Huntington Library
Founded | 1919 |
---|---|
Founders | Henry E. Huntington, Arabella Huntington |
Type | Collections-based research and educational institution |
Focus | Research, education |
Location | |
Coordinates | 34°07′38″N 118°06′36″W / 34.12722°N 118.11000°W |
Area served | Southern California |
President | Karen R. Lawrence |
Endowment | $411 million (as of June 30, 2013) |
Employees | 478 |
Volunteers | 1,200 |
Website | huntington |
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington,
History
As a landowner,
Huntington's interest in art was influenced in large part by Arabella, and with art experts to guide him, he benefited from a post-World War I European market that was "ready to sell almost anything". Before his death in 1927, Huntington amassed "far and away the greatest group of eighteenth-century British portraits ever assembled by any one man". In accordance with Huntington's will, the collection, then worth $50 million, was opened to the public in 1928.[1]
On October 17, 1985, a fire erupted in an elevator shaft of the Huntington Art Gallery and destroyed Sir Joshua Reynolds's 1777 portrait of Mrs. Edwin Lascelles. After a year-long, $1 million refurbishing project, the Huntington Gallery reopened in 1986, with its artworks cleaned of soot and stains. Most of the funds for the cleanup and refurbishing of the Georgian mansion and its artworks came from donations from the Michael J. Connell Foundation, corporations and individuals.[2] Both the Federal art-supporting establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities gave emergency grants, the former of $17,500 to "support conservation and other related costs resulting from a serious fire at the Gallery of Art",[3] and the latter of $30,000 to "support the restoration of several fire-damaged works of art that depict the story of Western culture."[4]
On September 5, 2019, The Huntington kicked off a year-long celebration of its centennial year with exhibitions, special programs, initiatives, a special Huntington 100th rose, and a float in the 2020 Rose Parade in nearby Pasadena, California.
Management
The executive leaders of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens are:[5]
- President: Karen R. Lawrence
- Chief Financial Officer: Janet Alberti
- Chief Human Resources Officer: Misty Bennett
- Director of the Library: Sandra Ludig Brooke
- Director of the Botanical Gardens: James Folsom (retired), Nicole Cavender (May 17, 2021)
- Director of the Art Museum: Christina Nielsen
- Vice Presidents and other executive leaders: Heather Hart, Susan Juster, Thomas Polansky, Randy Shulman, Susan Turner-Lowe, and Elizabeth (Elee) Wood
With an endowment of more than $400 million (and half a billion dollars raised between 2001 and 2013), the Huntington is among the wealthiest cultural institutions in the United States. It has undertaken major restorations and construction including a $60 million education and visitors center opened in 2015. Each year some 1,700 scholars conduct research there, and 600,000 people visit.[6]
Library
The library building was designed in 1920 by the southern California architect
The library's main exhibition hall showcases some of the most outstanding rare books and manuscripts in the collection, while the West Hall of the library hosts rotating exhibitions. The Dibner Hall of the History of Science is a permanent exhibition on the history of science with a focus on astronomy, natural history, medicine, and light.
With the 2006 acquisition of the Burndy Library, a collection of nearly 60,000 items, the Huntington became one of the top institutions in the world for the study of the history of science and technology.
On December 14, 2022, the library announced they had acquired the archive of American author Thomas Pynchon.[10]
Research
Researchers over age 18 may use the Library's reading rooms to consult the collection upon establishing a research need that requires the use of The Huntington's collections, identifying specific materials, and presenting the required form(s) of identification at orientation.[11] Through a rigorous peer-review program, the institution awards approximately 150 grants to scholars in the fields of history, literature, art, and the history of science, medicine, and technology. The Huntington also hosts numerous scholarly events, lectures, conferences, and workshops.[9]
In September 1991, then-director William A. Moffett announced that the library's photographic archive of the Dead Sea Scrolls would be available to all qualified scholars, not just those approved by the international team of editors that had so long limited access to a chosen few. The collection consists of 3,000 photographs of all the original scrolls.[12][13]
Through a partnership with the University of Southern California, the library has established two research centers: the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute and the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.
Art collections
The Huntington's collections are displayed in permanent installations housed in the Huntington Art Gallery and Virginia Steele Scott Gallery of American Art. Special temporary exhibitions are mounted in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery, with smaller, focused exhibitions displayed in the Works on Paper Room in the Huntington Art Gallery and the Susan and Stephen Chandler Wing of the Scott Galleries. In addition the gallery also hosts different exhibitions of photography throughout the year including those about different social and political subjects.
