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Top 10 of 2011

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February 20, 2012 · Matt Stevens

Winning the Revolution, One Teacup at a Time

In July 1776, as George Washington readied himself and his troops for the British attack on New York, he took the time to write a letter to a loyalist merchant who had long supplied him with British and Chinese goods. As British ships approached, Washington meticulously reviewed the list of creamware dishes, china bowls, and various tea service items that he hoped to purchase.
February 2, 2012 · Brandon Tam

Orchids Forever

The Huntington has more than 12,000 orchids, and with this post we begin a new blog series on a range of topics related to the collection—from the conservation of plants to the orchid shows we participate in. In the coming weeks and months we will also be discussing the various species that are in bloom and hope to teach you something about growing your own orchids.
January 18, 2012 · Thea Page

Whistler’s Brother (In Law)

“Whistler, Haden, and the Gentle Art of Etching” is a new exhibition of 17 works primarily drawn from The Huntington’s collections that takes a focused look at the results of the fruitful relationship between James Abbott McNeill Whistler and a brother-in-law who happened to be an amateur printmaker.
December 15, 2011 · Matt Stevens

How the West Won Me Over

Matthew Hersch, born in New York and educated in Boston and Philadelphia, came west last year to serve as a postdoctoral fellow for the Aerospace History Project and to co-curate the exhibition “Blue Sky Metropolis: The Aerospace Century in Southern California.”
December 14, 2011 · Julianne Johnston

Teens in Focus

The Huntington has long offered classes and family programs for a variety of ages—from preschool series for ages 3 to 4 to after-school programs for ages 5 to 6 and Saturday workshops for ages 7 to 12. But this fall, The Huntington has added new classes for teens, including a photography workshop.
December 13, 2011 · Matt Stevens

The Bible According to Claremont

One of the most popular Huntington exhibitions of the past decade was “The Bible and the People,” which featured dozens of Bibles on view in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery. Through the end of January 2012, you can see more than 20 Bibles and other books inspired by the Bible in a new exhibition at the Honnold/Mudd Library at Claremont Graduate University.
December 9, 2011 · Dinah LeHoven

Ready for Your Close-Up?

They call it “CSI: Miami,” but they film it here. And this Sunday, you should tune in to spot a special appearance by none other than the Huntington Art Gallery.
December 6, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Reports on the Death of Letter Writing Are Greatly Exaggerated

When was the last time you wrote a real, honest-to-goodness letter? In the age of e-mail and texting, it is only natural to assume that the glorious age of letter writing was far superior to, say, the confines of 140 characters on Twitter.
November 28, 2011 · Dinah LeHoven

The Muppets Take The Huntington

George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Owen Wilson, and Kermit the Frog? All of these movie stars appeared in films shot at The Huntington, including the newly opened “The Muppets.”
November 23, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Between Roy Ritchie and the Deep Blue Sea

Earlier this month, “The New Maritime History: A Conference in Honor of Roy Ritchie” paid tribute to a man who not only fostered great research but also conducted a good bit of it himself.
November 21, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Over the Moon

Burt and Carol Basney recently came to The Huntington with their daughter’s family and found out in person how their gift from 2007 took center stage in the current exhibition “Blue Sky Metropolis: The Aerospace Century in Southern California.”
November 18, 2011 · Thea Page

“California’s First Major Artist”

The Huntington played a significant role in the publication of “Carleton Watkins: The Complete Mammoth Photographs,” a new catalogue raisonné published by the Getty. It features two essays by Jennifer A. Watts, curator of photographs at The Huntington, as well as more than 350 photos from the collection.
November 15, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Occupy New Mexico

In October 1966, Reies López Tijerina led a group in an occupation of Kit Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. What followed, according to historian and Los Angeles Times Distinguished Fellow Ramón Gutiérrez, was the “radical spark that starts the militant phase of the Chicano Movement.”
November 14, 2011 · Thea Page

A Catalog to Covet Like an Ancient Chinese Mirror

A two-volume companion to the Huntington exhibition “Ancient Chinese Bronzes from the Lloyd Cotsen Collection” is the result of a decade of scholarship by the top academics in the field. The author of volume 1, Suzanne E. Cahill, will speak here on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
November 11, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Your Most Loving Son and Sailor Boy

On the original Armistice Day, Anthony Edward Mrazek was a young sailor who wrote long letters home to his parents and sister, signing them all “your most loving son and sailor boy.” His granddaughter has donated his collection of letters to The Huntington.
November 8, 2011 · Matt Stevens

The Copernican Answer

It’s not often that you’ll hear a former Huntington research fellow interview a current research fellow on National Public Radio. But that’s what happened on Morning Edition when Joe Palca asked Robert Westman about Copernicus’ book “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.”
November 7, 2011 · Matt Stevens

The Middle of Somewhere

“To many people, Nevada is the kind of state you drive through to get someplace else,” says historian Louis Warren. “But if we slow down long enough to consider it, take it in, we can learn a great deal about American history here.”
November 4, 2011 · Matt Stevens

The Lincoln Lawyer

At the recent conference “Civil War Lives,” historian Ronald C. White Jr. described Abraham Lincoln’s unique diary and the impact of his legal training on his presidency. You can download the talk from iTunes U.
November 2, 2011 · Thea Page

When the L.A. County Fair Was Totally Mod

In the Fine Arts Building of the 1954 L.A. County Fair, Millard Sheets collaborated closely with the staff of “House Beautiful” magazine to produce an extraordinary installation of 22 architect-designed model rooms. In a lecture on Nov. 9, Jeremy Adamson will discuss the landmark exhibition.
October 25, 2011 · Matt Stevens

