Huntington Verso

Artist William De Morgan’s fascination with Middle Eastern designs and colors prompted his design of the original “Persian” vase, decorated with stylized flowers and leaves, in the late 19th century.

Fungi are an essential part of biodiversity at The Huntington, though many species remain unseen without sufficient rainfall. The past two winters’ heavy rains led to a surge in mushrooms across the gardens.

The Spitzka papers provide an invaluable resource for examining the intersection of medicine and criminal justice.

Our cookbooks and recipes link us to others and shape the food traditions that define our lives.

Wild birds enliven The Huntington’s landscape throughout the year thanks to the ample habitat that the gardens provide. Among the most cherished avian guests are hummingbirds. These tiny, vibrant visitors avail themselves of The Huntington’s abundant nest sites and nesting materials, water features, and food sources.

Charles Elachi, the former director of NASA and Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, talked with Huntington President Karen Lawrence about the importance of daring to take risks, environmental stewardship, and the mutually enriching interactions among the arts, humanities, and sciences.

The Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, established almost 50 years ago, serves the needs of the largest urban Native American population in the United States. The Huntington’s records related to the commission’s founding reflect some of the complex histories of Indigenous people in Southern California.

In conjunction with the “Storm Cloud” exhibition, The Huntington is hosting the research conference “Storm Cloud: Environment, Empire, and the Arts in the Industrial Age.” Scholars from a range of disciplines will examine how 19th-century artists and writers engaged with science and confronted the changes caused by the Industrial Revolution.

In 1876, Edward Mitchell Bannister became the first African American artist to win a national award. The Huntington’s Lauren Cross writes about what motivated him, whom he credited for his success, and how he shifted from being a portraitist to a landscape artist.

In the spring of 2022, Tongva photographer Mercedes Dorame peered down at a tide pool on Santa Cruz Island, roughly 25 miles off the coast of California. Focusing her camera, she captured an image that provides a window into worlds.

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.

Un libro del siglo XIX sobre las orquídeas de Latinoamérica evoca una reflexión personal sobre la vulnerabilidad y la resiliencia de las plantas, el arte de la ilustración botánica y la poderosa función de los retratos como huellas perdurables de la memoria cultural.