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J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, 1948-1976

Finding aid prepared by Cyndi Shein

J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, IA40009 1

1948-1976
 Descriptive Summary
Title: J. Paul Getty diaries
Date (inclusive): 1938-1946, 1948-1976
Number: IA40009
Creator/Collector: Getty, J. Paul (Jean Paul), 1892-1976
Physical Description: 4.3 linear feet(5 boxes; 29 volumes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Institutional Records and Archives
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
[email protected]
Abstract: The collection comprises twenty-nine handwritten diaries (1938-1946, 1948-1976) of billionaire J. Paul Getty. The
diaries focus on his travels, business dealings, art collecting, and interests, providing insights into his personality, priorities,
politics, relationships, tastes, and values. They contain daily accounts of Getty's activities, briefly describing social events,
business meetings, museum visits, historical and archaeological sites, art objects, and the various people with whom he
interacted. They reveal his business practices and philosophies, his passion for history and art, and his cultivation of
friendships with influential people. The diaries also illustrate Getty's relations with people in the art world and contain his
personal opinions on particular art objects, demonstrating how he developed the collections of decorative arts, antiquities,
paintings, and sculpture that evolved into the J. Paul Getty Museum.
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
Biographical Note
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. Around 1906 the Getty family moved to Los
Angeles. Jean Paul, called "Paul," attended a private military school before going on to the University of Southern California
in Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley. In 1911, Paul went to Oxford to study economics and political
science, completing his diploma in 1913. Afterwards he embarked on a year-long Grand Tour of Europe, which no doubt
sparked his interest in art and antiquities.
In 1914 Paul joined the family petroleum business and spent a year in the oil fields of Oklahoma. An investment in 160
acres in Oklahoma led to Paul’s announcement two years later that he had earned his first million dollars. He returned to
Los Angeles and took a break of more than a year before returning to the oil business. Paul then 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 Getty 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 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 the possibility of his eventual return.
Getty had been traveling throughout Europe and 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). His other

J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, IA40009 2

1948-1976
 interest was antiquities, fueled by visits to the Vatican Museums that began in 1939. 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 Villa, opened to the public on January 16, 1974.
After leaving the United States 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 with a mission 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.
Restrictions on Access
The records described in accession 2010.IA.16 are available for use by qualified researchers.
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.
Publication Rights
Contact Library Rights and Reproductions .
Preferred Citation
[Cite the item and series (as appropriate)], Diaries, J. Paul Getty. Institutional Archives, Research Library, Getty Research
Institute, Finding aid no. IA40009.
Acquisition Information
Accession 2010.IA.16 was purchased from Scott J. Winslow in April, 2010.
Processing History
Accession 2010.IA.16 was processed by Cyndi Shein in 2010.
The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the people and subjects covered by the
records. The listing is not exhaustive.
Contributing Institution: Getty Institutional Archives
Art and Real Estate Holding Companies Records, 1939-1982, 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 Family Papers, circa 1880s-1989 and undated. Institutional Records and Archives, Getty Research Institute,
Finding aid no. IA20009.
J. Paul Getty and the Ashby Sisters Papers, 1926-1992, and undated. Institutional Records and Archives, Getty Research
Institute, Finding aid no. IA20013.
Scope and Content of Collection

J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, IA40009 3

1948-1976
 The collection comprises the handwritten diaries (1938-1976) of billionaire J. Paul Getty. Although there are certainly
references to family and friends throughout the diaries, the journal entries focus more on Mr. Getty's travels, business
dealings, art collecting, and interests. They provide insights into the personality, priorities, politics, relationships, tastes,
and values of the man as he built and maintained his empire. The diaries contain daily accounts of Mr. Getty's activities,
briefly describing social events, business meetings, museum visits, historical and archaeological sites, art objects, and the
various people with whom he interacted. They reveal his business practices and philosophies, his passion for history and
art, and his cultivation of friendships with famous and influential people. Getty's diary entries also show his attentiveness to
and concern regarding world affairs, such as his acute awareness of the threat of war while he was traveling through
Germany in the late 1930s, and his respect for world leaders such as Winston Churchill and J. F. Kennedy.
Of particular interest to the study of art collectors and collecting are diary entries that assess art objects or illustrate
Getty's relations with people in the art world. Journal entries include his contact with dealers, auction houses, collectors,
curators, art experts, and other advisors, including Duveen. Within the diaries Getty comments on objects he considers
acquiring in addition to objects he chooses not to acquire, disclosing how he developed his collections of decorative arts,
antiquities, paintings, and sculpture. The diaries document acquisitions that became the foundational objects of the J. Paul
Getty Museum, such as the ancient Roman Lansdowne Herakles, as well as acquisitions that Mr. Getty donated to other
museums, such as Rembrandt’s Marten Looten. The diaries also disclose Getty's rather competitive interest in what his
contemporaries (individuals and institutions) were collecting at the time.
Arrangement
The diaries are arranged in chronological order.
Subjects - Names
Getty, J. Paul (Jean Paul), 1892-1976
Subjects - Corporate Bodies
J. Paul Getty Museum
Subjects - Topics
Art--Collectors and collecting
Genres and Forms of Material
Diaries--United States--20th century
Bibliography
Information in the biographical note on J. Paul Getty was adapted from:
• Walsh, John and Deborah Gribbon. The J. Paul Getty Museum and its collections: a museum for the new century.
Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997.

