Watch, Read, Listen

Historians long thought the Qing dynasty was arrogant, xenophobic, and closed to the world. If it had been more open, they argued, China would have been able to counter the Western advance. Recently, however, scholars have shown that the Qing were far more cosmopolitan, open, and connected than once believed.

Scholars reexamine Sargent Claude Johnson’s life and work through a new lens, exploring his role within the development of American modernism and his influence among artists. From sculptures of underrepresented subjects to majestic architectural commissions, Johnson’s oeuvre is viewed within an expansive framework of global modernism.

Yukio Lippit, professor of Japanese art and architecture at Harvard University, discusses how The Huntington’s Shōya House offers a unique opportunity to explore an abundance of ideas and elements about Japanese architecture as a whole.

Honor Sachs, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a historian of early America whose research focuses on slavery, law, and family. She is currently writing a multigenerational history of an enslaved family that sued for freedom claiming Indigenous ancestry.

New exhibition explores how German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer’s travels to Italy and beyond, and the cultural exchange with his contemporaries, transformed European art.

The rings of bristlecone pines, the planet’s longest-living trees, chronicle past details about changes in the climate and other environmental variations of global significance. The Huntington’s Daniel Lewis explores this topic and more in his book “Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future.”

Bruce Sosei Hamana, a tea ceremony expert with the Urasenke Tankokai Federation, discusses the “chashitsu,” the traditional tearoom.

The Huntington holds one of the largest collections of William Morris’ Kelmscott Press books in the world. Join Library staff for a deep dive into Morris’ artistic philosophy and handmade approach to printing during a time when the industry was moving toward mass production.

Before Eve Babitz became a published writer, she was a visual artist, and her chosen medium was collage. Inspired by Joseph Cornell and Andy Warhol, she created the album cover art for Buffalo Springfield’s “Buffalo Springfield Again” and The Byrds’ “Untitled.”

In 1933, Sargent Johnson began a monumental architectural installation for the California School for the Blind in Berkeley. It was commissioned by the federally sponsored Public Works of Art Project—part of the New Deal.

To celebrate this year’s Founders’ Day, Lori Bettison-Varga, president and director of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, engaged in a wide-ranging conversation with Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence about the past, present, and future of The Huntington.

The 2024 Founders’ Day program marked The Huntington’s fifth anniversary under the leadership of President Karen R. Lawrence.