Spring/Summer 2014

SPRING/SUMMER 2014

George Bellows’ Fantasy

A Botanical Expedition to Namibia

Unpacking the Octavia E. Butler Papers

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Advertiser: Cartier Advertiser: Cartier Advertiser: Cartier Advertiser: Cartier Ad: La Petillante Ring Spread PUJE1493 Ad: La Petillante Ring Spread PUJE1493 Ad: La Petillante Ring Spread PUJE1493 Ad: La Petillante Ring Spread PUJE1493 Publication: Boston Musuem of Fine Arts Publication: Boston Musuem of Fine Arts Publication: Boston Musuem of Fine Arts Publication: Boston Musuem of Fine Arts Issue: September 2013 Issue: September 2013 Issue: September 2013 Issue: September 2013 Bleed: 15.25" x 11.03" (7.75"x11.03") Bleed: 15.25" x 11.03" (7.75"x11.03") Bleed: 15.25" x 11.03" (7.75"x11.03") Bleed: 15.25" x 11.03" (7.75"x11.03") Trim: 15" x 10.875" (7.5"x10.875") Trim: 15" x 10.875" (7.5"x10.875") Trim: 15" x 10.875" (7.5"x10.875") COLOR TAG INFO Trim: 15" x 10.875" (7.5"x10.875") COLOR TAG INFO Live Area: 14.75" x 10.53" (7.25"x 10.53") COLOR TAG INFO Live Area: 14.75" x 10.53" (7.25"x 10.53") COLOR TAG INFO Live Area: 14.75" x 10.53" (7.25"x 10.53") Live Area: 14.75" x 10.53" (7.25"x 10.53") Giga Job#: 66394 (Left page) Giga Job#: 66394 (Right page) Giga Job#: 66394 (Left page) ______/ / Giga Job#: 66394 (Right page) ______/ / ______/ / ______/ / SENIOR STAFF OF THE HUNTINGTON STEVEN S. KOBLIK President FROM THE EDITOR CATHERINE ALLGOR Nadine and Robert A. Skotheim Director of Education SUMMER FANTASIES JAMES P. FOLSOM THE ART OF OUTDOOR LIVING Marge and Sherm Telleen/Marion and Earle Jorgensen Director of the Botanical Gardens KATHY HACKER his summer, you will be able to retreat from the heat of the gardens Executive Assistant to the President to the newly expanded Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American STEVE HINDLE Art. The conversion of a storage area to five new galleries has given W. M. Keck Foundation Director of Research curators 5,400 square feet of additional space to showcase the expand- KEVIN SALATINO Ting collection, including a recently acquired painting by George Bellows, Hannah and Russel Kully Director of the Art Collections Summer Fantasy. RANDY SHULMAN Vice President for Advancement That painting is the subject of the cover feature by Kevin Salatino, the LAURIE SOWD Hannah and Russel Kully Director of the Art Collections. Bellows (1882– Vice President for Operations 1925) is best remembered for his depictions of dark, gritty urban life in New SUSAN TURNER-LOWE York City at the beginning of the 20th century. But Summer Fantasy, completed Vice President for Communications less than a year before Bellows’ premature death at age 42, is far more vibrant DAVID S. ZEIDBERG and optimistic than those earlier works. In the article—titled “What Is It Telling Avery Director of the Library Us?” (pg. 16)—Salatino ponders the painting’s place in the artist’s oeuvre and among works by other American artists in The Huntington’s collection. MAGAZINE STAFF Octavia E. Butler’s rendering of an American past doesn’t have the nostalgia EDITOR of Bellows’ “lost and longed-for Arcadia,” but rather the all-too-real horror of Matt Stevens the antebellum South. In Butler’s novel Kindred, published in 1979, a young DESIGNER African American woman inexplicably transports from her California apart- Lori Ann Achzet ment on a June day in 1976 to a Maryland plantation in 1815. Butler (1947– Huntington Frontiers is published semiannually by the 2006) won a MacArthur “Genius Grant” in 1995 for her notable contributions Office of Communications. It strives to connect readers with to science fiction, although she once explained that Kindred was less science the rich intellectual life of The Huntington, capturing in news and more “grim fantasy.” In “Beyond Category” (pg. 8), Huntington archivist and features the work of researchers, educators, curators, and Natalie Russell explains the perils and pleasures of categorization when it came others across a range of disciplines. to cataloging the Butler papers, which the author bequeathed to The Huntington. INQUIRIES AND COMMENTS: Cody Howard lives in a world that is all about categorization. The young Matt Stevens, Editor, Huntington Frontiers botanist traveled to Namibia in southern Africa in November 2012 in pursuit 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 of Ledebouria, a bulbous succulent in the hyacinth family. He was hoping to 626-405-2167 | [email protected] identify as many species of the plant as he could while trekking 2,500 miles up and down the country. Writer Diana W. Thompson tells his story in “Growing For advertising inquiries, please call Maggie Malone at Cultural Media, 312-593-3355 Enthusiasm” (pg. 24), which begins with the fits and starts you might find in Unless otherwise acknowledged, photography is provided by a typical episode of “The Amazing Race.” By early December, a few weeks shy The Huntington’s Department of Photographic Services. of summer solstice in the southern hemisphere, Howard was on a plane head- ing back to Southern California, thrilled with the Ledebouria specimens he had tracked down and convinced that he was living out his dream.

© 2014 The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Matt Stevens Gardens. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of the contents, in whole or in part, without permission of the publisher, is prohibited. On the Cover: George Bellows (1882–1925), detail from Summer Fantasy, 1924, oil on canvas. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

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DEDON_SWINGREST_GETTY MAGAZINE_8,25x10,5.indd 1 12.02.13 15:11 volume 9, issue 2

Contents SPRING/SUMMER 2014

FEATURES 357N RODEO DR ShoP ferragamo.com

WHAT IS IT TELLING US? 16 Pondering one of George Bellows’ final paintings By Kevin Salatino

GROWING ENTHUSIASM 24 A small plant feeds big dreams for a botanist doing field research in Namibia By Diana W. Thompson

DEPARTMENTS

NEWS BYTES 6

ACCESSIONS 8 16 Beyond Category By Natalie Russell

A CLOSER LOOK 14 Riveting Imagery By David H. Mihaly

LESSONS LEARNED 30 The Beautiful People By Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

IN PRINT 34 Recommended Reading

POSTSCRIPT 36 Possessing the Land By Matt Stevens

Top: The Octavia E. Butler papers include a variety of materials, among them autograph notes, photographs, and ephemera. Middle: Kevin Salatino, Hannah and Russel Kully Director of the Art Collections, takes a 24 closer look at George Bellows’ Summer Fantasy (1924) with paintings conservator Christina O’Connell. Bottom: Cody Howard, The Huntington’s conservation technician, poses among Ledebouria in Namibia. News Bytes

