Verso
The Huntington’s blog takes you behind the scenes for a scholarly view of the collections.
Art
How Hockney Came to The Huntington
Tue., Aug. 8, 2023 | Keisha RainesThe 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.
Portraiture and Colonial Plunder
Tue., July 11, 2023 | Christopher Hodson, Brett RushforthÉlisabeth 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 American in London on the Eve of Revolution
Mon., July 3, 2023 | Eva LandsbergThe 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.
A Courageous Vision for Philanthropy
Tue., June 27, 2023 | Sandy MasuoIn sitting down with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker for the May 31 “Why It Matters” event, Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence set the stage for a lively conversation.
Christopher Isherwood in Exile
Tue., June 20, 2023 | Ben RobbinsBen Robbins, senior postdoctoral researcher in American literature at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, explores the diaries and notebooks that the English novelist Christopher Isherwood kept during the 1930s.
Art
The Many Dimensions of Quilt Culture
Tue., June 13, 2023 | Lauren CrossThe Huntington’s “Gee’s Bend: Shared Legacy” exhibition celebrates the culture of quilts within Gee’s Bend and the quilters themselves as world-renowned artists. Collectively, these works represent not only the tradition of quilts but how quilts can be used to transform a community’s past, present, and future.
The Pride and Practice of Frances B. Johnston
Tue., June 6, 2023 | Susan Turner-LoweIn 1924, Henry E. Huntington bought an extensive portfolio from Frances B. Johnston, understood to be the nation’s first female photojournalist. Johnston photographed U.S. presidents, Supreme Court justices, and famous people ranging from Susan B. Anthony to Mark Twain. And she traveled widely to document architecture and gardens.
Conferences
Trading Enslaved People in the Spanish and British Atlantic Empires
Tue., May 30, 2023 | Gregory E. O'Malley, Emily Berquist SouleOn June 2–3, leading and emerging historians of the Atlantic slave trade will gather for a conference at The Huntington titled “Slave Trading in the Spanish and British Atlantic Worlds” in order to present research on the trafficking of African people in these two imperial spheres.