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Guide to the J. Paul Getty Family Collected Papers, circa 1880s-1989, undated
IA20009
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Title: J. Paul Getty family collected papers
Date (inclusive): 1880s-1989, undated (bulk 1911-1977)
Number: IA20009
Creator/Collector:
Getty, J. Paul (Jean Paul), 1892-1976
Physical Description:
21.7 linear feet
(26 boxes, 1 painting, 1 flat file)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Institutional Records and Archives
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
archives@getty.edu
Abstract: The collection comprises collected materials related to art collector and oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty and his parents, George
F. Getty I and Sarah C. Getty. The collected papers on J. Paul Getty include some of his personal and business correspondence
and other documents, dating from 1909 to 1976, providing insight into his art collecting activities, his business concerns,
and his personal and family relationships. The materials also contain documents postdating Mr. Getty's death (1977, 1980-1989)
that concern the management of his estate and eulogize his life and accomplishments. The George F. Getty I and Sarah C. Getty
papers, dating from 1890 to 1939, primarily comprise family and oil business correspondence and offer researchers a glimpse
into the Getty household. The collection includes correspondence, art and furniture inventories, financial records, legal
documents, publications, ephemera, and photographs, dating from around the 1880s to 1989.
Request Materials: To access physical materials at the Getty, go to the
library catalog record for this collection and click "Request an Item." Click here for
general library access policy . See the Administrative Information section of this finding aid for access restrictions specific to the records described
below. Please note, some of the records may be stored off site; advanced notice is required for access to these materials.
Language: Collection material is in
English
American oil tycoon and art collector Jean Paul Getty was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on December 15, 1892 to George Franklin
Getty (1855-1930) and Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher Getty (1852-1941). George was an attorney and insurance executive whose
1903 visit to Indian Territory (a region that became part of the State of Oklahoma in 1907) inspired him to purchase land
and begin drilling, launching his career in the petroleum industry. Around 1906 the Getty family moved to Los Angeles, but
George maintained his oil business in Oklahoma, traveling to the oil fields periodically. Jean Paul, called "Paul," attended
a private military school before going on to college. He first attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles
and later went on to the University of California, Berkeley (1909 to 1911). In November of 1912 he began his studies at Magdalen
College at Oxford University in England and received a diploma in Politics and Economics from Oxford in 1913 or 1914. He then
enhanced his education by means of a Grand Tour of Europe, viewing art collections and ancient ruins that sparked his interest
in art and antiquities. He also toured parts of the Middle East and North Africa before returning to the United States in
September of 1914.
In 1914 Paul joined the family petroleum business and spent a year in the oil fields of Oklahoma. An astute investment in
160 acres near Stone Bluff, Oklahoma led to Paul's announcement two years later that he had earned his first million dollars.
He then lived the carefree life of a rich young bachelor in Los Angeles for more than a year before his father convinced him
to return to the oil business in Oklahoma. Soon thereafter Paul persuaded his father to shift the focus of the family business
to the Los Angeles basin. Paul continued to work for the family company in addition to conducting oil drilling of his own,
securing the family fortune by the time the stock market crashed in 1929. Upon his death in 1930 George left controlling interest
in the company to Sarah. In 1934 Paul forced Sarah out of control of the company and gave her an annuity. His fortune grew
as he acquired the controlling interest in several companies and became the head of a vast organization with activities in
oil exploration, transportation, production and marketing, as well as minerals, manufacturing, real estate and agriculture.
In the mid-1940s Paul bought the Saudi Arabian portion of the lease on the mineral rights in the Neutral Zone between Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait; his wealth dramatically increased when this site produced oil in 1953.
Beginning in the early 1930s J. Paul Getty lived in a house he built next to William Randolph Hearst's on the beach in Santa
Monica. During World War II he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma for four years to supervise wartime production of parts for Allied
aircraft at his Spartan Aircraft plant. In 1946 he purchased 64 acres in Malibu, California and renovated the existing hacienda,
known as the Ranch House, where he lived until 1951. When Getty departed the United States for Europe in 1951, he kept his
Malibu estate for the display of his art collection and for his eventual return to California. Getty had been collecting art
since the 1930s. In 1938 he made his first major purchases: a group of furniture; a carpet that had belonged to Louis XIV,
often called the "Ardabil Carpet"; and Rembrandt's
Marten Looten (he donated the Ardabil Carpet and the Rembrandt to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1954). Another of his strong
interests was antiquities, inspired by his travels throughout Europe and by visits to the Vatican Museums. He took pride in
being knowledgeable in the areas in which he was collecting and in finding bargains. Getty continued to collect art throughout
his lifetime, despite occasional assertions that he was no longer in the market. By 1968 his art collection had begun to outgrow
the Ranch House and he began planning a new building on the property to properly house these works. He chose to pattern this
new museum building after a first-century Roman country house, based primarily on the plans of the ancient Villa dei Papiri
near Herculaneum. This museum, often called the Getty Villa, opened to the public on January 16, 1974.
