Celebrating Latinx and Hispanic Heritage
On View: Historic Artworks
Enrique Martínez Celaya (Cuban, born 1964), The Gambler, 2010, bronze, 69 × 30 × 38 1/2 in. Purchased with funds from Sharon and John Light, the Steve Martin Fund for American Art, and the Kelvin Davis Endowment. © Enrique Martínez Celaya. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Born in Cuba and raised in Spain and Puerto Rico, Martínez Celaya has said his work concerns the “existential condition of belonging.” The Gambler depicts a life-size boy on crutches carrying a house on his shoulders. He carries the idea of home and identity with him, resolved to bring it with him into the future. The boy’s clothing and home are non-specific in terms of space and time, and hence universal.
On View: Historic Artworks
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828). Portrait of José Antonio Caballero, Second Marqués de Caballero, Secretary of Grace and Justice, 1807. Oil on canvas, canvas: 41 5/16 × 33 1/8 in. (105 × 84.1 cm), frame: 53 1/16 × 44 7/8 × 3 1/2 in. (134.8 × 114 × 8.9 cm). Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Portrait of José Antonio Caballero, Second Marqués de Caballero, Secretary of Grace and Justice was painted in 1807, a time when Goya was renowned for his portraits of the Spanish nobility and just before the Napoleonic invasion of Spain profoundly altered the nature of his later work. While The Huntington holds a number of Goya’s etchings and aquatints, Portrait of José Antonio Caballero is the first Spanish oil painting to join The Huntington’s art collection and will complement its extensive holdings of Library materials on Spanish imperial history.
On View: Historic Artworks
José María Velasco, Vista de Tacubaya (View of Tacubaya), ca. 1895, oil on paper mounted to canvas, 11 x 16 1/2 in. (27.9 x 41.9 cm). Photo by Christina O’Connell. | Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.
When Velasco’s painting arrived at The Huntington, a few lines of printed text could be seen at the bottom of the work. Infrared reflectography, a process that can detect layers of detail not visible to the naked eye, has revealed what lies beneath the painting’s surface.
Programming
Mon., Oct. 14, noon–1 p.m.
Join ICW for an afternoon webinar with Albert Camarillo, who will discuss his new book about a life in pursuit of racial equality. Joining the conversation will be ICW’s Bill Deverell, UCLA’s Kelly Lytle Hernández, and USC’s George Sanchez.
Natalia Molina, distinguished professor at USC, discusses the labor history of The Huntington. Focusing especially upon the Mexican workforce that has labored in The Huntington’s sprawling gardens for a century, Molina delves deeply into the social and family history of multiple generations of Latino laborers.
Historian Daniela Bleichmar, co-curator of the exhibition "Visual Voyages: Images of Latin American Nature from Columbus to Darwin," discusses the surprising and little-known story of the pivotal role that Latin America played in the pursuit of science and art during the first global era. This talk is part of the Wark Lecture Series at The Huntington.
Ongoing Exhibition
Borderlands
A portion of The Huntington’s American art collection is contextualized with contributions from contemporary artists in “Borderlands,” a new permanent collections installation that explores a more expansive view of American art history.
Photo: Borderlands. Installation view in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art at The Huntington. Photo: Joshua White / JWPictures.com. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Stories
A 19th-century book on Latin American orchids prompts a personal reflection on the vulnerability and resiliency of plants, the art of botanical illustration, and the power of portraits as markers of cultural memory.
Sandy Rodriguez’s YOU ARE HERE / Tovaangar / El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula / Los Angeles is a multilingual map of the greater Los Angeles area, representing the topography, language, flora, fauna, and land stewardship in the region over time and illustrating the movement and histories of peoples who have called—and continue to call—the area home.
In 1865, the El Nuevo Mundo newspaper of San Francisco invited its readers to join in toasting Mexico’s heroes and roasting its imperialist enemies by printing “brindis,” or toasts, performed by women of the Zaragoza Club of Los Angeles and the Patriotic Club of Mexico of Virginia City, Nevada.
The late Haydée Noya, one of the Huntington Library’s many loyal and dedicated past employees, worked to advance the mission of this extraordinary institution and made a lasting impact.
Vincent Lugo, whose family papers are at The Huntington, helped build the beloved La Laguna de San Gabriel playground, also known as “Monster Park.” The so-called monsters are play sculptures of an octopus called Ozzie, a whale known as Minnie, and a starfish named Stella, among other smiling sea creatures.
The Huntington is proud to hold Gloria Molina’s papers—a trove of 1,300 boxes—as they document an important swath of California history and the legacy of a woman who broke barrier after barrier in the political and social sphere.
Photographer William Camargo has a talent for transporting the viewer to a precise moment in time, often delivering a jarring history lesson in the process. His series Origins and Displacements amplifies issues of gentrification and the invisible labor in his hometown of Anaheim, California.
This video highlights the work of artist, designer, and UCLA professor Rebeca Méndez, featured in "Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis," one of The Huntington's exhibitions for Pacific Standard Time (PST). Her piece, "Any-Instant-Whatever" (2020), condenses twelve hours of winter skies over Los Angeles into a single immersive experience.