Exhibition

Lifelines/Timelines: Exploring The Huntington’s Collections Through Bonsai

Oct. 17, 2020–Jan. 25, 2021 | This exhibition explores the march of time by comparing the age of California juniper bonsai trees alongside major moments in the institution's 100-year history.
Left: California juniper bonsai (Juniperus californica), styled from plant material approximately 500 years. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Frederic Edwin Church, Chimborazo, 1864 (detail.) The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Left: California juniper bonsai (Juniperus californica), styled from plant material approximately 500 years. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Frederic Edwin Church, Chimborazo, 1864 (detail.) The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), shakan or slant style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 200–300 years. Collected from the Mojave Desert, displayed in Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by Grigsby Cactus Gardens. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Early visitors tour The Huntington in an undated photo. The institution opened to the public in 1928. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), shakan or slant style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 200–300 years. Collected from the Mojave Desert, displayed in Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by Grigsby Cactus Gardens. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Early visitors tour The Huntington in an undated photo. The institution opened to the public in 1928. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), han-kengai or semicascade style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,500–1,800 years. Collected from Jawbone Canyon, Mojave Desert, displayed in pot made by Sara Rayner, collected, styled, and donated by Shig Miya. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: The Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, ca. 1400–1410. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), han-kengai or semicascade style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,500–1,800 years. Collected from Jawbone Canyon, Mojave Desert, displayed in pot made by Sara Rayner, collected, styled, and donated by Shig Miya. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: The Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, ca. 1400–1410. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), moyogi or informal upright style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,000 years. Collected from Jawbone Canyon, Mojave Desert, in 2002, grafted in 2006, and styled by Tak Shimazu, displayed in Keizan Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by the Bergstein Family. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Mark Catesby, Bull Frog (Rana maxima), Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, 1743. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanica

Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), moyogi or informal upright style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,000 years. Collected from Jawbone Canyon, Mojave Desert, in 2002, grafted in 2006, and styled by Tak Shimazu, displayed in Keizan Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by the Bergstein Family. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Mark Catesby, Bull Frog (Rana maxima), Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, 1743. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), Moyogi or informal upright style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,200–1,500 years. Collected from the Mojave Desert, displayed in Itayama Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by the Bergstein Family, on loan from the Golden State Bonsai Federation. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Edward Burne-Jones (designer) for Morris and Company, David Healey Memorial Window, 1898, glass and lead. Photo by Tim Street-Porter. The Huntington Library, Art Mus

Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), moyogi or informal upright style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,200–1,500 years. Collected from the Mojave Desert, displayed in Itayama Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by the Bergstein Family, on loan from the Golden State Bonsai Federation. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Edward Burne-Jones (designer) for Morris and Company, David Healey Memorial Window, 1898, glass and lead. Photo by Tim Street-Porter. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

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Left: California juniper bonsai (Juniperus californica), styled from plant material approximately 500 years. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Frederic Edwin Church, Chimborazo, 1864 (detail.) The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), shakan or slant style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 200–300 years. Collected from the Mojave Desert, displayed in Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by Grigsby Cactus Gardens. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Early visitors tour The Huntington in an undated photo. The institution opened to the public in 1928. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), han-kengai or semicascade style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,500–1,800 years. Collected from Jawbone Canyon, Mojave Desert, displayed in pot made by Sara Rayner, collected, styled, and donated by Shig Miya. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: The Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, ca. 1400–1410. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), moyogi or informal upright style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,000 years. Collected from Jawbone Canyon, Mojave Desert, in 2002, grafted in 2006, and styled by Tak Shimazu, displayed in Keizan Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by the Bergstein Family. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Mark Catesby, Bull Frog (Rana maxima), Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, 1743. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanica
Left: California juniper (Juniperus californica), Moyogi or informal upright style bonsai, estimated age of original plant material: 1,200–1,500 years. Collected from the Mojave Desert, displayed in Itayama Tokoname pot from Japan, donated by the Bergstein Family, on loan from the Golden State Bonsai Federation. Photo by Andrew Mitchell. Right: Edward Burne-Jones (designer) for Morris and Company, David Healey Memorial Window, 1898, glass and lead. Photo by Tim Street-Porter. The Huntington Library, Art Mus

Visitors can discover an expansive new way to look at miniature trees in “Lifelines/Timelines: Exploring The Huntington’s Collections Through Bonsai,” The exhibition asks the question: How do five venerable bonsai trees relate in age and historical significance to important works in The Huntington's library and art collections? With an interdisciplinary approach that only The Huntington could offer, "Lifelines/Timelines" explores the march of time by comparing the age of selected California juniper bonsai alongside benchmarks in the institution's 100-year history, and with significant pieces in the collections. Lines in the grain of natural deadwood sections of these bonsai can be used to calculate the tree's age, much like the rings in a cross-section. Which line of a tree's growth corresponds to the publication of Shakespeare's First Folio in 1623? How does its age relate to the creation of Thomas Gainsborough's masterpiece, The Blue Boy, painted ca. 1770? Each of the exhibition's five bonsai installations, located outside gallery spaces, include an illustrated timeline, interactive elements geared toward children, and other interpretive materials, offering an entirely new perspective on The Huntington's holdings. (Note: the galleries themselves are currently closed due to COVID-19.)

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