VOICES FROM VERSO, THE BLOG OF THE HUNTINGTON

The Grace Nicholson Zenobia in Squint Photograph Archive “Even her fingers are exquisite!” “She seems to have had a —The Huntington on Facebook, naturalness and warmth linking to the Weekly Squint on with people, qualities that Tumblr are reflected in many of the photographs.” If you are among the 13,000 —The Huntington’s project archivist Suzanne Oatey, referring to Grace Nicholson followers of The Huntington on Tumblr, then you have already This photograph of a Yurok child named Genevieve Brooks, ca. 1910, is one of come to anticipate the posting of the thousands taken by Grace Nicholson (1877–1948), a Pasadena-based collector our “Squint” every Thursday. and dealer of Native American and Asian arts and crafts. The finding aid describ- Here is a closer look at Zenobia in ing the contents of the Nicholson Collection—available at the Online Archive Chains. The Virginia Steele Scott of California—has recently been completed as part of a two-year effort to catalog Galleries of American Art will The Huntington’s photographs of Native Americans. expand in July. Read more at huntingtonblogs.org/2014/04/nicholson Follow us at huntingtonlibrary. tumblr.com

Thank You “Like all those who come to The Huntington, I owe an incalculable debt to Mary Robertson, whose interest, expertise, and friendship have smoothed Duet Two Butterfly my path.” Between the Finger Ring, 6 diamonds and yellow sapphires. —Barbara Donagan, in the acknowledgments of her book War in England, 1642–1649 Couplets Abound “Freely strolling in springtime beyond the painted halls In February, scholars gathered for a symposium Among plum blossoms, by shady willows, fragrances abound.” in honor of Mary Robertson (pictured), the former —From Tang Xianzu’s Mudanting (The Peony Pavilion), inscribed on William A. Moffett Curator of British Historical two plaques attached to columns of the new Clear and Transcendent Manuscripts, who retired last August after 42 pavilion of The Huntington’s Chinese Garden years on staff. In his opening remarks, Research Director Steve Hindle paid tribute to Robertson “Wind ruffles the water, scattering the spots of light. by reading the acknowledgments of many pub- Haute Joaillerie, place Vendôme since 1906 Sun warms the earth, coaxing beauty from the deep.” lished books, including Barbara Donagan’s 2008 —High school participant on a school tour of the Chinese Garden volume on the English civil war.

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Beyond Category Question 1: What’s the most fuel-efficient UNPACKING OCTAVIA E. BUTLER luxury hybrid in America?* By Natalie Russell Question 2: ataloging a manuscript collection is a bit can match a good story compellingly told,” Butler like opening Pandora’s Box. You always wrote. Through the trials of strong and complicated Is there a luxury hybrid that has find more than you bargained for. characters, these stories ultimately reveal truths the same starting price as the gas model? I recently completed cataloging the about us. Butler’s papers offer a window into her Cpapers of science fiction author Octavia E. Butler, examination of these truths, her creative process, a journey both thrilling and frightening. Butler and her everyday life. Question 3: was the first black woman to gain prominence in a genre that flirts with the supernatural. Honored Butler was also the first science Which luxury hybrid offers both full-LED with both Hugo and Nebula awards, Butler was fiction author to be awarded a headlamps and SYNC® technology standard? also the first science fiction author to be awarded a MacArthur “Genius Grant.” Her novel Kindred MacArthur “Genius Grant.” was selected for Pasadena’s 2006 One City, One Story Collections come in many shapes and sizes, and program, but she passed away in many states of disarray. Archivists like myself That’s me. suddenly just weeks before arrange and describe the contents so that scholars her scheduled appearance. can find materials that fit their research. Where B:10.75” T:10.5”

Butler’s characters are little or no original order exists, I impose one, often S:10” complex, never fully good dividing materials into series such as correspon- or fully evil. They inhabit dence, manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera. stories that weave together I place everything in acid-free folders and boxes, themes of race, gender, sex, label them, and assign numbers for easy retrieval. religion, power, and humanity. Next I create a finding aid—an inventory of the “No entertainment on Earth materials supplemented with information such as

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Park ADD: None Creative Director: Direct Mail Ops: Legal: Park Designer: None Art Director: D. Willey Art Producer: Product Info: N. Frank-Greer Park PM: P. Nicholl Writer: Account Super: Copy Editor: Park Prod Artist: L. Mansfield Print Producer: M. Covington Account Exec: J. Kieran Traffic: J. Greco can be challenging. Does a letter with an enclosed draft of a short story belong with correspondence or with manuscripts? Should a letter written by a well-known editor be listed under his name or the name of the publisher? Does a story titled “10 o’clock Jesus” belong at the beginning of the alphabet, the end of the alphabet, or under “t”? These are the decisions archivists face every day. Some of them have standard answers defined by the profession; others depend on further details from the collection. I separated that short story from the letter and filed it with Butler’s other short stories. I also added a note to each folder indicating the relationship of letter and story. I added similar notes to the editor’s letters, noting his name while provenance, copyright status, and notes on scope Butler encouraged herself with filing the letters by the name of the publisher. “10 motivational notes about writing. and arrangement. By the time I finished cataloging o’clock Jesus” is filed at the beginning of the alpha- Butler’s archive, the finding aid topped out at 507 bet. In a different collection, the answers may have pages. Sound straightforward? been different. Butler’s papers arrived as two full four-drawer file cabinets and about 35 large cartons. Her filing systems were haphazard and she kept nearly every- Collections come in many shapes and thing—from her very first short stories, written at sizes, and in many states of disarray. the age of 12, to book contracts and programs from recent speaking engagements. Many of her child- It took me more than three years to organize hood efforts formed the seeds of later books. Butler and describe Butler’s voluminous notes, drafts of wrote and rewrote constantly, dividing ideas from manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, and one storyline into separate works, discarding scenes, ephemera. I had no shortage of brainteasers in the inserting plot points, borrowing previously consid- mix. Butler frequently reused paper. On the backs ered character names, and changing titles, all while of typewritten pages are discarded portions of prior encouraging herself with colorfully concocted mem- works—such as a page of the novel Mind of My os to refine the most important element, the story. Mind, in which telepathic super-humans vie for Born in Pasadena, Calif., in 1947, Butler may control of the species—among fragments of Butler’s have enjoyed writing stories from a young age, but reflections on slavery and the black experience, the she received little encouragement for her writing. grim time-travel fantasy Kindred. She used multiple It was not seen as a viable career, especially for a spiral-bound notebooks in various sizes. The pages 10 black woman. Butler’s widowed mother struggled of these untitled notebooks contain everything from to make ends meet working as a maid. “Her big plot ideas and lists of potential character names to dream for me was that I should get a job as a sec- grocery lists, calendar reminders, and bus routes— Opening at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena in June 2014 retary and be able to sit down when I worked. My Butler never drove. Indexing the content of these big dream was never to be a secretary in my life,” notebooks is virtually impossible. Signature treatments, massages and the latest cutting-edge skin care technology Butler would say. She continued writing. She cited Butler traveled to the Amazon to research her by HydraFacial MD® and Mistral LHE, with full service salon and fitness facilities persistence as one of her most valuable traits. Butler Xenogenesis trilogy, a post-apocalyptic tale of published 12 novels and one volume of short stories, human-alien genetic blending. She kept photo- all of which are represented in the collection, along graphs from the trip in one of those old photo with unpublished and unfinished works. albums with magnetic pages—not the method Most authors don’t consider their future archi- of choice of your typical archivist. But Butler also vists as they write. They don’t file their works by annotated those sticky pages with handwritten title and their letters by correspondent’s last name, captions, pages that might otherwise be weeded if they file anything at all. Inevitably, many items out. A self-described news junkie, with varied defy categorization. Butler used different filing interests, Butler saved highly acidic newspaper systems at different times, including the universal clippings for research and stored them folded and miscellaneous stack. Even easily identified items packed into small envelopes. She sorted them by The Langham Huntington, Pasadena 1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue, Pasadena, California 91106 T (626) 585 6414 F (626) 585 6432 [email protected] chuanspa.com Butler’s own “Pandora’s Box” and its mysterious contents.

