The London newspaper's John Hiscock reports in from Los Angeles on the image blemishes at the Getty:

Ever since the J Paul Getty Museum opened with lavish celebrations seven years ago, rumours of discord and discontent have been seeping from behind its massive travertine walls.

Several high-level executives and curators have left amid mutterings of low morale and a clash of cultures; a sexual harassment lawsuit was quietly settled, and the cash-loaded museum has been criticised for failing to acquire several high-profile works of art when they came up for auction.

The long-simmering rumblings at America's wealthiest arts institution have emerged into the open with the resignation of the museum's highly respected director, Deborah Gribbon, prompting other normally reticent museum directors to speak out in her support.

I discovered today that the parking fee at the nominally "free" Getty has crept up to $7. Way better than the $20 admission at the newly re-opened Museum of Modern Art that has New York in a froth, but for many it will be just another reason not to go to the trouble of visiting the city's most hard-to-get-to (and richest) art museum.