AP News, August 14th, 2007
Thomas W. Gaehtgens, an internationally respected art historian, has been appointed director of the Getty Research Institute.
Gaehtgens, 67, will join the institute on Nov. 1. He currently heads the German Center for the History of Art in Paris, which he founded in 1997.
His appointment, announced Tuesday, concludes a 10-month search for a successor to Thomas Crow, who said last fall that he was accepting a chair in modern art history at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.
The Getty Research Institute, a branch of the J. Paul Getty Trust, provides resources to art researchers and operates one of the world's largest art history libraries. It also organizes public exhibitions, lectures and conferences.
Gaehtgens was a visiting scholar at the institute from 1985 to 1986.
He is a specialist in 18th and 19th century French and German art but is knowledgeable in several other art areas. He was head of the Art History Institute at the Free University of Berlin and holds art history degrees from the universities of Bonn, Freiburg, Vienna and Paris.
In 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
Gaehtgens' wife, Barbara Gaehtgens, is an art historian specializing in Dutch and French 17th century works.
"Thomas Gaehtgens is uniquely qualified to serve as director of the Getty Research Institute," James N. Wood, the Getty Trust's president and CEO, said Tuesday. "His contributions to our appreciation and understanding of the visual arts through his own scholarship, his creation of opportunities for others, and his realization of a wide range of publications, combined with his international experience and network of colleagues, assure the continuing dynamism of the GRI and promises new opportunities for its exceptional staff."
In a statement, Gaehtgens said he felt "honored to serve in this unique community of multifaceted institutions of excellence."
Gaehtgens, who is relocating to Los Angeles from Paris, is to assume his new duties in November.