  J. Paul Getty diaries

   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 August 27-November 13, 1938
General Physical Description note: Black leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder (13.7 x
9.2 x 1.5 cm.)
NOTE:
Mr. Getty wrote in this volume starting from the back of the notebook, working toward
the front. To view the diary entries in chronological order, please begin on the last page
of the notebook or last image of the digital file.
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 March 24-December 30, 1939
General Physical Description note: Black leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder (13.7 x
9.2 x 1.5 cm.)
NOTE:
Mr. Getty wrote in this volume starting from the back of the notebook, working toward
the front. To view the diary entries in chronological order, please begin on the last page
of the notebook or last image of the digital file.
   

J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, IA40009 4

1948-1976
J. Paul Getty diaries

Box 2010.IA.16-01 August 8, 1940-December 26, 1941

General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.7 x 9.2 x 1.5 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 December 26, 1941-December 26, 1942
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.7 x 9.2 x 1.5 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 December 26,1942-December 31, 1943
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.7 x 9.2 x 1.5 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 December 31, 1943-December 29, 1944
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.7 x 9.2 x 1.5 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 December 30, 1944-March 17, 1946
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.7 x 9.2 x 1.5 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 March 18-December 7, 1946
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.7 x 9.2 x 1.5 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 July 2, 1948-July 29, 1949
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.5 x 10 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 July 29-December 31, 1949
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.5 x 10 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 December 31, 1949-July 1, 1950
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.5 x 10 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-01 July 1-December 5, 1950
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.5 x 10 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-02 December 6, 1950-December 11, 1951
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(13.5 x 10 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-02 December 12, 1951-April 24, 1952
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(16 x 10.5 x 1.5 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-02 April 24, 1952-June 4, 1953
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (18.5 x 14 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-02 June 5, 1953-July 23, 1954
General Physical Description note: Brown simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf
binder (19 x 12.5 x 1.5 cm.)

J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, IA40009 5

1948-1976
J. Paul Getty diaries

   
Box 2010.IA.16-02 July 24, 1954-January 4, 1955
General Physical Description note: Brown plastic simulated leather, six-ring,
loose-leaf binder (18 x 12 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-02 January 5, 1955-August 27, 1956
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, six-ring, loose-leaf binder
(21 x 15 x 2 cm.)
Scope and Content Note
Although the cover of this volume reads "January 5th 1955-August 27th 1956" the diary
entries date from January 5, 1955 to May 8, 1956.
   
Box 2010.IA.16-02 August 28, 1956-July 15, 1959
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, four-ring, loose-leaf
binder (22 x 18 x 4 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-03 July 16, 1959-August 11, 1962
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (21 x 20 x 3.25 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-03 August 12, 1962-June 26, 1964
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (23.5 x 20.5 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-03 June 27, 1964-July 28, 1966
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (23.5 x 21 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-03 July 29, 1966-March 16, 1968
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (23.5 x 20.5 x 2 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-04 March 17, 1968-April 17, 1971
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (25.5 x 21 x 3 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-04 April 18, 1971-July 28, 1972
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (25.5 x 21 x 3 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-04 July 29, 1972-July 27, 1974
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (25.5 x 21.5 x 3 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-04 July 28-December 31, 1974
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (25.5 x 21.5 x 3 cm.)
   
Box 2010.IA.16-05 December 31, 1974-December 31, 1975
General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (25.5 x 21.5 x 3 cm.)
   

J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, IA40009 6

1948-1976
J. Paul Getty diaries

Box 2010.IA.16-05 December 31, 1975-June 2, 1976

General Physical Description note: Black simulated leather, three-ring, loose-leaf
binder (23.5 x 20.5 x 2 cm.)
Scope and Content Note
The first entry in this volume is a continuation of the December 31, 1975 entry from the
previous volume, but is erroneously labeled (in Mr. Getty's secretary's hand) as "January
31, 1975."
   

J. Paul Getty Diaries, 1938-1946, IA40009 7

1948-1976