European art
The European collection, consisting largely of 18th- and 19th-century British & French paintings, sculptures and decorative arts, is housed in The Huntington Art Gallery, the original Huntington residence. The permanent installation also includes selections from the Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection, which contains
.American art
Complementing the European collections is the Huntington's American art holdings, a collection of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, and photographs dating from the 17th to the mid-20th century. The institution did not begin collecting American art until 1979, when it received a gift of 50 paintings from the Virginia Steele Scott Foundation. Consequently, The Virginia Steele Scott Gallery of American Art was established in 1984. In 2009, the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries were expanded, refurbished, and reinstalled. The new showcase, a $1.6 million project designed to give the Huntington's growing American art collection more space and visibility, combines the original, 1984 American gallery with the Lois and Robert F. Erburu Gallery, a modern classical addition designed by Los Angeles architect Frederick Fisher.[14] Highlights among the American art collections include Breakfast in Bed by Mary Cassatt, The Long Leg by Edward Hopper, Small Crushed Campbell's Soup Can (Beef Noodle) by Andy Warhol, and Global Loft (Spread) by Robert Rauschenberg. As of 2014, the collection numbers some 12,000 works, ninety percent of them drawings, photographs and prints.[15]
In 2014, the library acquired the Millard Sheets mural Southern California landscape (1934), the dining room wall painting originally painted for homeowners Fred H. and Bessie Ranke in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles.[16]
Acquisitions
In 1999, the Huntington acquired the collection of materials relating to Arts and Crafts artist and designer
In 2005, actor Steve Martin gave $1 million to the Huntington to support exhibitions and acquisitions of American art, with three-quarters of the money to be spent on exhibitions and the rest on purchases of artworks.[18] In 2009, Andy Warhol's painting Small Crushed Campbell's Soup Can (Beef Noodle) (1962) as well as group of the artist's Brillo Boxes were donated by the estate of Robert Shapazian, the founding director of Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills.[19] In 2011, a $1.75 million acquisition fund for post-1945 American art was established by unidentified patrons in honor of the late Shapazian. The first purchase from the fund was the painting Global Loft (Spread) (1979) by Robert Rauschenberg.[20]
In 2012, the museum acquired its first major work by an African-American artist when it purchased a 22-foot-long carved redwood panel from 1937 by sculptor Sargent Claude Johnson.[21]
In October 2023, the museum unveiled a 320-year-old, 3,000 square feet (280 m2) Japanese home once owned by a shōya (village head). From 2018 to 2023, craftspeople carefully disassembled the house, labeled, cleaned, and repaired each part, reassembled the house in a Japanese warehouse, refitted the house to US building codes, disassembled it again, and reassembled it in California. Curator Robert Hori likened the whole process to building a "giant model airplane."[22]
Botanical gardens
The Huntington's
The Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science has a large tropical plant collection, as well as a
The Camellia Collection, recognized as an International Camellia Garden of Excellence, includes nearly eighty different
Chinese Garden
A
The second phase, which includes the "Clear and Transcendent Pavilion", "Lingering Clouds Peak" with a waterfall, Waveless Boat, "Crossing through Fragrance" bridge and the "Cloud Steps" bridge, opened on March 8, 2014.[24] There were other pavilions, including the "Flowery Brush Studio", and structures completed under phase two. A place to display its large collections of penjing and bonsai has completed.[25]
Desert Garden
The
Japanese Garden
In 1911, art dealer George Turner Marsh (who also created the Japanese Tea Garden at the Golden Gate Park) sold his commercial Japanese tea garden to Henry E. Huntington to create the foundations of what is known today as the Japanese Garden. The garden was completed in 1912 and opened to the public in 1928. According to historian Kendall Brown, the garden consists of three gardens: the original stroll garden with koi-filled ponds and a drum or moon bridge, the raked-gravel dry garden added in 1968, and the traditionally landscaped tea garden.[26]
In addition, the gardens feature a large bell, the authentic ceremonial teahouse Seifu-an (the Arbor of Pure Breeze), a fully furnished Japanese house, the Zen Garden, and the bonsai collections with hundreds of trees. The Bonsai Courts at the Huntington is the home of the Golden State Bonsai Federation Southern Collection. Another ancient Japanese art form can be found at the Harry Hirao Suiseki Court, where visitors can touch the suiseki or viewing stones.
Other gardens
- Australian Garden
- Camellia Garden
- Children's Garden
- Conservatory
- Herb Garden
- Jungle Garden
- LilyPonds
- PalmGarden
- Ranch Garden
- Rose Garden
- ShakespeareGarden
- SubtropicalGarden
In popular culture
The Huntington Botanical Gardens were honored with a postal stamp as a part of the American Gardens stamps on May 13, 2020. The Desert Garden was featured.[27]
The gardens are frequently used as a filming location. Footage shot there has been included in:
- Mame (1974)
- "Only Yesterday" (music video) – Carpenters (1975)
- Midway (1976)
- Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)[citation needed]
- Justice (Star Trek: The Next Generation) (1987)
- Heathers[28] (1988)
- "Ordinary World" (music video) – Duran Duran (1993)
- Indecent Proposal (1993)
- Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)
- JAG (1997), used as the White House rose garden
- The Wedding Singer (1998)
- Mystery Men (1999)
- Charlie's Angels (2000)
- The Wedding Planner (2001)
- The Hot Chick (2002)
- S1m0ne(2002)
- Anger Management (2003)
- The West Wing (2003), used as the National Arboretum
- Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
- Starsky & Hutch (2004)
- Monster-in-Law (2005)
- Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
- Serenity (2005)
- Ned's Declassified Field Trip, the final episode of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2007)
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), used as the White House rose garden
- You May Now Kill the Bride(2008)
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), used during the flashback fighting scenes between ten-year-old Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.
