleries themselves have also undergone a significant face-lift. A central staircase now links the two floors, and an elevator between the two floors helps bring the Getty into compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. The addition of nearly 60 windows and skylights floods the building with natural light.

``It really gets you close to one of the most important traits of the Roman household: the connection to nature,'' says Silvetti. ``That was very important to us. Natural light and classical art were meant for each other.''

Nestled next to the museum building are the formal and household gardens which - as designed by Denis L. Kurutz Associates - have seen the number of trees nearly double, and increased the site's shrubs, flowers, plants and ground covers by 100,000.

The young ones get their chance to play and learn in the hands-on Family Forum room and - for older children - there's the TimeScape Room, which offers a timeline wall, a multimedia map and exhibits of Greek, Roman and Etruscan art.

Silvetti, whose expertise in classical art and architecture expanded considerably in the years spent on the project, maintains that tradition and dignity were the central hallmarks for restoring and re-creating the Getty.

``When people think of California, they think about theme parks and Disneyland,'' says Silvetti. ``I think Getty never had that intention. For him, this was never about public consumption. So he had a dignity that we wanted to preserve and we didn't want it to slide into being a theme park.''

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

GETTY VILLA

Where: 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu.

When: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Monday.

Tickets: Free, but advance timed tickets are required. Call [phone] or visit www.getty.edu.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- cover -- color) A renovated Outer Peristyle and Temple of Herakles gallery are among the highlights of Malibu's Getty Villa.

(3 -- color) A view of the reimagined Getty Villa from the arrival balcony. The museum has been closed since 1997 for the $275 million project.

(4 -- 5 -- color) Above, light floods the Men in Antiquity gallery in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Below, lushly sculptured gardens highlight the geometric precision of the Outer Peristyle.

(6 -- color) The ceiling of the museum's new Peristyle gallery arches gracefully along its length.

Map:

Getty Villa

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