The Civil War Lives

A recent conference showcased the importance of individuals during the Civil War—men and women, white and black, soldiers and politicians, unionists and confederates. You can download talks that touch on some of the big issues of the Civil War through these lives, including emancipation, loyalty and treason, strategy and policy, civilian hardships, and myth and memory.
October 21, 2011 · Lisa Blackburn

Green Thumb Meets Fall Colors

Whether planning ahead for spring or looking for autumn color to enjoy right now, gardeners will find plenty of inspiration at the Fall Plant Sale this weekend. The event will feature a bountiful selection of autumn-blooming flowers to lend instant “fall color” to the garden.
October 17, 2011 · Steve Hindle

Scholar, Mentor, Friend

With the recent death of Patrick Collinson, Regius Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Cambridge, scholarship on the social and political history of early modern England will be much diminished. But his passing is of local significance in other ways.
October 14, 2011 · Lisa Blackburn

Blue-Ribbon Blooms

Orchid fanciers will be making a beeline for The Huntington this weekend for the annual Southland Orchid Show and Sale, where exhibitors from local orchid societies will display their best blooms for the benefit of judges and the public alike.
October 12, 2011 · Jim Folsom

Fallingwater West

Natural streams and waterfalls emerge after tens of thousands of years. But if you are in a hurry, a waterfall can be had in a month or two. One is just now happening in the Japanese Garden.
October 10, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Where There’s Smoke

Philip Connors spends long stretches of every spring and summer alone, on top of a lookout tower in New Mexico’s Gila Wilderness, scanning the horizon for signs of smoke. On Wed. night, Oct. 12, he’ll talk with The Huntington’s Bill Deverell about his book “Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout.”
October 6, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Defying Gravity

Just four years after the Wright brothers’ famed first flight at Kitty Hawk, a man in the Sierra foothills of California built a contraption that resembled an airplane. His story inspired Ben Rich, the director of Lockheed’s Skunk Works in the 1970s and ’80s.
October 3, 2011 · Matt Stevens

The Truth about Witches

Ask Frances Dolan if she believes in witches and she’ll likely tell you you’re asking the wrong question. “I’m more interested in how people come to believe what they believe.” In her lecture on Tuesday night, she’ll explain how to evaluate stories of witchcraft in 17th-century England.
September 30, 2011 · Lisa Blackburn

An Unlikely Pair

An imposing portrait by the Spanish artist Goya goes on display in the Huntington Art Gallery next to a painting by 20th-century abstract artist Robert Motherwell.
September 22, 2011 · Thea Page

Using a Band Saw Like a Pencil

Peter Kirby, an L.A. producer specializing in art and culture, filmed woodworker Sam Maloof in his workshop and home in 1990. We’re posting excerpts from this footage to whet your appetite for the upcoming Huntington exhibition “The House That Sam Built: Sam Maloof and Art in the Pomona Valley, 1945–1985.”
September 15, 2011 · Matt Stevens

A Friend to Jack London

Huntington literary manuscripts curator Sara S. “Sue” Hodson has been named Woman of the Year by the Jack London Foundation, in recognition of her long service assisting scholars and in recognition of her own lecturing and writing on the author.
August 17, 2011 · Matt Stevens

From the Cradle to the Cradle

While Huntington visitors have long admired the Gutenberg Bible on display in the Library Exhibition Hall, few may realize that it is in two volumes—while one is on display, the other is at rest in an acid-free archival box in a vault.
July 8, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Blue Skies that Launched an Industry

In an interview on KCRW, Peter Westwick explained how weather played a factor in Southern California’s rise as the center of the aerospace industry in the early 20th century.
May 18, 2011 · Matt Stevens

The Shade of Things

On Thursday night in New York City, Daniel Lewis will be giving the Norman Lecture on the History of Science and Medicine at the Grolier Club, arguably the most important book club in the country. Lewis will be talking about the history of color dictionaries.
February 22, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Distilling Alchemy

If you’re not sure what alchemy is, don’t look it up in the dictionary. Come to Bruce Moran’s lecture in Friends’ Hall, where he’ll explain it with some concrete examples from the 16th and 17th centuries.
February 16, 2011 · Matt Stevens

Many Happy Returns

Abraham Lincoln never set foot in California, but the Huntington Library has become one of the premier repositories of Lincolniana—manuscripts, books, letters, and ephemera by and about our 16th president.

Video: Sam Maloof: “The right place at the right time”

The furniture of midcentury craftsman Sam Maloof (1916-2009) and the art made by 35 members of his circle of friends are explored in a groundbreaking exhibition at The Huntington. “The House That Sam Built: Sam Maloof and Art in the Pomona Valley, 1945-1985″ opens Sept. 14, 2011 in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery and continues through Jan. 30, 2012.

September 25, 2011 · Sean Hanrahan

Video: Sam Maloof: “And the chair’s completed”

September 22, 2011 · Sean Hanrahan

Video: Sam Maloof: “And that’s the arm”

March 10, 2011 · Susan Turner-Lowe

The World of John Frame

For the better part of five years, Frame has been assembling a body of work that features, at its core, an eclectic cast of fully articulated characters. The figures are a combination of meticulously carved wood and found materials.

February 8, 2011 · Sean Hanrahan

Video: John Frame MMVI – MMXI

Filmmaker Johnny Coffeen explores the artist’s process in this 8-minute film, scored by John Frame. It will be presented in the exhibition with Frame’s own stop-motion animation film featuring his handmade characters. Three Fragments of a Lost Tale: Sculpture and Story by John Frame runs from March 12 – June 20, 2011 at The Huntington.

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