- "A Beautiful End" (music video) – J.R. Richards(2009)
- The Muppets (2011)
- Bridesmaids (2011), the driveway to Helen's bridal shower
- Parks and Recreation, used as Five Mile Grounds, the new Eagleton park, in the episode "Pawnee Commons" (2012)
- Katie and Orbie (2015)
- The Good Place, as the afterlife's fictional setting (2016–2020)
- "Garden Song" by singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers mentions the Huntington by name.
Gallery
-
Colorful flowers
-
Jungle Garden
-
Spring bloom in the Herb Garden
-
Japanese Garden bell
-
Classical Garden Pavilion
-
Fountain on the Great Lawn
-
Blooming Roses in April 2022
-
Neo-Classical garden sculpture
-
Succulent plants in the Desert Garden
-
Rose Garden in bloom, April 2022
-
Wisteria arbor, April 2009
-
Snapdragons
-
Ficus auriculata leaves[29]
-
Agathis robusta in the Rose Garden
See also
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- The Constance Perkins House, donated to the Library in 1991
- List of museums in California
References
Footnotes
- ^ The common appellation of The Huntington may also refer to the Huntington Hospital.
Citations
- ^ "$50,000,000 Huntington Collection was Amassed by One Man in 17 Years". Life. January 24, 1938. p. 33. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
- ^ Muchnic, Suzanne (September 28, 1986). "The Huntington's Glorious Restoration". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Jurenas, Joan Bowersox, ed. (1987). 1986 Annual Report (PDF) (Report). National Endowment for the Arts. p. 103. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ISSN 8755-5492.
- ^ "Leadership". huntington.org. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ New York Times. Archivedfrom the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
- ^ "What buildings did Myron Hunt design?". Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
- ^ Miranda, Carolina A. (April 1, 2021). "The Huntington Library has a history of inequity. Can it pivot toward inclusivity?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ a b Huntington Library In Fact, 2012–2013
- ^ "News Release – The Huntington Acquires Thomas Pynchon Archive | The Huntington". huntington.org. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
- ^ "Using the Library | The Huntington". huntington.org. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
- New York Times. Archivedfrom the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
- New York Times. Archivedfrom the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
- ^ Muchnic, Suzanne (May 30, 2009). "American art gets a higher profile in U.S. museums". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012.
- ^ Knight, Christopher (July 19, 2014). "Huntington's new gallery rooms show promise". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 20, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
- ^ Wada, Karen (November 4, 2014). "Millard Sheets mural moving to the Huntington". LA Observed. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014.
- ^ "William Morris Exhibition". April 16, 2008. Archived from the original on April 16, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
- ^ Muchnic, Suzanne (February 8, 2005). "Huntington gets arts endowment". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012.
- ^ Pop Art Comes to The Huntington Archived 2011-10-21 at the Wayback Machine The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
- ^ Finkel, Jori (June 7, 2012). "Huntington buys a Robert Rauschenberg Spread painting". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012.
- New York Times.
- ^ Drueding, Meghan (Winter 2024). "On the Move: How an International Team Moved a Historic Japanese House to the United States". Preservation Magazine.
- ^ Pomeroy, Elizabeth (June 1983). "Paradise found: the Huntington library". Wilson Library Bulletin. 57: 833–837.
- ^ New Section of The Huntington's Chinese Garden Debuts as Phase II Takes Shape Archived 2014-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, February 28, 2014
- ^ Fielding, Buck (October 24, 2020). "Take a peek into the Huntington Library's expanded Chinese Garden". Pasadena Star News. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ Wada, Karen (April 9, 2012). "At the Huntington, a Japanese Garden of new delights". LA Times. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- ^ 2020 Forever Stamp Program Offers Something for Everyone, USPS, Oct. 22, 2019
- ^ "Heathers film locations". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-59714-147-5
Additional sources
- Hertrich, William (1998). The Huntington Botanical Gardens, 1905–1949 Personal Recollections of William Hertrich. Huntington Library Press. ISBN 978-0-87328-096-9.
External links
- Official website
- Virtual tour
- Hathi Trust. Publications of the Huntington Library, fulltext, various dates
- "Huntington Library". C-SPAN Video Library.
- Visit The Huntington Museum & Gardens for Free on YouTube