Music in the Garden

Wed., 1-3 p.m.

Enjoy the sounds of traditional Chinese music Wednesdays from 1-3 p.m. in the Chinese Garden. A different solo musician will perform each week, playing unamplified melodies on classical instruments including the dizi, sheng, pipa, erhu, and zheng. Let the music transport you to another time and place as you stroll through one of the most magical landscapes in Southern California.

Preschool Series: Huntington ArtVentures

Nov. 7, 14, 21 & 28

(Wednesdays) 10 a.m.–noon

Preschoolers can explore the galleries in search of textures, colors, shapes, and other “art forms” in this series led by Laura Moede. Each session includes stories, art activities, and more. Fee includes one accompanying adult. Ages 3–4. Members: $85. Non-Members: $95. Registration: 626-405-2128.

Painting With Nan Rae

Nov. 21 & Dec. 19

(Wednesdays) 11 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Artist Nan Rae, author of The Ch’i of the Brush, continues her popular watercolor classes inspired by the art of Chinese brush painting. Each session: $50. Registration: 818-842-6489.

Vance-Swallow

Lesley Vance & Ricky Swallow

Nov. 10, 2012-March 11, 2013

In a dramatic departure from tradition, The Huntington presents the first exhibition of contemporary paintings and sculpture to be displayed inside the Huntington Art Gallery, showcasing the work of Los Angeles–based artists Lesley Vance and Ricky Swallow.

Strange and Fearful

A Strange and Fearful Interest: Death, Mourning, and Memory in the American Civil War

Oct. 13, 2012–Jan. 14, 2013

A major exhibition of more than 200 original photographs related to the Civil War that explores how images explained, reflected, and shaped a national fixation on death and mourning.

Alpine Skeletons

Alpine Skeletons: Marsden Hartley Silverpoint Drawings

Oct. 20, 2012–Jan. 7, 2013

In 21 rarely exhibited silverpoint drawings from The Huntington's collections, American artist Marsden Hartley rendered the immense Bavarian Alps with delicate lines, transforming them into wispy, airy abstractions he called “skeletons."

Curator Tour: Alpine Skeletons: Marsden Hartley Silverpoint Drawings

Nov. 28 (Wednesday)

4:30–5:30 p.m.

In the 1930s, American artist Marsden Hartley traveled to the Bavarian Alps and produced a series of delicate silverpoint drawings that captured the spare geometries of the mountain landscape. Curator James Glisson will lead a private tour of the exhibition showcasing these rarely-seen works from The Huntington’s collections. Members: $15. Non-Members: $20.  Registration: 626-405-2128.

Maritime

Britain and the Sea: Maritime Drawings and Watercolors from The Huntington’s Art Collections

This focused exhibition features fifteen rarely seen drawings and watercolors by marine artists such as John Thomas Serres, Charles Bentley, and Samuel Owen, depicting important battles and dramatic, romantic views of wind-tossed ships revealing a nation passing from the threat of war to command a prosperous peace.

Just Cause

A Just Cause: Voices of the American Civil War

Sept. 22, 2012–Jan. 7, 2013

Drawn entirely from The Huntington’s collections of manuscripts and printed materials, this exhibition examines the ways Northerners and Southerners viewed the rationale for the Civil War, which made it, in the words of one war veteran, “a battle of ideas interrupted by artillery.”