subject: medicine, science, women, occupations, be categorized within the collection? This last social conditions. Maintaining these schemas is question has been answered: “Butler, Octavia E. an important link to Butler’s thought process. I Pandora’s Box. Autograph Manuscript.” Other sifted through each of these categorical outliers to questions, and more, await the researchers who determine their place in the collection. In the are studying this pioneering author and her middle of this plethora of literary treasure and works, including two Huntington scholars on chaos was something labeled “Pandora’s Box.” fellowship who arrive later this year. Your family. Your legacy. This “box” was a crudely made envelope—two With 8,000 individually cataloged items and taped sheets of notebook paper—bearing a dire more than 80 boxes of additional ephemera, the Building wealth today and sustaining it for future generations can be challenging. Effective warning: “Owner not responsible for pain and Butler papers are sure to provide new insights into investment management must be integrated with strategic tax and estate planning, philanthropy damage to eyesight and mental health suff ered the life and work of this remarkable woman. while reading contents without permission.” The Luckily, as the myth tells us, there is hope when and family culture. so-called contents? An empty potato chip bag. Pandora’s Box is opened again—hope perhaps of Here was a puzzle whose purpose we may nev- answers found in the order that was chaos. At City National, we’ll help you master the complexity of wealth management so you can more er solve. Was Octavia on a diet? Was she remind- fully enjoy your version of the good life. We’re with you every step of the way as you grow your ing herself of the numerous menial jobs she held Natalie Russell is assistant curator of literary early in her career—including sorting potato manuscripts at The Huntington. She is planning wealth, enjoy it with your family and build a lasting legacy. 12 chips? Was she simply in a silly mood, and the a Butler exhibition for 2017. 19 chip bag some sort of a joke? And how should it Experience the City National Difference.SM Contact Angel Chen, Private Client Services, at (626) 863-1589.

BEHIND THE SCENES : (626) 863-1589 “We don’t read everything. If we did, nothing would ever get done.” —Huntington archivist Li Wei Yang, featured in one of fi ve new videos on view in “The Library Today,” the companion gallery adjacent to the permanent exhibition “Remarkable Works, Remarkable Times: Highlights from the Huntington Library.”

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CITY NATIONAL BANK CREATIVE SERVICES William Dodge Stevens (1870– 1942), Teamwork Builds Ships, ca. 1917, lithograph, 36 x 50 in., a closer look The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Riveting Imagery Gardens.

THE ART OF WARTIME PROPAGANDA DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

By David H. Mihaly

n the oversized arms of a shipbuilder, a rivet gun takes on symbolic meaning in this poster printed at the height of America’s involvement in the First World War. You may not be able Ito fight for your country overseas, the poster seems to say, but you can do your part at home to help win the war. Warships are massive hulks, but here artist William Dodge Stevens makes the vessel all but invisible and transforms the men into giants of American industrial power. The orange glow of the ship’s hull highlights the brute force of the Wartime production workers, while their heroic size exaggerates their posters summoned civilian strength and intensity. populations to support the Stevens established himself as an illustrator in war effort through hard work and sacrifice. Appeals New York City before the war and became known to increase productivity on for detailed renderings of the upper-class—for farms and in factories were example, a fashionable couple strolling hand in intended to rally wartime hand or drinking tea in a dining room. By 1906, economies while trying to he had signed an exclusive contract with Harper & build an emotional bond between civilians and Brothers to illustrate articles for the popular news soldiers by emphasizing and literary magazine Harper’s Monthly. By 1913, “teamwork for victory.” his well-liked depictions of high society appeared in other leading magazines, including Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, and Woman’s The Division of Pictorial Home Companion. Publicity was formed in 1917 But here, Stevens applied his talent to a different as a volunteer U.S. government organization purpose. When his country called, he answered 14 within the Committee on with this allegorical image of working-class Public Information. America. Stevens was one of more than 300 artists Assembled by Committee who created art to convince American citizens to chairman George Creel and buy war bonds, enlist, support relief efforts, pre- Charles Dana Gibson, president of the Society of serve food and fuel, or perform jobs that would Illustrators, the DPP help win the war. enlisted many of America’s best-known illustrators to Teamwork Builds Ships will be on view in “Your serve their country by Country Calls! Posters of the First World War,” producing wartime art. which features 55 works from The Huntington’s collection of more than 700 from this era. The The Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Co. (Boston, 1876– By the 1890s, poster artists consistently signed their work, Days after America declared war against Germany, the Library West Hall exhibition opens Aug. 2, 2014, 1960) built a reputation in the late 19th century by printing a new trend that gave them proper recognition from United States Shipping Board established the Emergency high-quality stone-lithographed product labels, sheet music publishers and viewers. Fleet Corporation to increase production of merchant ships coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the out- covers, trade cards, and theatrical posters. This poster is an needed to transport cargo across the Atlantic and to keep break of the war. It closes Nov. 3, 2014. example of offset lithography, an advanced method of lines of communication open between North America and mechanical printing from plates made of thin metal or Europe. David H. Mihaly is the Jay T. Last Curator of rubber. Although its quantity is unknown, print runs of Graphic Arts and Social History at The Huntington. American wartime posters averaged 10,000. What Is It Telling Us? PONDERING ONE OF GEORGE BELLOWS’ FINAL PAINTINGS By Kevin Salatino

When the great American painter George Bellows died prematurely in 1925 at the age of 42, he had been in the midst of a gradual but conscious shift in style that was as intriguing as it was eccentric. The writer Sherwood Anderson observed, with a note of pathos in his voice, that “the late paintings keep telling you things. They are telling you that Mr. George Bellows died too young. They are telling you that he was after something, he was always after it.”

