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.”

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.

Systems of Life: Politics, Economies, and the Biological Sciences, 1750-1850

Nov. 9–10 (Fri.–Sat.)

8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.

This conference explores the intellectual history of the late 18th and early 19th centuries through the lens of conceptual innovation in the fields of politics, economics, and biology.  It will focus in particular on the concept of “the system” as it relates to a diverse range of topics including philosophy, colonialism, slavery, poetry, and the aesthetics of science. $25.  Program and registration or contact researchconference@huntington.org or 626-405-3432.
Note: Friday’s session takes place at The Huntington, Saturday’s session will be held at Occidental College

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."

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.