Getty

What Getty does

Getty is the cultural-institution operating brand of the J. Paul Getty Trust, a private charitable foundation established in 1954 by oil magnate J. Paul Getty. The Trust operates four wholly owned programs: the J. Paul Getty Museum (with two free-admission campuses — Getty Center in Brentwood and Getty Villa Museum in Pacific Palisades), the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Foundation. The organization serves general public visitors, K-12 students and educators, teenagers and young adults participating in paid internships, and academic scholars and conservators. Free admission with paid parking ($25/car or motorcycle, $15 after 3pm) is the visitor-facing pricing model; operations are funded primarily through the Trust's endowment rather than commercial revenue.

The technology stack centers on digital platforms for art access and research rather than a software product business. Core assets include the Getty Museum Collection database (91,616+ searchable items), Getty Vocabularies (AAT, ULAN, TGN, CONA) as structured terminology and Linked Open Data, the Getty Provenance Index, the Getty Research Portal aggregating art-history texts from global institutions, a Photo Archive of nearly 2 million study photographs, and a research library spanning 45+ miles of collections with 12+ dedicated search tools. The GettyGuide mobile app delivers multilingual (9 languages) audio tours, themed playlists, and location-aware navigation across both campuses. Image delivery runs on the IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework) standard, and the Open Content Program releases high-resolution images for unrestricted use. The Open Content Program, IIIF API, Library Catalog API, and Getty Vocabularies download endpoints form a public-facing research infrastructure used globally.

Commercial revenue mechanics are not a meaningful lever: parking fees and the Getty Publications Store (300+ free digital titles plus paid art books) are minor relative to endowment-funded operations. Distribution combines two physical museum locations in Southern California with globally accessible digital research and media platforms, plus five podcast series (Art + Ideas, If Objects Could Talk, OMMM, Recording Artists, ReCurrent) and active channels on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The Getty Center is scheduled to temporarily close from March 15, 2027 through spring 2028 for the most significant modernization since its 1997 opening.

Name

Getty

Legal name

J. Paul Getty Trust

Website

https://getty.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Getty is a private non-profit cultural institution under the J. Paul Getty Trust, operating two free-admission Los Angeles museums (Getty Center and Getty Villa), a research library, conservation institute, and global grantmaking foundation, serving general visitors, K-12 educators, teens, and academic researchers through on-site and digital platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Museum and Cultural Heritage Institution

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Museums (THAJADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF), Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC), Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG), History, Heritage & Museum-Focused Study Tours (THAKAGAN)

Keywords

• Art museum
• Cultural heritage research
• Art conservation
• Art history research
• Museum education

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Getty operates two free-admission art museums (Getty Center and Getty Villa Museum) housing European art and Greek/Roman antiquities, supported by an endowment-funded research and conservation infrastructure. Beyond museum visits, the institution delivers a research library with 45+ miles of collections, a searchable online collection database of 91,000+ artworks, structured art-historical terminology vocabularies, conservation training, K-12 and teen education programs, scholarly publications and podcasts, and grant programs supporting visual arts worldwide.

