The Huntington Library,Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, called the Huntington, is a research and cultural center surrounded by 120 acres of botanical gardens is located in San Marino, California.
The Huntington is among the wealthiest cultural institutions in America. Its library contains a collection of rare books and manuscripts focused on history, literature, art and the history of science. The library's main exhibition Hall display many of these rare books and manuscripts while the West Hall of the Library presents a series of exhibitions.
The Huntington Library contains 7 million manuscripts, more than 400,000 rare books, photographs, prints and science related drawings. There are 11 copies of the Gutenberg bible, an original manuscript by Chaucer along with letters and written papers by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln.
Railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington built the estate in 1910. He established an institution based on the art he collected and built a research library to house his extensive collection of mostly 18th and 19th century European art and 17th to 20th century American art.
The Dinner Hall of the History of Science, showcases science elements from the permanent exhibition on the science of astronomy, natural history, medicine and the nature of light.
A series of Halls and Galleries at the Huntington display the permanent collection of European and American art, with temporary exhibitions in the Boone and Scott Galleries. Different exhibitions run throughout the year on different social and political subjects.
In the original Huntington residence, the Huntington Art Gallery you can find its large collection of European art. His second wife, Arabella Huntington, spurred on Huntington's interest in art and they used the post-war economic expansion to buy up European art and assembled the greatest collection of 18th century British portraits owned by one person.
The Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection contains European art from Renaissance paintings and wonderful 18th century French tapestries, porcelain and antique furniture, along with some of the collection's most well known British paintings such as "The Blue Boy" by Thomas Gainsborough, "Pinkie" by Thomas Lawrence, and "Madonna and Child", by Roger van der Weyden.
The Huntington's American art collection includes paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and photographs dating back to the 17th to the mid 20th century. The Virginia Steele Scott Gallery of American Art and the Lois and Robert F. Erburu Gallery showcase the Huntington's extensive American Art collection.
The American Art collection includes more than 12,000 works, most of which are drawings, photographs and prints. The must see stops of masters of American artist include "Breakfast in Bed" by Mary Cassatt, "The Long Lead" by Edward Hopper, and "Small Crushed Campbell's Soup Can" by Andy Warhol.
The Huntington's botanical gardens showcase plants form around the world. The gardens are made of a series of specialized landscaped gardens including the Rose Garden, the Shakespeare Garden, the Desert Garden, the Japanese Garden, and the Chinese Garden.
There is also a large tropical plant collection as well as a carnivorous plant section in the Conservatory.
The Chinese Garden is the largest outside of China. The garden features a small lake with pavilions connected by bridges. There are a number of pavilions including the "Love for the Lotus Pavilion", "Terrace of the Jade Mirror and Pavilion of Three Friends", and a tea house.
The Desert Garden is one of the world's largest and oldest collections of cacti and succulents with plants from some of the most extreme environments in the world. With more than 5,000 different species, the Desert Garden is botanically important and finest in the world.
The Japanese Garden was first opened to the public in 1928. It consists of three gardens, the original stroll garden with koi-pond and the Drum or Moon-bridge, the raked gravel dry garden and the traditional landscaped tea garden. In addition there is a ceremonial tea house, a furnished Japanese house, a Zen garden and a Bonsai collection with hundreds of trees.
Other gardens include the Australian, Camellia, Children's, Herb, Jungle, Lily Pond, Palm, Ranch and Subtropical Gardens.
For over a hundred years, the Huntington has served as a public museum, research center and botanical gardens and a center for Arts and plant conservatory. The grounds and galleries have provided the perfect place to discover, learn and appreciate this beautiful cultural center.
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