The Getty is the first museum in the country to use the Google Goggles app.
All a visitor has to do is snap a cellphone picture of a painting. Google's image recognition technology will then pull up more information on it.
You can listen to audio files and even read artist biographies.
The app also allows visitors to save a visual record of their trip through the galleries to share with others.
Curators always struggle to squeeze all their exhibit information onto limited text space next to a painting. "With this application, visitors can get a much fuller story from the more detailed information delivered on their mobile device," said Scott Schaefer, Getty's senior curator of paintings.
Museum officials said Getty created a mobile version of its collection data and provided it to Google to guarantee the most accurate and relevant search results.
The app cannot be used on certain paintings because of copyright laws. Also, no flash photography is allowed in order to protect the art.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