19 Far left: Detail of George Bellows’ Summer Fantasy (1924). 17 Center: Kevin Salatino and Huntington paintings conservator Christina O’Connell assess the condition of the painting prior to its installation in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art in July. Right: Bellows, in an undated photograph, died in 1925, less than a year after completing the painting. Portrait is courtesy of Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum, J0001254. In a dazzling career spanning only 19 years, Bellows recent acquisition of one of the most significant of modern life, with a brushstroke as rapid as an symmetry,” a system of mathematically and geo- leapt, effortlessly, from achievement to achievement, his final works: the beautiful and elegiac Summer uppercut and a palette as raw as a bloody nose. metrically conceived ideal proportions based on his work characterized by daring technique and Fantasy of 1924 (see page 21), a picture of enormous That early subject matter—of boxers, street the study of ancient Greek architecture espoused subject matter, incessant experimentation, breath- ambition and, ironically, optimism, and so unlike urchins, crowded tenements, the teeming life of by the theorist and painter Jay Hambidge. So im- Earlier in his career, Bellows was taking facility, and herculean productivity. the gritty boxing and urban scenes of his better- New York City in a period of explosive growth— portant to Bellows was dynamic symmetry as a known for his grittier subject The positive popular and critical reception known youth. In fact, the painting seems produced derived from the influence of Bellows’ famous structuring principle that even his summer house matter. Opposite, bottom: Excavation at Night, 1908, oil on of his late paintings—and of the mysterious by the hand of a different artist entirely. Those teacher, Robert Henri, as did his dark, restrained in Woodstock, N.Y., was designed according to canvas, Crystal Bridges Museum “something” in them that Bellows was “after”—is earlier works—Stag at Sharkey’s (1909) (below, palette, the legacy of Henri’s worship of the French its precepts. of American Art, Bentonville, Ark. Opposite, top: Preliminaries to the particularly noteworthy in light of The Huntington’s center) being the most famous—shocked their Realist-cum-Impressionist painter Édouard Manet, The elaborate pantomime of Summer Fantasy Big Bout, 1916, lithograph, The inaugural audiences not so much by their brutal an adulation he passed on to his pupil. Like Manet’s is as rich in symbolism as a Renaissance allegory Huntington Library, Art Collecions, and Botanical Gardens. Center: and explicit imagery (“I just wanted to paint two work, Bellows’ imagery expanded to include more (think, for example, of Botticelli’s Primavera, or Stag at Sharkey’s, 1909, litho- men trying to kill each other,” in the artist’s words) resolutely pastoral scenes, particularly of the pastimes Allegory of Spring, with which there are clear and graph, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical as by the startling visual vocabulary Bellows had of the leisured classes (primarily polo and tennis), probably intentional parallels). The painting does Gardens. developed to express the dynamism and chaos of accompanied by an equal enlarging of his chromatic not depict an actual or, frankly, even an imagined Bellows is less widely known as range—a brighter, more exuberant palette inspired event, but rather a visionary one (see sidebar). It a portraitist. Laura, 1915, oil on by the works of Seurat and Gauguin, and the late functions as a metaphor for, or an idealization of, canvas, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical This work contrasts vividly with paintings of Renoir. the perfect summer’s day—late afternoon in the Gardens. any number of Bellows’ earlier, By 1918, Bellows—who had been interested throughout his career in color and compositional gritty urban scenes. theories—had fallen under the spell of “dynamic

18 19 magical hour before sunset—thus imbuing it with Pennsylvania Station’s foundation is as much a nostalgia and longing. On a deeper level, the work metaphor for the industrial metropolis’ “satanic may be interpreted as an allegory of life, from birth mills” and their dehumanizing effect as Summer (the pram and nanny closest to us), through youth Fantasy’s bucolic setting is for a lost and longed- and adulthood (the central, striding couple and for Arcadia. What is worth noting, however, is the their attendants), to death, as implied by the dark- essential something that connects all of Bellows’ silhouetted boat, a classic reference to the afterlife— paintings: the desire to elevate his subject matter Echoes of two great works can be found in Bellows’ Summer all of this underscored by the lateness of day, whose from the merely illustrative to the metaphorical. Fantasy (opposite). Top: Sandro lengthening shadows suggest fleeting time. The Indeed, Summer Fantasy seems to stand as a kind Botticelli (Italian, 1445–1510), Primavera, or Allegory of Spring, bridle path at the painting’s core sets the dominant of summation of the artist’s career and themes (as ca. 1482, © Summerfield Press/ theme: the race of life. if he were aware that death was a beat away), akin CORBIS. Bottom: Georges Seurat (French, 1859–1891), A Sunday This work contrasts vividly with any number in spirit and achievement to Georges Seurat’s on La Grande Jatte, 1884–86, oil of Bellows’ earlier, gritty urban scenes, Excavation magisterial Sunday on La Grande Jatte (1884–86) on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett at Night (1908) (pg. 18, bottom left), for example, (lower left), a painting Bellows almost certainly knew, Memorial Collection, 1926.224. where the massive, gaping excavation pit for sharing with it an air of achievement and finality. Summer Fantasy becomes the second painting by Bellows to enter The Huntington’s collections, the first being a portrait of his half sister Laura (1915), acquired in 1983 (pg. 19). Though Laura is a brilliant example of the artist’s skills as a portraitist, Bellows is better known for his landscapes (with or without figures) and was arguably the greatest practitioner of that genre in 20th-century American art. Summer Fantasy thus fills what had been—in the absence of a Bellows landscape—a serious and longstanding

The elaborate pantomime of

Summer Fantasy is as rich in BELLOWS’ FANTASY George Bellows (1882–1925), Summer Fantasy, 1924, oil on canvas, The Huntington symbolism as a Renaissance Compositionally, Summer Fantasy is divided into a series of horizontal bands, like geological strata, Library, Art Collections, and allegory. granted a sense of movement by the zigzagging placement of figures in the painting’s carefully composed Botanical Gardens. landscape. In the right foreground, a nanny dressed in white pushes a baby carriage; spatially closest to the viewer, she functions as what art historians call a “repoussoir” device, pulling us visually into the gap. The Huntington also holds a significant number picture. In the left foreground, on a plane a bit further back, a large knot of figures gathers, accompanied of the artist’s prints, which Bellows believed to be by an imposing dog and another baby carriage. In center middle-ground, a couple (to whose central equal in status to his paintings. He was a highly position we may attach some importance) strides forward up a gentle hill, the woman enhaloed by accomplished and prolific printmaker in a golden a translucent white parasol (or is it a hat?), her right hand extended in a kind of benediction—a Lady age of graphic art, and many of his most iconic Bountiful of sorts. lithographs can be found at The Huntington, including Stag at Sharkey’s and Preliminaries to the In even deeper space (at the painting’s horizontal center), several equestrians, looking as stately as a Big Bout (1916) (pg. 18–19). royal procession, canter along a bridle path—two white-horsed riders flanked by two dark. Finally, in 20 With the recent acquisition of two large and the painting’s background, recreational sailboats ply a turquoise river, one boat dramatically silhouetted 21 ambitious paintings by Bellows’ contemporaries, against the fiery reflected light of an apocalyptic sun breaking through El Greco–inspired clouds. George Luks and Reginald Marsh, the context in which Summer Fantasy may be understood at The The actors in this bucolic narrative wear vaguely historic costumes (the women more so than the men, Huntington has expanded even further. Luks’ whose clothing is more generically modern), including the anachronistic presence of parasols and long, dark and powerful painting of the underbelly of flowing dresses. And while saturated shades of green, blue, purple, orange, and yellow dominate the land- the coal mining industry and its dependence on scape, the defining color of the central characters is white, and leisure the principal activity. Significantly, child labor, The Breaker Boys (ca. 1925) (pg. 22, it is we, the viewers, to whom the painting’s main actors address themselves, as if the scene were un- top left), made at virtually the same moment as folding on a stage in a theater in which we are the audience. Even the nanny in the foreground, though Summer Fantasy, provides a startling contrast— her face is only suggested, appears to look out of the picture and directly at us. (continued on pg. 22) –KS CONSIGNMENTS NOW TWO MASSIVE BLUE AND INQUIRIES WHITE BALUSTER VASES +1 (323) 436 5552 INVITED FOR AUCTIONS Kangxi period [email protected] Bellows’ painting joins IN ALL CATEGORIES $100,000 - $200,000 other works in the newly Fine Asian Works of Art, June 24 expanded Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art, including The Breaker Boys, ca. 1925, oil on canvas, by George Luks (1867–1933); The Locomotive, 1935, tempera on concrete, by Reginald Marsh (1898–1954); and The Long Leg, ca. 1930, oil on canvas, by Edward Hopper (1882–1967).