After leaving the United States in 1951 Getty lived in hotel suites in Europe until 1960 when he moved to Sutton Place, a
historic 72-room Tudor manor located 25 miles southwest of London. In 1957
Fortune magazine designated Getty as the world's wealthiest man, and he became the object of considerable public interest. For the
rest of his life, both the respectable press and the tabloids reported on his perceived eccentricities and his private life,
which included five marriages and divorces. J. Paul Getty died in England on June 6, 1976 without ever returning to California.
Although he never saw the museum, he is buried at the Getty Villa property on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Much
to everyone's surprise Getty left the bulk of his fortune to the museum, requesting that the funds be employed to promote
"the diffusion of artistic and general knowledge."
J. Paul Getty's publications include:
- Getty, J. Paul. The history of the oil business of George F. and J. Paul Getty from 1903 to 1939. Los Angeles (?), 1941.
- Getty, J. Paul. Europe in the eighteenth century. [Santa Monica, Calif.]: privately printed, 1949.
- Le Vane, Ethel, and J. Paul Getty. Collector's choice: the chronicle of an artistic odyssey through Europe. London: W.H. Allen, 1955.
- Getty, J. Paul. My life and fortunes. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1963.
- Getty, J. Paul. The joys of collecting. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1965.
- Getty, J. Paul. How to be rich. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1965.
- Getty, J. Paul. The golden age. New York: Trident Press, 1968.
- Getty, J. Paul. How to be a successful executive. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1971.
- Getty, J. Paul. As I see it: the autobiography of J. Paul Getty. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1976.
The records described in accessions 1986.IA.22; 1986.IA.40; 1986.IA.48; 1987.IA.05; 1987.IA.11; 1987.IA.16; 1992.IA.03; 1997.IA.08;
1998.IA.07; 2002.IA.02; 2004.IA.17; 2006.IA.05; 2007.IA.32; 2009.IA.36; and 2012.IA.37 are available for use by qualified
researchers.
With the exception of materials that have been marked restricted or confidential, the records described in accessions 1986.IA.48
and 2010.IA.17 are available for use by qualified researchers.
Please note: materials that have been marked restricted or confidential must be removed from boxes prior to access.
The following types of records are permanently closed: records containing personal information, records that compromise security
or operations, legal communications, legal work product, and records related to donors. The J. Paul Getty Trust reserves the
right to restrict access to any records held by the Institutional Archives.
Contact
Rights and Reproductions at the Getty Research Institute for copyright information and permission to publish.
[Cite the item and series (as appropriate)], J. Paul Getty Family Collected Papers, circa 1880s-1989. Institutional Archives,
Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA20009.
This collection was assembled from a number of sources and is comprised of the following accessions:
- 1986.IA.22 transferred by the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities
- 1986.IA.40 transferred by the J. Paul Getty Trust
- 1986.IA.48 transferred by the J. Paul Getty Museum (the material was originally part of accession no. 1986.IA.01 and was assigned no. 1986.IA.48 in January 2006 for purposes of providing better administrative control)
- 1987.IA.05 (unidentified source)
- 1987.IA.11 transferred by the J. Paul Getty Museum
- 1987.IA.16 transferred by the J. Paul Getty Estate
- 1992.IA.03 donated by Zeki Yonet
- 1997.IA.08 donated by unidentified dealer
- 1998.IA.07 donated by or acquired from Spencer A. Samuels & Co.
- 2002.IA.02 (unidentified source)
- 2004.IA.17 donated to the Institutional Archives by the Nethercutt Collection
- 2006.IA.05 transferred by the J. Paul Getty Trust
- 2007.IA.32 donated by Lynda Jenner
- 2009.IA.36 discovered by Getty Institutional Archives staff during review of unaccessioned legacy records
- 2010.IA.17 acquired from Scott J. Winslow Associates, Inc.
- 2011.IA.44 transfer
- 2012.IA.37 transfer
Phil Curtis created a box list in the summer of 2003, began a preliminary rehousing of the collection, created and began encoding
a preliminary finding aid in November 2004. Sue Luftschein completed the rehousing, and restructured and completed this finding
aid in August 2005. In 2009, Cyndi Shein processed material accessioned during the Legacy Records Appraisal Project and revised
the finding aid accordingly. The acquisition of some of J. Paul Getty's personal papers and George F. and Sarah C. Getty's
papers in 2010 introduced new content to the collection; Cyndi Shein processed and added the following accessions: 1997.IA.08;
1998.IA.07; 2006.IA.05; 2007.IA.32; and 2010.IA.17. She then restructured the intellectual arrangement of the materials and
rewrote the finding aid to reflect the new nature of the collection. Cyndi Shein added accessions 2011.IA.44 and 2012.IA.37
in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Please note that accessions 1987.IA.11, 1992.IA.03, and 1998.IA.07 are housed in shared box 1986.IA.22-02. Accession 2002.IA.02
is housed with the other oversized photographs in box 1986.IA.12-48. Accessions 2004.IA.17, 2009.IA.36, and 2011.IA.44 are
housed in shared box 1987.IA.16-01.
