Highlights from the Year in Print, Online, and over the Airwaves

The Japanese Garden following its year-long renovation.

We’ve covered a lot of memorable stories on Verso this year, but The Huntington also got a fair amount of coverage in other outlets—from the Los Angeles Times to the Wall Street Journal, from KPCC’s AirTalk to international art magazine Apollo. While we have linked to some of these stories in past blog posts, we thought we’d recap some of the highlights from 2012:

• In January, The Huntington’s Library Collectors’ Council purchased the complete Civil War records of the military telegraph office of the War Department. The archive, which until recently was thought to have been destroyed, includes crucial correspondence that has never been published. Olga Tsapina, The Huntington’s Norris Foundation Curator of American Historical Manuscripts, explained the significance of the trove in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

• In April one story generated dozens and dozens of articles in the media—the restoration of the 100-year-old Japanese Garden. Nearly 2 million daily visitors to Yahoo!News learned about the reopening, as did readers of Westways, Sunset, and Architectural Digest magazines. Some of those readers were likely among the visitors who posted nearly 500 images of the garden on The Huntington’s Flckr site.

Giovan Angelo del Maino (ca. 1470–ca. 1536), St. George and the Dragon, ca. 1522–27, polychrome and gilt wood, 27 ¾ x 16 x 7 in. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

• That same month the Art Collectors’ Council purchased St. George and the Dragon, a dramatic sculpture carved of wood, newly attributed to a master of the Italian Renaissance, Giovan Angelo del Maino. The piece captured the attention of art aficionados on both sides of the pond, from L.A. blogger William Poundstone to The Art Newspaper’s Ermanno Rivetti in London.

• Another art acquisition made news in June, when a gift from an anonymous donor led to the purchase of Robert Rauschenberg’s Global Loft (Spread). The addition had emotional resonance for the institution, as the artist had credited The Huntington with influencing his career choice.  It was included in Apollo magazine’s annual survey of international museum acquisitions.

Broadbent & Co., Corporals of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, 1861. Signed on verso: Robert Morris Jr., M. Edward Rogers, Charles C. Lennig, Robert. E. Randall. Albumen print; print: 8 ¼ x 6 in.; mount: 11 ½ x 9 ⅝ in. Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

• The fall months brought attention back to the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, specifically “A Just Cause: Voices of the American Civil War” and “A Strange and Fearful Interest: Death, Mourning, and Memory in the American Civil War.” The two curators, Olga Tsapina and Jennifer A. Watts, respectively, talked about the shows with Larry Mantle on KPCC’s AirTalk in October. In recent weeks Watts has also appeared in the pages of the Wall Street Journal and on the podcast of Tyler Green’s widely followed Modern Art Notes.

In 2013, we hope to bring you more Verso posts about acquisitions and exhibitions, but look out for stories in print, online, and over the airwaves through your favorite outlets.

Matt Stevens is editor of Verso and Huntington Frontiers magazine.