Past Exhibitions

Chinese text

Printed in 1085: The Chinese Buddhist Canon from the Song Dynasty

April 29–Dec. 4, 2023 | The oldest printed book in The Huntington’s collection, the Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament of the Buddha, is on display in “Printed in 1085: The Chinese Buddhist Canon from the Song Dynasty” in the Library West Hall.

Colorful fabric quilt in primary colors

Gee’s Bend: Shared Legacy

Sept. 17, 2022–Sept. 4, 2023 | Through prints recently acquired by The Huntington, this exhibition celebrates the artistry and cultural significance of work by members of the Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers’ Collective from Alabama.

The Hilton Als Series: Njideka Akunyili Crosby

The Hilton Als Series: Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Feb. 15–June 12, 2023 | Five works by Nigerian-born, Los Angeles–based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby are spotlighted in the third and final exhibition in a series curated by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author and New Yorker magazine critic Hilton Als, in collaboration with the Yale Center for British Art and each artist.

underside view of wood pavilion roof

Crafting a Garden: Inside the Creation of Liu Fang Yuan

Oct. 22, 2022–May 29, 2023 | “Crafting a Garden” sheds light on the intricacies of the Chinese Garden through models, photographs, tools, and videos that tell the story of its design and construction.

decorative pink and white ceramic vase resembling an ornate castle

Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts

Dec. 10, 2022–March 27, 2023 | The international traveling exhibition "Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts" explores the early inspirations behind Disney Studios' creations, examining Walt Disney's fascination with European art and the use of French motifs in Disney films and theme parks.

Portrait of Dora Carrington

Method and Material: Tempera Painting in Focus

Feb. 26–March 13, 2023 | This focused exhibition explores tempera’s fascinating history through a number of key objects from The Huntington’s art collections, as well as two important loans from the Resnick collection.

painting of woman in a canoe

100 Great British Drawings

June 18–Sept. 5, 2022 | Tracing the evolution of the practice of drawing in Britain from the 17th through the mid-20th century, the exhibition presents rarely seen treasures from The Huntington’s collection.

Octavia E. Butler, Map of Acorn from notes for Parable of the Talents

Mapping Fiction

Jan. 15–May 22, 2022 | Coinciding with the centennial of the publication of James Joyce's modernist novel, Ulysses, the exhibition "Mapping Fiction" explores the construction of fictional worlds through maps and novels.

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump

Science and the Sublime: A Masterpiece by Joseph Wright of Derby

Feb. 12–May 30, 2022 | “Science and the Sublime: A Masterpiece by Joseph Wright of Derby” explores one of the great masterpieces from the Age of Enlightenment, Joseph Wright of Derby's monumental An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump alongside 15 works from The Huntington's own collections. |

Chinese calligraphy character

A Garden of Words: The Calligraphy of Liu Fang Yuan

Part 1: Aug. 28–Dec. 13, 2021 | Part 2: Jan. 29–May 16, 2022 | This exhibition of contemporary Chinese calligraphy is the inaugural installation in the Chinese Garden's new art gallery, the Studio for Lodging the Mind.

orbit pavilion

Orbit Pavilion

NASA's "Orbit Pavilion" is an outdoor installation where captivating sounds represent the movements of the International Space Station and 19 Earth Science satellites as they orbit above.

vertical colored stripes

What Now: Collecting for the Library in the 21st Century, Part 2

Aug. 7–Nov. 1, 2021 | This two-part exhibition explores The Huntington's role in documenting the human experience through more than 100 items from the Library collections.