Product overview

Getty is a cultural institution comprising two free admission museums (Getty Center and Getty Villa Museum), a world-class research library, conservation institute, and foundation grant programs. The organization offers a portfolio of digital products including the GettyGuide mobile app for visitor engagement, the searchable Museum Collection database (91,000+ artworks), research tools (Getty Vocabularies, Getty Provenance Index, Getty Research Portal, Photo Archive), educational resources (K-12 programs, teacher professional development, teen internships), publications, podcasts (5 series), and grant/fellowship funding for the arts globally. The Getty Center is undergoing major modernization with temporary closure from March 2027 to spring 2028.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• GettyGuide App Free multilingual mobile application (10 languages) providing personal guided tours, audio tours, themed mood journeys, and location-aware navigation for visitors at Getty Center and Getty Villa Museum.
• Getty Center Brentwood, Los Angeles museum campus featuring European art from the Middle Ages to today, modern architecture, gardens, and panoramic city views. Free admission with timed-entry reservation.
• Getty Villa Museum Pacific Palisades museum housing Greek and Roman antiquities in a re-created Roman country home with gardens and ocean views. Free admission with timed-entry reservation.
• Getty Museum Collection Online searchable database of 91,000+ artworks spanning antiquity to the present, featuring European art, photography, antiquities, decorative arts, and manuscripts, with the Open Content Program providing free image downloads.
• Getty Vocabularies Structured terminology databases including the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), Union List of Artist Names (ULAN), Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN), and Cultural Objects Name Authority (CONA), used globally for standardizing descriptions of art, architecture, artists, and historical places.
• Getty Provenance Index Databases of archival documents, sales catalogs, and public collections for researching ownership history and provenance of artworks.
• Getty Research Portal Digital archive platform providing access to complete digital copies of art history texts, rare books, and related literature aggregated from multiple institutions worldwide.
• Getty Library Art historical research library with 45+ miles of books, journals, auction catalogs, rare photographs, archives, and special collections, accessible to registered readers on-site.
• Getty Photo Archive Research database inventory of nearly two million study photographs of art and architecture for research purposes.
• Getty Podcasts Five podcast series covering art, cultural heritage, and museum experiences: Art + Ideas, If Objects Could Talk, OMMM (Our Museum Mindfulness Meditation), Recording Artists, and ReCurrent.
• Getty Publications Publishing program of art books and publications on ancient world studies, conservation, art history, and exhibition catalogs in physical and digital formats, including a Virtual Library of over 300 free downloadable titles.
• Getty Conservation Institute Training Professional courses, workshops, and field training programs for conservation and cultural heritage management, with didactic teaching resources available for download.
• Getty Education Programs K-12 learning resources, field trips, teen programs (Teen Gallery Guides, Unshuttered), teacher professional development, and summer programs connecting art and cultural heritage to curriculum standards.
• Getty Funding Programs Grants and fellowships supporting art history, museums, archival collections, and conservation worldwide, including undergraduate internships, predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships, and scholar grants.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free admission to world-class art museums serving millions of visitors annually
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Met is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive art museums with comparable scope spanning antiquity to modern art, a major research library, and extensive digital programs including an Open Access initiative. It directly competes with Getty for global art-historical scholarship, exhibitions, and high-resolution digital collections.
• The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA): MoMA operates a major physical museum with an extensive digital collection platform and pioneering online programming. It competes with Getty for modern and contemporary art audiences, scholarly attention, and digital content leadership in visual arts.
• British Museum: The British Museum operates one of the world's preeminent encyclopedic museums with a major research library, digital collection platform, and global research reach. It is directly comparable to Getty on collection scope, scholarly infrastructure, and international museum leadership.
• Musée du Louvre: The Louvre is the world's most-visited museum with encyclopedic collections including antiquities, a major digital presence, and global brand recognition. It competes directly with Getty for European art, antiquities scholarship, and international cultural tourism.
• Art Institute of Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago operates a major encyclopedic art museum with a strong digital collection platform and open-access image program (API), directly comparable to Getty's Open Content and IIIF initiatives for art-historical research and global digital access.
• National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.): The National Gallery of Art operates a major encyclopedic art museum with free admission, a research library, extensive digital collection, and conservation programs. It is directly comparable to Getty as a free-admission national-scale art museum with deep research infrastructure.
• Tate (Tate Modern / Tate Britain): Tate operates major art museums in the UK with global digital reach, significant research collections, and free general admission at its main sites. It directly competes with Getty for international art-historical audiences, digital content leadership, and museum scholarship.
• Rijksmuseum: The Rijksmuseum operates a major art and history museum in Amsterdam with a pioneering open-data program (Rijksstudio) that makes high-resolution images freely available. It is directly comparable to Getty's Open Content Program and free-admission model for global digital art access.
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The MFA Boston operates a major encyclopedic art museum with significant collections, a research library, and digital initiatives. It is comparable to Getty as a US-based comprehensive art museum with scholarly resources and growing digital programming.

Broad incumbents

• Smithsonian Institution: The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex with multiple museums, research centers, and grantmaking arms under a federal charter. It is comparable in scope and mission to the J. Paul Getty Trust but operates at far broader scale and with public funding.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/gettymuseum
• GitHubgithub.com/thegetty
• YouTubeyoutube.com/gettymuseum
• Facebookfacebook.com/gettymuseum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/j.-paul-getty-trust
• Instagraminstagram.com/gettymuseum
• TikToktiktok.com/@gettymuseum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments10 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Getty