The Getty Gets New Blood

Plagued by scandal in recent years, the J. Paul Getty Trust is getting a much-needed infusion of new blood. The trial of former antiquities curator Marion True, for allegedly conspiring to deal in looted classical artifacts, drags on in Italy. Last February saw the departure of president Barry Munitz, and just last month negotiations broke off after Italian authorities rejected a Getty offer to return 26 artifacts (they want 40). Now trustees have announced they have picked veteran arts-museum director James Wood as new president and chief executive of America’s wealthiest arts organization.

For Wood, 65, it means coming out of retirement; he stepped down in 2004 after 24 years as head of the Art Institute of Chicago. A respected museum director, he’s expected to restore stability to the Getty Trust. Despite the continuing ferment, Wood believes that Getty officials have already made most of the fixes necessary to get beyond the scandals. Speaking from his home in Rhode Island by telephone with NEWSWEEK's Andrew Murr, Wood stressed the importance of negotiating a settlement with Italy, following new stricter acquisition guidelines while still buying “aggressively” to expand the young museum’s collections. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: You will be first president of the Getty who has a long background in the arts. What do you see as the key elements of your vision for the museum and the trust?

James Wood: I’m not looking to make business decisions first. It’s really starting with the impact of the works of art—through conservation, through research, through grants. We have these different areas, but no matter how much money you’ve got, it depends on focus whether you make good use of the money. My focus is really starting with the work of art itself.

With the management difficulty and the acquisitions problems, do you feel you’ll need to bring in new people?

The first thing I have to do is sit down, listen and learn a lot. I am not up to speed on a number of these issues. I’ve followed it, as a number of people have, from the outside. I don’t think there’s a great need for new personnel. There are a number of new players [already]. The director of the museum, Michael Brand, has been there barely a year. He is excellent. The board, most of it, is very new … It is very committed to moving ahead, making changes that are needed. I don’t think it’s a matter of changing people. I think it’s just a matter of getting down to work.