With the recent acquisition of two large and ambitious paintings by Bellows’ contemporaries, George Luks and Reginald Marsh, the context in which Summer Fantasy may be understood at The Huntington has expanded even further.

were considered more-or-less friendly rivals. It is sobering to reflect that Hopper, who achieved success much later in life than Bellows, lived until 1967. While Hopper’s work was characterized throughout his career by slow, nearly invisible change, Bellows’ was defined by constant volatility and experimentation. Who knows what directions his art might have taken had he lived, like Hopper, another 40 years? aesthetic, historical, and cultural—to the latter, We have hints, of course, of those directions, of reflecting the complexities of the American scene which Summer Fantasy is one of the most fascinating. in the pre-Depression twenties. Marsh’s monumental Beautiful and compelling in its mastery of light Locomotive (lower left), a work from a decade later and color, its profundity of symbolic meaning, its than Summer Fantasy, and produced at the height insistent strangeness of mood, and its powerful of the Depression, promotes instead a vision of referencing of the past while keeping a firm eye American progress and industry diametrically on the future, Summer Fantasy is a masterpiece 22 opposed to the sentiment of The Breaker Boys, of the artist’s late career—a consummation and which is unsurprising, given Locomotive’s origins condensation of an all-too-brief life of remarkable as a government commission. though truncated ambition and achievement. The timeless Summer Fantasy stands outside (or falls somewhere between) both of these works, Kevin Salatino is the Hannah and Russel Kully having more in common with Edward Hopper’s Director of the Art Collections at The Huntington. idealizing The Long Leg (ca. 1930) (top right), another dream of a perfect summer’s day. Hopper and Bellows were the same age and in the same class at the New York School of Art, where they

International Auctioneers and Appraisers – bonhams.com/asian ©2014 Bonhams & Butterﬁ elds Auctioneers Corp. All rights reserved. Bond No. 57BSBGL0808 Growing Enthusiasm A SMALL PLANT FEEDS BIG DREAMS FOR A BOTANIST DOING FIELD RESEARCH IN NAMIBIA

By Diana W. Thompson

Climbing more than 600 feet above the African savannah, the red sandstone cliffs of Namibia’s Waterberg Plateau are home to many rare and exotic animals, including leopards, wildebeests, and rhinoceroses. But when Huntington conservation technician Cody Howard arrived in the park in November 2012 he was in search of a much smaller prize: Ledebouria, an onion-like bulbous plant of the hyacinth family. Plant enthusiasts collect the genus because of its patterned leaves and tiny but exquisite flowers. In the wild it can be elusive. With its succulent bulb,Ledebouria only emerges from the ground following a downpour. As Howard hiked to the top of the plateau, he was hoping to see signs of rain. Instead, the ground was dry and

cracked, and a hike lasting a few hours under the blazing sun yielded no annuals in At left, Cody Howard examines an unidentified Ledebouria (the flower. And noLedebouria . Clearly, it hadn’t rained in weeks. He had come halfway big leafy plant) near the Erongo Mountains in central Namibia. around the globe for this? He and a group of local botanists practiced “roadside” botany (below), exploring 15 meters of land on either side of the road.

Howard had earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas and was hoping to use the Africa trip as a stepping-stone to a graduate degree in integrated biology. Identifying a gap in botanical knowledge can pave the way toward a doctorate. “A friend had been telling me about Ledebouria,” recounts Howard. “They aren’t big and showy like aloes. And they’re bulbs, so they’re only visible half the year. But the more I learned about them, the more excited I got,” he says. Howard admits he appreciated the humble Ledebouria precisely because it wasn’t big and showy, but over time he also came to value the diversity of the species, 19 with its different spotted patterns on its leaves 25 and varying colors and sizes. Ledebouria is widely distributed all over sub- Saharan Africa and can be found as far away as India. There was plenty of anecdotal evidence of the plant’s presence throughout Namibia, yet almost all the published data had focused on a single country—Namibia’s neighbor, South Africa. Could there be species of Ledebouria that had not yet been identified in Namibia? Howard was eager to find out. Undeterred, Howard and his Namibian col- Angolan border to a small town called Stampriet, Epupa Falls ANGOLA leagues continued their search. The next day they southeast of the capital. Kunene River proceeded another 350 miles northwest, to Opuwo, Howard’s most exciting sighting occurred Opuwo where hundreds of Ledebouria had been spotted about 200 miles northeast of the capital near the Onguma some months earlier. That day, they couldn’t locate village of Otjinene. That’s where he encountered Tsumeb a single example. the only specimen he felt comfortable identifying The group pressed on. On day four, they set with 100 percent certainty—Ledebouria scabrida. Waterberg Plateau their sights on Epupa Falls, another 110 miles north, At this point in his journey, Howard and an- Khorixas

on the border with Angola, where the Kunene River other researcher, Leevi Nanyeni, had broken off Otjinene

spills into a series of waterfalls framed by baobab from the group. They pulled over their truck when Erongo trees, makalani palms, and colored rock walls. The they started to notice the brown vegetation give Mountains earth seemed damp, and Howard’s hopes grew. way to a deep green. About six feet from the road WINDHOEK Bingo. He found one, then another, then several they saw their first L. scabrida in flower. Howard BOTSWANA Ledebouria plants. began digging while Nanyeni started on another

