Frontiers

Scholars reexamine Sargent Claude Johnson’s life and work through a new lens, exploring his role within the development of American modernism and his influence among artists. From sculptures of underrepresented subjects to majestic architectural commissions, Johnson’s oeuvre is viewed within an expansive framework of global modernism.

The rings of bristlecone pines, the planet’s longest-living trees, chronicle past details about changes in the climate and other environmental variations of global significance. The Huntington’s Daniel Lewis explores this topic and more in his book “Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future.”

The Huntington’s Edward Davis Townsend collection contained something rather curious: a spool of thread with a note hidden inside that shed new light on the dramatic events that unfolded shortly after the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860.

When Henry E. Huntington purchased his estate in 1903, plant conservation was not foremost in his plans, but his passion for rare and unusual plants created the foundation for botanical collections that are significant to conservation initiatives in the 21st century.

Betye Saar’s “Drifting Toward Twilight,” a site-specific installation commissioned by The Huntington, poetically connects the external realm to interior territories—The Huntington’s grounds to its galleries and the life of the body to the mind—and has also been a way to manifest the artist’s personal history.

Michele Currie Navakas—professor of English at Miami University and a 2017–18 National Endowment of the Humanities fellow—tells the story of coral as an essential element of the marine ecosystem, a highly sought-after ornament used for display and adornment, a global commodity, and a powerful political metaphor.

In 1905, Henry E. Huntington asked his superintendent of grounds, William Hertrich, if it was possible to grow an avocado orchard. Hertrich replied that he would be willing to make the experiment. More than a century later, the avocado experiment continues, linking communities and expanding our understanding of plant science.

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.