😢Getty Museum likely destroyed by fire

PaintBoss

Contributing Member
Messages
1,230
It’s 9 PM Eastern time and I’ve turned on the news and apparently they are having terrible fires in a very wealthy area of LA. High winds. Just a little earlier, they reported there was fire already on the grounds of the Getty museum as they were evacuating people. An emergency official say the worst is going to come later through the night. They are very worried they’re going to lose the museum and the art collections if it isn’t gone already. I don’t know if they take some sort of precautions by building some sort of fire safe vault for the collections that are not on show. But I hope so. I took a quick look at their collections and it would indeed be a great loss. From the earliest art to classical times all the way up to modern.
I always worry about people and animals in fires, but after that, it seems my heart lurches most when we lose our art or architecture. The irreplaceable stuff.
I guess in a day or two we will find out more.😔
 
They have Van Gogh's Irises. I'll feel that loss to my last days if that's lost.
 
Yes, I read last night that the museum had collections safeguarded. Complete professionals at this: they must have underground vaults with firewalls we can't even imagine.

It's a devastating fire. Thousands of homes and businesses destroyed. People will be displaced for months, if not forever. What a tragedy.
 
I so agree Terri. A nightmare. Looks like most of them got out. I was very worried when they were all traffic jammed on the one or two roads down.
 
I so agree Terri. A nightmare. Looks like most of them got out. I was very worried when they were all traffic jammed on the one or two roads down.
I read a comment under a news report that a bulldozer was pushing all the abandoned cars off their road.
 
Yes and that was early on yesterday evening before they were gonna have worse conditions. I saw flames right up to the building on the cliff. But apparently it’s OK. They have a replica Roman Villa there. I would love to see and I really hope it’s OK.
 
Personally, I care about the 5 people who have now died
and the hundreds of animals who have probably died and the 1000 + homes
and other buildings that have burned to the ground.
I don't give a damn about Van Goghs Irises or a fake
Roman villa.

Patricia
 
Personally, I care about the 5 people who have now died
and the hundreds of animals who have probably died and the 1000 + homes
and other buildings that have burned to the ground.
I don't give a damn about Van Goghs Irises or a fake
Roman villa.

Patricia
not a zero-sum fire. You can care about animals, people, buildings and art too.
 
I do also worry about all the other losses.

When Alexandria fell, it wasn't only the Library, lots of people and goods were destroyed as well.

Yet, the burning of the Library together with that of most cultural heritage at the fall of the Roman Empire took our ancestors into the Dark Ages.

I do also worry (in addition to the people and goods of Alexandria and the Roman Empire) about the millions who died in the Middle Ages, and in the Modern Era from the Inquisition, and in Witches Hunts, and so on (until today) due to the loss of culture, the rise of ignorance and subsequent intolerance (see thread on Sally Mann for example).

One would do well to remember that not everything is the here and now. What we leave back for our descendants is arguably even more important than our personal lives. That's why parents are willing to die for their children and why people willingly fight wars (which are also terrible, but they hope will prevent greater harm later --whether that is ever the case I won't discuss).
 
By the way, it was not just the "wealthy" areas of LA that are affected. The fires are widespread all over the county, reaching practically to Ventura. Altadena/Pasadena is near where I lived for the last 13 years before I moved away. Los Angeles is a mix of wealthy, low-income, and middle-class people and families of all demographics. A predominately black neighborhood in Pasadena (all historical craftsman houses) is totally gone now. So many people are displaced. The rebuilding of LA will be astronomical, and it will never be the same. The same people will never be able to afford to live there again after rebuilding. Most people did not have insurance, especially fire insurance, since fire was never expected to strike in many of those areas. I can't begin to tell you how awful this is. The death toll is rising because people are still missing. I am sad beyond words.

Because of the fires, our power was on and off, plus I've been sick, so I'm sorry I haven't been here much lately.
 
It’s OK Arty. Take care of yourself. I’ve had to be quieter too because of my health lately.
Thank you for those details. It was a kind of thing I was wondering about. The disaster has only just begun for California. And new building codes and restrictions will be necessary. The amount to build is astronomical these days. I was thinking how do you even find that many builders? And where do all the displaced people go? Not everyone has family to go to. Or deep pockets. I was thinking to clean it alone is going to be tremendous and long. I feel for the people and I hate that so many architectural little gems will be gone. I’m just listening from Canada, but it sounds like all the officials involved in this should be fired immediately. Especially the mayor and the head and staff of the fire preparedness department! They are not fit for purpose. I don’t trust them to deal what’s in front of them now that the mess is here.
And I do think a lot of of us realize that there’s a lot of income groups beyond the mansions and beachfront properties. It’s unbelievable how this all came together.
 
This Tragic event is giving me flashbacks to the New Zealand Christchurch earthquake. Legal wrangles are no fun on top of damaged housing and ruined businesses. I fear the death toll could easily be over a hundred, but their loss isn't yet counted.
 
That was terrible Marc. I remember. That beautiful town and that church was such a landmark and gorgeous.
 
A visiting evangelist said the quake was caused by evil loose morality within the city. I thought; well, it's funny how God knocked down all the lovely gothic churches but left the casino and brothel undamaged.
I do miss the little Victorian shops. Some made fun of the pretension of such humbly sized buildings in fully detailed neo classical and Venetian gothic. Effort that was usually put into buildings of a much grander scale. I however found then quite charming and humanly scaled. All gone now.
 
Yes, it was so unique and so lovely. I read that the British wanted to create a little bit of home when they settled there. You just can’t get the charm the way they build nowadays. And it really gave that town so much character. It’s what it was known for and that is why I knew of it sitting here in Canada. I knew of it specifically because of the church. And then I read up and looked at pictures of all the quaint architecture and the history of the town. This was long before the earthquake. The day it was announced even all the way over here in Canada, I felt very sad for that town. I knew it was a great loss.It looked like a little piece of heaven. It had done well to last so long I guess in a place with earthquakes.
 
Back
Top