After months of mounting troubles, the J. Paul Getty Trust announced Saturday that its board of trustees had formed a special committee to investigate its acquisition of antiquities and its use of tax-exempt funds.
The committee, composed of five board members, will review issues related to an Italian criminal inquiry into allegedly looted antiquities and an investigation by the state attorney general into spending by the trust and its chief executive, Barry Munitz.
John Biggs, chairman of the trust's board and head of the new committee, said through a spokesman that the panel would also "review the institution's corporate governance, including policies and procedures, and then make whatever recommendations -- if any -- we feel are appropriate for the full board to consider."
In announcing formation of the committee, the trust said in a statement that it had retained a prominent Los Angeles attorney, Ronald L. Olson, to assist with the independent review.
"The creation of the special committee reflects the serious commitment by all of our trustees to ensure that the J. Paul Getty Trust, its board and each of its members and employees meets all legal requirements as well as the highest ethical standards while carrying out the trust's mission," Biggs said in the statement.
The announcement marks the first response by the country's third-largest private foundation to the investigations and to an ethical breach by its former antiquities curator.
In addition, the Getty has been beset by what current and former employees have described as low morale since the resignation of the Getty Museum's popular director, Deborah Gribbon, more than a year ago.
The $9-billion trust, with its landmark center on a Brentwood hillside, is the world's richest art institution. The museum is probably its best-known branch. The trust also operates the world-renowned Conservation Institute, which restores and protects art worldwide; the Research Institute, with an 800,000-volume library; and a grant program, the Getty Foundation.
Since the beginning of this year, Biggs and other board members have offered few public comments on the trust's problems other than to say it had done nothing inappropriate or illegal.
After The Times reported in June on Munitz's use of the trust's tax-exempt money to fund perks and lavish travel, the board was publicly chastised by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) for not taking a more assertive role.
