THE J. Paul Getty Museum has confirmed its status as not only the richest and most indulgent, but also the most riven art gallery in the world.

Barry Munitz has for eight years stood as president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, which runs the Los Angeles museum — endowed with $7 billion (£4 billion) of the old oilman’s money. Yesterday he was counting the cost of his abrupt “resignation”.

Mr Munitz had been blamed for creating a “toxic atmosphere” and accused of giving favours to business cronies as well as being under state investigation for lavish expenses including first-class air travel, sports cars and trips on luxury yachts.

He has admitted no wrongdoing, but it is significant that this week he waived any entitlement to up to $2.4 million in severance money. Instead, he has agreed to repay the trust $250,000 to resolve “any continuing disputes”.

In Britain the Getty is best known for attempting to acquire prize art treasures such as Canova’s Three Graces. But in America, the museum has become known for extravagance and feuding.

In addition to a $1.2 million salary, Mr Munitz’s expenses included a $72,000 Porsche Cayenne, $1,000-a-night hotel stays and $60,000 on first-class air tickets for his wife, according to press reports.

In an interview with The Times last August, Mr Munitz, 64, brushed aside the controversy as representing no “meaningful problem”. He added: “You have to understand life in LA — people find it embarrassing to travel commercial class.”

Between 1999 and 2002, Mr Munitz took 33 flights on Getty expenses — thirty of which were first class and only three economy class, the Los Angeles Times reported.

There were also yacht trips in Greece and Eastern Europe, for which he was partially reimbursed. The museum is said to have provided $35,107 (including $13,000 on air fares) for a trip to Tuscany, where Mr Munitz and his wife visited the villa once owned by the Medicis in the 15th century.

Perhaps inspired by tales of the family’s excess, he charged the museum $35 for Customs costs after Los Angeles aides were told to send Getty umbrellas to the villa by air mail.

Some financial deals done by the museum under his watch are being investigated. These include the 2002 sale of a Getty property for $700,000 less than its appraised value to Eli Broad, a billionaire friend of Mr Munitz.

Deborah Gribbon, who resigned as museum director in 2004 because of “broad philosophical differences” with the board, was unavailable for comment. But John Walsh, who served as director until 2000, said: “Barry did the right thing. So did the trustees, who have obviously learnt a lot. Now they need a president who cares about what the Getty does and understands its potential.”

Although the museum has more than 100,000 objects, from European Old Masters to Greek vases and modern photographs, it has faced criticism for lacking a coherent aesthetic identity and contemporary appeal. The trust, endowed by the oil family’s bequest in 1982, has six times more purchasing power than its next-richest American sibling, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Deborah Marrow, who has been appointed interim president, will be expected to work harder than her predecessor. Much day-to-day management was reportedly delegated to Jill Murphy, Mr Munitz’s chief of staff, whom he met at a restaurant in Sacramento where she was a waitress. She will have to contend with an investigation by the Californian AttorneyGeneral, as well as the US Council on Foundations , into whether Mr Munitz’s $1.2 million salary and perks package breached not-for-profit rules governing the trust.

Meanwhile, there is the matter of the criminal prosecution of Marion True, the Getty’s former antiquities curator who is on trial in Italy for trafficking stolen or looted antiquities. She resigned last October over alleged — and unrelated — improprieties involving a property purchase. John Biggs, the trust’s board chairman, said that Mr Munitz had “voluntarily terminated” his contract and had not asked for compensation, “although I’m sure he would have liked to have had it if we offered”. He added that the $250,000 payment by Mr Munitz was a “ballpark” figure to cover disputed items that are part of the Attorney-General’s review.

Mr Munitz said in his resignation letter that he considered his work to be complete. In a statement, he said: “I’m taking this action after lengthy consideration, so the institution and I can move forward.”

MUSEUM RICH IN CONTROVERSY

• World’s most wealthy arts institution, with endowment of $7 billion (£4 billion)
• The Getty Centre in Los Angeles, which opened in 1998, cost $1 billion
• In 2005 the museum’s lawyers found that more than half of 104 masterpieces were bought from suppliers under investigation
• Marion True, a former antiquities curator, is on trial in Rome for conspiring with dealers to traffic in looted artefacts
• The Italian Government has demanded the return of 42 pieces in the collection
• Barbara Fleischman, who had donated a stolen sculpture to the museum, resigned from the board of trustees last month
• The museum has 50 European paintings and 44,000 ancient artefacts

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