Getty Museum in Fall

One of my passions is the Arthurian legend, so Karen and I dashed up to the Getty Museum on Sunday to catch a chivalry exhibit that leaves at the end of the month. The exhibit was good but tiny—only one small room—a bit disappointing, especially since it costs $15 (!) to park at the Getty. Luckily, Karen noticed that a tour of the campus gardens was happening shortly after we arrived. We quickly joined a large group of people waiting at the museum entrance.

Jousting in a spectacularly illuminated

medieval manuscript

19th-century actors depicting "The

Parting of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere"

The Getty, opened in 1997, was famously designed by architect Richard Meier, who, we soon learned, also designed the landscape. The Central Garden, which cascades from the buildings above, was designed by artist Robert Irwin. Where Meier is all about straight lines and white travertine marble, Irwin is about color and the senses. In fact, Irwin calls his work “a sculpture in the form of a garden.” It is considered the Getty’s largest—and most expensive—art installation. The plants, which are regularly changed to reflect the seasons, are most glorious in the spring. Still, we enjoyed Irwin’s warm autumn palette in stark contrast to Meier’s white buildings.

Under one of Meier's angular arches

Peering through one of many sycamore trees

My favorites: the bougainvillea sculptures

The gardens