DIRECTOR'S FOREWORD Turning the pages of this book gives us who work at the Getty Museum a particular exhilaration. Our most difficult and expensive task since 1983 has been to build an important collection of European paintings in a time of dwindling supply. This survey of the Museum's finest paintings provides a measure of our progress, for the reader wise to the code of accession numbers will discover how many of the works have been acquired in the past fourteen years. J. Paul Getty had a puzzling attitude toward paintings, buying them with only fitful enthusiasm. Not until after his death, when the Museum received the benefit of his generous legacy, could the paintings collection be greatly strengthened. As Curator of Paintings between 1965 and 1984, Burton Fredericksen brought a new level of professionalism to collecting, exhibiting, and publishing. His work has spanned several eras, beginning at Mr. Getty's modest house­museum in the 1960s; continuing through the construction in 1968­1974 of the present building, a re­created Roman villa; and into the current period of diversification by the Getty Trust and of growth for the Museum. He was followed as Curator of Paintings by Myron Laskin, who served from 1984 to 1989, and George Goldner, who held the position from 1989 to 1993. Each added major pictures and put his own stamp on the collection. David Jaffé has been curator since 1994. His energy has reinvigorated the department and his keen judgment has resulted in many important purchases. Roughly half the texts in this book are the work of Burton Fredericksen; other entries were contributed by David Jaffé, Dawson Carr, Denise Allen, Jennifer Helvey, and Perrin Stein. I am very grateful to all the authors. This book appears just as the paintings are being moved to a new museum, part of the Getty Center in the Santa Monica hills of Los Angeles. Hung in handsome galleries and lighted by daylight, the collection is sure to give even greater pleasure to visitors than it has in the past. JOHN WALSH Director DIRECTOR'S FOREWORD 7