This is where a botanist rolls up his sleeves and one a few feet away. Excavating a bulb is pain- Kalahari Stampriet gets to work. Depending on what he finds, he’ll staking work. “You want the bulb to be perfect,” Desert take part of a leaf for DNA analysis or collect seeds says Howard, “so when I dig, I’m careful not to for a seed bank. He takes photos and records the damage anything. It can take me anywhere from date and exact location by global positioning system, 15 to 30 minutes per plant.” NAMIBIA or GPS. He might even dissect a plant on the spot Only after they celebrated their finds did they (if the plant is in flower or bearing fruit) and make notice they were surrounded by the plant. a dried plant sample called a voucher. Vouchers are L. scabrida hadn’t been documented in Namibia SOUTH AFRICA then stored in a herbarium, an archive of dried plants since the 1970s. The herbarium at Windhoek had that includes information such as the date, place, and no examples, and the country had placed it on a description of the specimen. When properly pre- “red data” list, meaning that there was so little Namibian authorities appreciated Howard’s served, a voucher can last for hundreds of years. information about populations in the wild, re- Howard found this unidentified Ledebouria northwest of the help because they were aware of the incredible searchers feared it could be endangered. Howard For Howard, the trip was a tremendous success. Erongo Mountains, near Khorixas. plant diversity in their nation but didn’t have the and Nanyeni can now report L. scabrida is not in It shows the teardrop-shaped He determined that one species feared endangered bulb, succulent leaves, and tiny resources to document it. For The Huntington, Howard and three Namibian danger. “It grows by the thousands, and it grows was alive and well, and he’s hoping to make progress flowers typical of the genus. Howard’s work nicely complemented its already counterparts would search for everywhere,” says Howard excitedly. on identifying the others. impressive collection of rare succulents, many of About 10 miles down the road, Howard found Meanwhile, he’s been back in touch with Namib- which come from the nearby Cape Province of South Ledebouria on a 2,500-mile trek another Ledebouria, this time a tiny specimen in ian researcher Leevi Nanyeni (pictured on pg. 28). Africa, which has many of the same geographic flower that measured just two inches tall. When It seems Howard’s excitement about Ledebouria and climatic conditions as Namibia. across the country, a sparsely he broke off a leaf, vascular bundles resembling has rubbed off. Following a rainstorm, Nanyeni Howard began organizing his trip a year earlier populated nation roughly twice threads snapped back, like tiny rubber bands. It returned to the north and found several additional with help from researchers at the National Botanical was like no other he had seen. species they hadn’t encountered on Howard’s visit. Research Institute in Namibia’s capital city of the size of California. Yet another discovery was an intriguing Lede- “He’s become my eyes while I’m not there,” says Windhoek. He and three Namibian counterparts bouria growing in a depression where rainwater Howard. “He’ll make the collections for me and would search for Ledebouria on a 2,500-mile trek In Howard’s case, Namibian authorities had collected on the side of the road between Onguma mark the locations with GPS so I can look for them across the country, a sparsely populated nation given him permission to dig out actual plants to be and Tsumeb in north-central Namibia. It had small, on my next trip.” roughly twice the size of California. With a plan brought back to the National Botanical Research raised bumps called papillae running along the mapped out, he secured financing from The Hun- Institute. On that day, Howard bagged 10 plants, upper surface of the leaf, with distinctive dark In March 2014, Howard returned from his third 26 tington, the Cactus and Succulent Society of Amer- but no vouchers. purple spots. Again, he needed to do more research trip to Namibia, where he added 80 new plants to 27 ica, the San Gabriel Cactus and Succulent Society, The next day the skies opened to a steady rain to identify the species. his list. In the fall, he will begin a doctoral program and other donors. that continued for hours. It was a good omen. Over Namibia is among the world’s hot spots for at the University of Florida. He scheduled his arrival to coincide with the the next week or so, Howard found a different biodiversity and one of the top five locations for tail end of the “little rainy season,” several months species each day, about 10 or 12 in all, many of endemism—it has plants that grow nowhere else. Diana W. Thompson is a freelance writer based of lighter rainfall starting in October that precede which he thinks might turn out to be new varia- Howard is hopeful many of the specimens he col- in South Pasadena, Calif. the more abundant summer rains from December tions of a species, new species entirely, or ones that lected will turn out to be new ones. Identifying to February. But as he discovered at the parched have never before been documented in Namibia. them will be complex and time consuming. For Waterberg Plateau, even the most careful planning By the end of the trip he had 54 living plants or now, they’re under the watchful eye of the National can be trumped by the whims of Mother Nature. vouchers from a vast area extending from the Botanical Research Institute at Windhoek. Winner of 67 Awards Since 1978 from the Botanist Leevi Nanyeni stands Treaties designed to protect biodiversity— next to Drimia altissima near keeping people from digging up every last plant, California Landscape Garden View Tsumeb in northern Namibia. Large bulbs like Drimia are especially in developing countries—sometimes have Contractors Association Landscape, Nursery & Pools indicators that it might be wet the unintended consequence of hindering plant enough for Ledebouria. exports for legitimate reasons. Such landmark treaties include the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, adopted in 1973, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, from 1992. Regulations to block the spread of pests and dis- eases further complicate the process for botanists hoping to import plant material. When Howard organized his scouting expedition to Namibia, his goals refl ected that reality. For one, he didn’t expect to carry back actual samples. His focus was on strengthening relation- ships with Namibian plant researchers and helping WHY COLLECT PLANTS? them to boost their collection. Later on, if he ob- tained the proper permits, he could export dupli- Botanical collections play a valuable role in plant cates of those collections or return for new ones. conservation. The Huntington’s 12-acre Desert “They build their collection, we build ours, and Garden boasts one of the largest collections of the relationship grows,” said Howard. “Collaboration cacti and succulents in the world, containing more is a huge part of these trips.” than 5,000 species from 60 diff erent plant families Botanical collecting hasn’t always been so (with a handful of Ledebouria in the garden, Desert cumbersome. In the 1960s and 1970s, The Hunting- Conservatory, and nursery). The Huntington also ton sent regular expeditions to Mexico and Central maintains a seed bank and an herbarium with America. With the blessing of government offi cials, 20,000 dried plants. researchers would take samples of cacti and suc- These collections make it possible for research- culents back to The Huntington, propagate them, ers to study exotic plants when international travel and sell them at regular plant sales. The Hunting- is not an option—or when the plant is endangered ton earned a reputation for selling succulents you or even extinct in the wild. For instance, The couldn’t buy anywhere else. Proceeds from sales Lic # 413300 Huntington’s extraordinary collection of cycads helped fund future trips. It now takes years to includes one of the rarest plants in the world, obtain the necessary permits to remove specimens Complete Outdoor Design & Construction ● Consistent Quality & Reliability Encephalartos woodii, or Wood’s cycad, originally from a country. New & Remodeled Swimming Pools ● Large In-House Crews a native of South Africa. The last specimen in the “What Cody is doing is the model for botanical wild was seen in 1916 in the Ongoye Forest in collecting today,” says Lahmeyer. “Identify some- Wholesale/Retail Nursery ● Very Competitive Pricing ● Landscape Maintenance KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Fearing it would one in the host country, build a relationship, and not survive, researchers removed the plant and see if you can take the steps to legally export sent it to government botanists in Pretoria, where plant material.” it lived until 1964. The few examples alive today Encouraged by Howard’s inroads in deter- are all clones of that specimen. mining the diversity of Ledebouria in their country, When it comes to adding to a botanical col- Namibian authorities have granted him a permit 28 lection, one of the main avenues is fi eld research. for exporting samples on future trips. Howard is But it doesn’t come cheap. Besides the costs of elated and so are colleagues at The Huntington. sending a researcher to another country, there’s “The Huntington plays an important role in the complex process of obtaining permits. conservation,” says Lahmeyer. “It’s very possible “We live in a day and age when it’s diffi cult to that a number of plants we’ve collected over the exchange plant material,” explains Sean Lahmeyer, last 75 years will one day be gone in the wild. The Huntington’s plant conservation specialist. Fieldwork is one way to better understand and He curates The Huntington’s herbarium and seed protect these species.” bank and manages a tissue culture program that –DWT From Concept to Completion... One Coordinated E ort propagates rare plants. 626-303-4043 - www.Garden-View.com 114 E. Railroad Avenue, Monrovia CA lessons learned The Beautiful People 2 N. Lake Ave. | Ste. 1000 | Pasadena, CA 91101 LIFESTYLES OF GEORGIAN LONDON’S RICH AND FAMOUS (626) 844 7300

By Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell A Full-Service Family Law Firm serving the Los Angeles area n the 1690s, in the wake of a series of consti- underpinning,” Greig explains. “Most people in tutional reforms, England’s Parliament began the beau monde had a relationship to a politician, – Over 70 years combined to meet annually for the first time in history, so their social and public life had a political di- experience luring aristocrats to London from their country mension.” The book demonstrates that seemingly – Knowledgeable in all aspects Iestates for months at a time. This elegant, urban elite frivolous indulgences like ball gowns, carriages, of Family Law was dubbed the “beau monde,” meaning “beautiful and opera tickets were tools to advance political – Committed to your best results world” in French, a language they all spoke fluently. careers and agendas. Their transformative effect on London’s culture and Membership in the beau monde was deter- expertise commerce is explored in The Beau Monde: Fashion- mined by power, money, and family ties. “You divorce pre & post able Society in Georgian London, a new book by needed the right connections,” Greig says. “You marital mediation Hannah Greig, lecturer in history at the University couldn’t just turn up in London and make it on agreements custody & of York. your own.” But it required hard work, too. Long appeals visitation With its stars and scandals, the beau before Facebook, LinkedIn, and eHarmony, the modifications spousal support monde had much in common with today’s beau monde perfected the art of social networking. domestic celebrity culture. “But what makes the “Whereas we might send out a few emails or tweets child support partnerships London beau monde different is the political to stay connected, they were constantly going from place to place—balls, parties, pleasure gardens— sometimes attending multiple events in a single evening,” Greig says. “The timetable seems in- credibly exhausting and relatively tedious. Lots of women would carry letters and add comments to them before posting them at the end of the evening to keep people up to date with the latest news. They very rarely talked about the excitement, the glamour, and the pleasure.” Instead, the letters would contain detailed reports on who was seen where and what everyone was wearing.

30 Membership in the beau monde was determined by power, money, and The book is published by Oxford University Press. At family ties. right: One member of the beau monde: Georgiana (Spencer) Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, The beau monde left its mark on the topography 1775–76, by Sir Joshua Reynolds of London as these seasonal visitors settled in the (1723–1792). The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and West End, building stately townhouses around Botanical Gardens. St. James’s Court and Piccadilly. The book includes a heartbreaking catalog of demolished residences. “We have shopping streets and smaller houses, but most of the grand London houses have gone,” Greig laments. One rare survival is Spencer House, the London home of the family of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (whose portrait by Reynolds is at left). “Its majesty and its proximity to Green Park ADVERTISEMENTS

make you realize what 18th-century London must in the 18th century. But much of her work was have been like,” Greig says. done in “a lot of very small English record oﬃ ces If buildings are scarce, documents are plentiful. in not very glamorous destinations,” she says. “Sometimes historians have diﬃ culty fi nding mate- “You’re there in the rain and there’s nowhere to rial in their fi eld, but that absolutely isn’t a challenge go for lunch. The Huntington is a much diff erent with the 18th-century aristocracy,” Greig explains. research experience!” “You’re swamped with material. These families were very adept at recording their own histories.” Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell was the Andrew The book draws on a century’s worth of carefully W. Mellon Foundation Curatorial Fellow in John William Godward (British, 1861-1922) A Quiet Pet preserved letters, diaries, and family records. French Art at The Huntington from 2003 to moB museum anDerson Galleries Greig’s research included a trip to The Hunting- 2007. Her book Fashion Victims: Dress at the ton to consult the Stowe House papers, the largest Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette will enforcement memorabilia under one post-impressionist and modern British family archive held in the United States; be published by Yale University Press this fall. roof. The Museum has accumulated works including Courbet, numerous accolades since opening in Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, she also participated in The Huntington’s 2004 2012, including being named one of Guillaumin, Vuillard, Bouguereau, conference on gender, taste, and material culture “10 World Landmarks You Haven’t Le Sidaner, Lebasque, Corot. We Seen – Yet” by NBC News, as well as are always interested in purchasing several “Best Museum” awards. Hours quality paintings. Open Monday– are Sunday-Thursday 10:00am– Friday 10:00am–6:00pm, and by The Mob Museum is a world-class 7:00pm and Friday–Saturday The Anderson Galleries are appointment. destination in downtown Las Vegas 10:00am–8:00pm. dealers, agents and certified HOLLYWOOD HISTORIAN dedicated to the story of organized appraisers of museum 354 North Bedford Drive crime and law enforcement. True 300 East Stewart Avenue quality 19th and 20th century Beverly Hills, CA 90210 For those hoping to join the beau monde, stories of Mob history are brought Las Vegas, NV 89101 paintings, drawings and [email protected] “the devil really was in the details,” Hannah to life through interactive, high-tech sculpture. We specialize exhibits and over 600 artifacts, the 702 229 2734 in European and American 310 858 1644 Greig writes in The Beau Monde. Her attention largest collection of Mob and law themobmuseum.org academic, realist, impressionist, andersongalleries.com to the details of Georgian life has made her a sought-after historical adviser to fi lm and theater productions. Her fi rst project was the 2008 movie The Duchess, based on Amanda Foreman’s biography of the Duchess of Dev- onshire. Most recently, she assisted the BBC with the Jane Austen–inspired miniseries Death Comes to Pemberley, airing in the United States on PBS later this year. She begins with the script. “I try to highlight October 11, 12 & 13, 2014 any words or phrases or historical references www.ojaistudioartists.org that are wrong,” she says. Not all of her sug- 32 gestions are taken; both the story and the look of the production might require a certain dis- ojai stuDio artists Dunham BiBle museum regard for accuracy. She is sometimes invited to be a watchful presence on fi lm sets, as well. “It’s often when they’re doing something big like a Hannah Greig served as Please come to one of the most medieval Bible manuscripts, historical adviser on the ball or, in Death Comes to Pemberley, a court scene,” she says. beautiful open studio tours in the earliest printed Bibles, fi l mThe Duchess (above) Most of her advice is practical in nature. “I’m often asked with great seriousness how to hold Southern California. The Ojai foreign translations and the and the BBC series Death Comes to Pemberley. a fan or whether a hairstyle is correct,” she laughs. But she is more concerned about factual errors. Studio Artists tour is in its 31st year, earliest English and American “As a historian what interests me most is character and context,” she says. Her alarm bells go off celebrated annually on the second Bibles. Open Monday–Saturday weekend in October. 10:00am–4:00pm. No admission “when something is completely fabricated or a character is skewed for the purposes of the narrative.” fee but donations are accepted. In The Duchess, for example, “most of my colleagues would agree that the Duchess of Devonshire’s October 11th, 12th & 13th, 2014 Located on the campus of political signifi cance wasn’t conveyed very well,” she says. “It’s diffi cult to dramatize the 1784 Houston Baptist University. Westminster election as opposed to a First World War battle sequence, so I can understand why. Friday 7:00pm – Artist talk with Karen Lewis at Ojai Art Center Discover the amazing history Saturday 7:30pm – Artist reception with live music at Ojai Art Center and influence of the Bible. 7502 Fondren Road But as a historian, I found that a bit frustrating.” On another project, a subplot about an illegitimate Saturday–Monday 10:00am–5:00pm – Self-guided tours Creative exhibits provide Houston, TX 77074 child sparked “a good many conversations about whether the mother would keep her baby or give background for the museum’s it up.” The Hollywood ending won out over the historical one. The baby stayed with mum. 805 646 9892 unparalleled Bible collections. 281 649 3287 –KCC ojaistudioartists.org Exhibits include ancient and hbu.edu/biblemuseum Cultural Guide

