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Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis

Exhibitions
A black and white image of a smoke cloud rising from the ground with a person walking away.

Sept. 14, 2024–Jan. 6, 2025

MaryLou and George Boone Gallery

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Sept. 14, 2024–Jan. 6, 2025 | “Storm Cloud” analyzes the impact of industrialization and a globalized economy on everyday life from 1780 to 1930, as charted by scientists, artists, and writers, and contextualizes the current climate crisis within this historical framework.

“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis” traces the rise of environmental awareness in the 19th century—an age of rapid industrialization in the English-speaking world as well as a period in which the sciences of geology, paleontology, meteorology, and ecology developed.

View the large print exhibition booklet

Items on a museum gallery wall and in display cases.
Two people look at objects in museum gallery display cases.
A person looks up at a large painting hung on a museum gallery wall.
Items on a museum gallery wall and in display cases.
Two people look at objects in museum gallery display cases.
A person looks up at a large painting hung on a museum gallery wall.

“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

The title comes from a lecture by the writer and art critic John Ruskin, in which he described the changing appearance of the sky due to industrial pollution. British and American visual and literary artworks by the Romantics, the Pre-Raphaelites, and members of the Arts and Crafts movement are displayed alongside key scientific texts and images, as well as works by early 20th-century preservationists John Muir and Mary Hunter Austin. The exhibition also documents water use and oil extraction in the Los Angeles region in the early 20th century.

A person on a horse looks in the distance at an iron works surrounded by mountains.
An engraving of an open plain with wisps of clouds above.
A painting of a river with large trees and a bridge, people work near boats in the foreground.
A lithograph of people in various dress attire from the 1840s.
A black-and-white photograph of a mountain range with a waterfall in the middle.
A painting of wispy clouds in white, blue, brown, and gray.
Dark clouds partially obscure golden sunlight, with a mountain and river in the distance.
An engraved print in full color, depicting a cross-section of earth, with various rocks, minerals, plants, and animals.
An engraved print in full color, depicting a cross-section of earth, with various rocks, minerals, plants, and animals.
An engraved print in full color, depicting a cross-section of earth, with various rocks, minerals, plants, and animals.
An engraved print in full color, depicting a cross-section of earth, with various rocks, minerals, plants, and animals.
A person on a horse looks in the distance at an iron works surrounded by mountains.
An engraving of an open plain with wisps of clouds above.
A painting of a river with large trees and a bridge, people work near boats in the foreground.
A lithograph of people in various dress attire from the 1840s.
A black-and-white photograph of a mountain range with a waterfall in the middle.
A painting of wispy clouds in white, blue, brown, and gray.
Dark clouds partially obscure golden sunlight, with a mountain and river in the distance.
An engraved print in full color, depicting a cross-section of earth, with various rocks, minerals, plants, and animals.
An engraved print in full color, depicting a cross-section of earth, with various rocks, minerals, plants, and animals.
An engraved print in full color, depicting a cross-section of earth, with various rocks, minerals, plants, and animals.
An engraved print in full color, depicting a cross-section of earth, with various rocks, minerals, plants, and animals.

Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg (French‐British, 1740–1812), Iron Works of Coalbrook Dale in The Romantic and Picturesque Scenery of England and Wales, 1805, aquatint in printed book, 15 3/4 x 11 3/8 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

Thomas Forster (British, 1789–1860), Researches about Atmospheric Phaenomena, 1815, colored engraving in printed book, 9 1/16 x 5 3/4 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

John Constable (British, 1776–1837), View on the Stour near Dedham, 1822, oil on canvas, 51 x 74 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

Francis Michelin (American, 1809 or 1810–1878), Scott’s European Fashions, for the Summer 1848. No. 146 Broadway, New York, 1848, lithograph with hand coloring, 18 3/4 x 23 3/8 in. Jay T. Last Collection.  | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

Carleton Watkins (American, 1829–1916), Yosemite Falls “front view” (plate 30) in Yo-semite Valley/Photographic Views of the Falls and Valley of Yo‐semite in Mariposa County, California, 1861, albumen print, 19 3/4 x 25 5/8 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 

Arthur Severn (British, 1842–1931) after John Ruskin (British, 1819–1900), Cloud Study: Ice Clouds over Coniston, 1884, bodycolor on buff paper, 5 x 6 3/4 in. | © The Ruskin, Lancaster University.

Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900), Vale of St. Thomas, Jamaica, 1867, oil on canvas, 48 3/8 x 84 5/8 in. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut. The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Collection. | Image courtesy of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

William Buckland (British, 1784–1856), Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 1837, colored engraving in printed book, 8 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. (22.7 x 14.9 cm). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

William Buckland (British, 1784–1856), Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 1837, colored engraving in printed book, 8 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. (22.7 x 14.9 cm). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

William Buckland (British, 1784–1856), Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 1837, colored engraving in printed book, 8 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. (22.7 x 14.9 cm). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

William Buckland (British, 1784–1856), Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 1837, colored engraving in printed book, 8 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. (22.7 x 14.9 cm). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Through nearly 200 items drawn from The Huntington’s collections and on loan from collections in the United States and Britain, “Storm Cloud” places our current climate crisis in its historical context, examining the profound changes that industrialization and a globalized economy have wrought on everyday life, as charted by scientists, artists, and writers for over 150 years. The questions and issues addressed in the historical material are brought to the present with the inclusion of works by five contemporary artists: Binh Danh, Rebeca Méndez, Jamilah Sabur, Leah Sobsey, and Will Wilson.

Rebeca Méndez on “Storm Cloud,” John Ruskin, and a Perfect Sky

Artist, designer, and UCLA professor Rebeca Méndez discusses her work Any-Instant-Whatever (2020), which is featured in “Storm Cloud.” Her video installation documents 12 hours of Los Angeles’ winter skies, creating an immersive experience that encourages contemplation while also addressing themes of environmental change.

Related Programming

Storm Cloud Events
A person wearing an "Ask Me" badge talks to another person in front of a large hanging tapestry.
Event

Gallery Drop-In Talks: “Storm Cloud”

Sun., Jan. 5, 2025, 2–3:30 p.m.

Related Resources

A book cover with a painting of clouds and text that reads "Storm Cloud, Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis"

Companion Book

Explore how 19th-century artists, writers, and scientists first sounded the alarm on industrialization’s impact on the environment. This insightful book connects early environmental awareness—showcased through art and literature—to today’s climate crisis.

 

Shop Now
A collage of book covers and spines.

Storm Cloud Library

Check out this list of books compiled by the curators of the exhibition, including full-text 19th-century climate-fiction courtesy of Project Gutenberg, and a list of climate- and sustainability-related nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and children’s and young adult books.

Book List

Podcast Playlist

Listen to podcasts—recommended by the “Storm Cloud” curators—that discuss climate change in the context of the past, present, and future.
Podcasts on Spotify

Henry David Thoreau’s Aeolian Harp Music

Listen to the meditative music of an Aeolian harp, an instrument played by the wind. This music was recorded using a replica of an Aeolian harp designed by American naturalist Henry David Thoreau.
Harp Music on Spotify

Global CO2 Levels

This graph features atmospheric CO2 levels that combine measurements from as far back as 800,000 years up to the present day with an atmospheric temperature overlay option. This is a project of the 2 Degrees Institute, a nonprofit organization.
Interactive CO2 Graph

California Department of Conservation: Well Finder

The Geologic Energy Management Division’s (CalGEM) online mapping application Well Finder presents California’s oil and gas industry information from a geographic perspective. Readily available data contributes to better health and environmental safeguards.
Well Finder Map

“Storm Cloud” Key Image Credit: Unknown, Oil Well Fire, ca. 1920s, photograph, 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Getty through its PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative.

“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis” is among more than 70 exhibitions and programs presented as part of PST ART. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information, visit PST ART: Art & Science Collide

Generous support for this exhibition is provided by the Douglas and Eunice Erb Goodan Endowment. Additional funding is provided by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Neilan Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation Exhibition and Education Endowment, The Melvin R. Seiden-Janine Luke Exhibition Fund in memory of Robert F. Erburu, and the Boone Foundation. 

This exhibition is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.