Watch, Read, Listen

Some people assume that the Gutenberg Bible is the oldest printed book at The Huntington. But there’s a much older one that dates back almost 1,000 years ago! Curator Li Wei Yang explores the connections between the printing cultures of China and Europe.

Renowned American artist Betye Saar’s large-scale work “Drifting Toward Twilight” will go on view Nov. 11, 2023, in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art.

The Huntington’s Botanical staff members routinely collaborate with other institutions to tackle conservation challenges. Most of the time, these are carefully planned projects: propagating rare and endangered species, making gardens more resilient to the changing climate, and teaching cryopreservation or culturing plant tissue. But sometimes, the unexpected happens.

The Desert Garden is one of the world’s premier collections of succulent plants, covering more than 10 acres and comprising more than 5,000 arid-adapted plants. The Desert Garden Entrance Project, nearing completion, will make it possible to showcase more of this collection and spotlight the significance of these plants.

The Huntington has acquired David Hockney’s painting “Tree on Woldgate, 6 March,” along with 17 works on paper that include drawings, prints, and watercolors. Donated by Gregory Evans, who had a close romantic and business relationship with Hockney for many years, the works showcase an intimate side of the artist.

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens’ seven-member Board of Trustees has elected Scott Jordan and Allen E. Shay as new members. The Board of Trustees is responsible for The Huntington’s financial sustainability and overarching direction, assisted by a 65-member Board of Governors.

Join Huntington Library staff for an introduction to the creation and care of daguerreotypes, an early photographic process that’s increasingly popular today as an artistic medium.

Sustainable living across three centuries will be showcased in the historic residence and compound, which was moved to California from Marugame, Japan.

A stroll through The Huntington’s gardens is a feast for the senses. Enhancing the plants’ beauty are their scintillating floral scents, but plants do not produce them for our pleasure. Indeed, many flowers exude odors that are unpleasant. Whether sweet or stinky, they share a common goal: reproduction.

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842) fashioned a remarkable career in portraiture. Her 1784 portrait of Joseph Hyacinthe François-de-Paule de Rigaud, comte de Vaudreuil—acquired by The Huntington with support from The Ahmanson Foundation—is perhaps more important for what it conceals than for what it reveals.

An exhibition of 19 works will be on view in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art from Dec. 2, 2023, through March 18, 2024. “Art for the People” explores paintings created in the United States between the 1929 stock market crash and World War II.

The Huntington holds the diary of a merchant written during his time in London from December 1768 to April 1769. It offers a rare first-hand account of an American colonist’s experiences in London, just as relations between Britain and North America were deteriorating.