Related Archival Materials Note
The following archival materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the people, programs, and subjects
covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive.
Contributing Institution:
Getty Institutional Archives
Art and Real Estate Holding Companies Records, 1939, 1960-1982 and undated, J. Paul Getty. Institutional Records and Archives,
Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA20011.
Collected Papers for Biography of J. Paul Getty, 1957-1973, 1984 and undated, Ralph Hewins. Institutional Records and Archives,
Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA20012.
J. Paul Getty and the Ashby Sisters Papers, 1926-1992, undated. Institutional Records and Archives, Getty Research Institute,
Finding aid no. IA20013.
J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, 1948-1976, J. Paul Getty. Institutional Records and Archives, Getty Research Institute,
Finding aid no. IA40009.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection comprises materials gathered from a variety of sources that relate to art collector and oil tycoon, J. Paul
Getty and his parents, George F. Getty I and Sarah C. Getty. The collection includes correspondence, art and furniture inventories,
financial records, legal documents, publications, ephemera, and photographs, dating from approximately 1880 to 1989 and undated.
The collected papers on J. Paul Getty include some of his personal and business correspondence and other documents, providing
insight into his art collecting activities, his business ventures, and his personal and family relationships. The financial
records primarily describe the financial well-being of Getty family businesses as well as Getty's estate at the time of his
death. The legal documents describe legal and financial relationships within the Getty family through correspondence, wills,
prenuptial agreements, divorce decrees, financial settlements, child and spousal support agreements, and other legal documents.
Materials related to Mr. Getty's publications contain correspondence with co-authors and publishers, typescripts and drafts
of his books, and copies of his published books and articles. The collected papers also contain documents postdating Mr. Getty's
death (1977, 1980-1989) that concern the management of his estate and eulogize his life and accomplishments.
The collected George F. Getty I and Sarah C. Getty papers include letters, telegrams, hand-drawn maps, cancelled stock certificates,
contracts, promissory notes, travel documents, receipts, and various forms of ephemera. The family correspondence includes
letters written by J. Paul Getty to his parents that provide insight into the personal and early business relationships between
George, Sarah, and Paul. While the family correspondence hints at the atmosphere of the Getty household, George's papers shed
light on his early oil operations, including scouting potential drilling sites, day-to-day management of drilling activities,
and his political efforts to protect his interests/land in the Osage Nation (part of the Indian Territory that became Oklahoma).
Sarah's mostly peripheral involvement in the family business is evinced by her correspondence with George and several notarized
documents.
The photographs consist primarily of black-and-white photographs and negatives, dating from approximately the 1880s to the
1970s, of J. Paul Getty, family, friends, properties, and city and landscape views. The photographs also include several images
of the J. Paul Getty Museum and galleries during its early years. The images are of various sizes, and are largely undated
and unidentified. The majority of these photographs once belonged to J. Paul Getty, while a smaller number of them seem to
have belonged to his father, George F. Getty I. The photographs come from several different sources, including Ralph Hewins,
Getty's biographer.
These records are organized into three series:
Series I. J. Paul Getty papers, 1892-1989, undated;
Series II. George F. Getty I and Sarah C. Getty papers, 1890-1939, undated;
Series III. Photographs, 1880s-1970s, undated.
Getty, George F. (George Franklin), 1855-1930
Getty, J. Paul (Jean Paul), 1892-1976
Getty, Sarah C. (Sarah Catherine), 1852-1941
Ada Oil Corporation
George F. Getty, Incorporated
Getty Oil Company
J. Paul Getty Museum
Minnehoma Oil and Gas Company
Oklahoma Oil Corporation
San Joaquin Oil Company
Art museums
Art objects--Collectors and collecting
Billionaires--United States--20th century
Entrepreneurship--20th century
Oil fields--Oklahoma--Osage Reservation
Petroleum--History--United States--20th century
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
Financial records
Ledgers (account books)
Legal documents
Photographs
Publications
Reports
Bramlett, Norris
Gaston, Teddy Getty
Getty, George F. (George Franklin), 1855-1930
Getty, Sarah C. (Sarah Catherine), 1852-1941
Hewins, Ralph
Le Vane, Ethel
Information in the biographical note on J. Paul Getty was gleaned from the collection and from the following publications:
- Getty, J. Paul. As I see it: the autobiography of J. Paul Getty. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1976.
- Hewins, Ralph. The richest American: J. Paul Getty. New York: Dutton, 1960.