Artist's rendering of The Huntington's 2020 entry in the Rose Parade®, designed by Phoenix Decorating Company. The float celebrates The Huntington's 100th anniversary and is part of a yearlong Centennial Celebration running from Sept. 2019 through Sept. 2020.
The Huntington's float in the 1969 Rose Parade®, sponsored by the city of San Marino, Calif.
"Cultivating Curiosity" Celebrates The Huntington's Centennial
SAN MARINO, Calif.— The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens revealed today the float design and theme for its entry in the 2020 Rose Parade®.
The theme “Cultivating Curiosity” captures the spirit of The Huntington’s Centennial Celebration and highlights the institution’s rare research materials, inspiring art collections, and unparalleled botanical gardens that have made it a beloved destination that welcomes 750,000 visitors each year.
“The Huntington’s incomparable collections have had an extensive reach over the past century, and we expect them to continue to inspire visitors, new and old, for the next 100 years in powerful and unpredictable ways,” said Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence. “We welcome the national and international exposure that this celebrated parade provides and look forward to this joyful moment during our Centennial as a way of sharing our treasures with audiences the world over.”
Award-winning float builder Phoenix Decorating Company conceived the design and will produce the float that will mark the first time The Huntington has been represented in Pasadena’s world-famous Rose Parade in 50 years. The float depicts the following iconic elements in The Huntington’s collections:
Pavilion of the Three Friends
Located in Liu Fang Yuan, the Chinese Garden at The Huntington, the Pavilion of the Three Friends is named for the “three friends of winter”: bamboo, pine, and plum. They are symbols of fortitude, integrity, and resilience. Carvings of these signature plants adorn the ceiling of the pavilion and also grow nearby.
Rose Garden Tempietto
The centerpiece of The Huntington’s historic Rose Garden, the 18th-century French stone tempietto houses a sculpture, Love, the Captive of Youth, which depicts Cupid and his captor, a fair maiden. Appropriately, the tempietto is encircled by a bed of “Passionate Kisses” roses. The three-acre Rose Garden contains more than 3,000 individual plants and more than 1,250 different cultivated varieties (cultivars), including ‘Huntington’s 100th’, the newly hybridized rose marking The Huntington’s Centennial.
Japanese Moon Bridge
Completed circa 1912, the distinctive Moon Bridge is an iconic feature of The Huntington’s celebrated Japanese Garden. Commissioned by Henry Huntington himself, the Moon Bridge was built by Japanese craftsman Toichiro Kawai. The bridge’s high arch and reflection in the still pond below form a circle, reminiscent of the moon.
Breakfast in Bed by Mary Cassatt
Painted in 1897 by famed American Impressionist Mary Cassatt, Breakfast in Bed is one of the most-beloved portraits in The Huntington’s collection. Cassatt’s work often depicts the social and private lives of women; she is well known for capturing the intimate bonds between mothers and children.
Long Leg by Edward Hopper
The Long Leg by Edward Hopper was painted in 1935 and has been a favorite painting among Huntington visitors since its debut in 1984 as one of the artworks that established the American art collection. With a nearly all-blue composition, the painting reflects two of Hopper’s favorite themes: sailing and the sea. In 2011, as part of the U.S. Postal Service's American Treasures series, the work was issued as a postage stamp.
The Ellesmere Chaucer
The elaborately decorated Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales was created sometime between 1400 and 1410. It contains what is believed to be a portrait of Chaucer as well as miniature paintings of 22 other fictional pilgrims who tell stories in order to enliven the journey from London to Canterbury. The medieval manuscript is on parchment.
Corpse Flower
In August of 1999, a rare Corpse Flower bloomed at The Huntington—the first known flowering of this exotic species in the state of California. This exciting (and smelly) occurrence provided an opportunity for thousands of visitors to witness one of the wonders of the botanical world. Since that extraordinary event, The Huntington has produced nine additional blooms—most recently on July 24, 2019—and has shared seeds and pollen with botanical gardens across the country.
Individuals interested in volunteering to help decorate The Huntington's 2020 Rose Parade float can find information at huntington.org/volunteer.
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Contacts
Thea M. Page, 626-405-2260, tpage@huntington.org
Jessica McCormack, 323-497-9308, jessica@seehearspeak.agency
The Huntington's Centennial Celebration
(September 2019–September 2020)
For the past 100 years, The Huntington has examined the human experience through the lens of its incomparable library, art, and botanical collections. Marking its Centennial with a yearlong series of exhibitions and events, The Huntington celebrates the impact of its collections and the connections they offer, while exploring the interdisciplinary ideas that will shape the next 100 years.
Follow the Centennial on social media - #100atTheH
About The Huntington
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution serving scholars and the general public. More information about The Huntington can be found online at huntington.org
Visitor Information
The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, Calif., 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It is open to the public Wednesday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. Information: 626-405-2100 or huntington.org.
About the Pasadena Tournament of Roses®
The Tournament of Roses is a volunteer organization that hosts America’s New Year Celebration® with the Rose Parade® presented by Honda, the Rose Bowl Game® presented by Northwestern Mutual and a variety of accompanying events. 935 volunteer members of the association will drive the success of 131st Rose Parade themed “The Power of Hope,” on Wed., January 1, 2020, followed by the 106th Rose Bowl Game. For more information, visit www.tournamentofroses.com. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.