Huntington Culture Guide spring/summer 2014.indd 1 5/9/14 3:20 PM In Print

A SAMPLING OF BOOKS BASED ON RESEARCH IN THE COLLECTIONS

Remaking English Society_PPC 08/10/2012 12:46 Page 2 REMAKING ENGLISH SOCIETY REMAKING REMAKING CHANGE

ENGLISH SOCIEl TY Ek SOCIAL RELATIONS AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN EARLY In Female Alliances: Gender, Identity, and Friendship in Early MODERN ENGLAND

A tribute to the work of Keith decisive change. Prefaced by a STEVE HINDLE is EEE Wrightson, Remaking English substantial introduction which W.M. Keck Foundation EDITED BY Society re-examines the traces the evolution of early Director of Research at Steve Hindle, relationship between enduring modern social history over the the Huntington Library, Modern Britain (Yale University Press, 2014), Amanda E. Herbert structures and social change last fifty years, these essays San Marino, California. Alexandra Shepard and in early modern England. (each of them written by a ALEXANDRA SHEPARD John Walter Collectively, the essays in the leading authority) not only offer is Reader in History, volume reconstruct the fissures state-of-the-art assessments of University of Glasgow. and connections that developed the historiography but also JOHN WALTER is both within and between social represent the latest research on a Professor of History, groups during the sixteenth, variety of topics that have been University of Essex. shows the importance of bonds formed between British women during seventeenth and eighteenth at the heart of the development Hindle, Shepard, Walter (eds) centuries. Focusing on the of ‘the new social history’ and Cover illustration: experience of rapid economic its cultural turn: gender relations The Montagu Family at and demographic growth and on and sexuality; governance Sandleford Priory (Berkshire), by Edward Haytley, 1744. related processes of cultural and litigation; class and Private collection, image courtesy diversification, the contributors deference; labouring relations, of Lowell Libson Ltd. address fundamental questions neighbourliness and reciprocity; the late 17th and early 18th centuries, when cultural, economic, and about the character of English and social status and society during a period of consumption. Studies in Early Modern Cultural, Political and Social History political changes placed strains on British society. While these alliances

an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF (GB) and 668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620-2731 (US) www.boydellandbrewer.com were central to women’s lives, writes Herbert, they were also instru- mental in building the British Atlantic world. | A volume of 14 essays covers the fissures and connections that developed both within and between social groups in England during this same period. Remaking English Society: Social Relations and Social Change in Early Modern England (Boydell, 2013)—edited by Steve Hindle (The Huntington’s research director), Alexandra Shepard, and John Walter—represents the latest research on gender relations and sexuality; governance and litigation; class and deference; labor relations, neighborliness, and reciprocity; and social status and consumption.

LAW AND DISORDER

Historian Tom Sitton mined the extensive Los Angeles county records now kept at The Huntington to write this meticulous study of L.A. county government during California’s first century of statehood. The Courthouse Crowd: Los Angeles County and Its Government, 1850–1950 (Historical Society of Southern California, 2013) shows how the government functioned best by building a tradition of compromise. | After the end of the War of Austrian Succession in Experience Paducah, Kentucky 1748, thousands of unemployed and sometimes unemployable soldiers and seamen found themselves on the streets of London, ready to roister the town and steal when necessary. In Mayhem: Post-War Crime The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) has and Violence in Britain, 1748–53 (Yale University Press, 2013), historian Nicholas Rogers explores the designated Paducah the world’s seventh City of Crafts and Folk Art. This exclusive designation moral panic associated with this rapid demobilization. celebrates Paducah’s longstanding tradition in the fine craft of quiltmaking. Home to the National 34 Quilt Museum and known as Quilt City USA®, this historic river town offers an authentic cultural experience for visitors around the globe. EXPLORING FRONTIERS

In Freedom’s Frontier: California and the Struggle over Unfree Download a Paducah Visitors Guide at Paducah.travel Labor, Emancipation, and Reconstruction (University of North Carolina Press, 2013), Stacey L. Smith demonstrates how California played a significant role in the struggles over slavery during the Civil War era and Reconstruction. Political and legal debates over freedom extended to conflicts over American Indian indenture and Latino and Chinese contract labor. | David M. Wrobel situates the American frontier in a global context in Global West, American Frontier: Travel, Empire, and Exceptionalism from Manifest Destiny to the Great Depression (University of New Mexico Press, 2013). Wrobel overturns a variety of popular and academic stereotypes about the West by scrutinizing both well-known and obscure European and American travelers’ accounts. 1.800.P ADUCAH postscript Possessing the Land

THE ALLURE OF FOUR ICONIC TREES IN CALIFORNIA HISTORY

By Matt Stevens

Two of Jared Farmer’s iconic hen writer Mary Austin moved kinds—eucalypts, citrus, and palms—have had the subjects—citrus and giant from Illinois to California in 1888, most longstanding effects.” Each arboreal type sequoia—combine in this orange crate label (center) produced by she arrived at the end of a two-year transformed the state in at least one major realm: the Sequoia Citrus Association, boom-bust cycle and found “blame- aesthetics (with eucalypts); economics (with citrus); from Lemon Cove, Calif. The lessW young palms abandoned along with the avenues and semiotics (with palms). Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical they had been planted to adorn.” She disdained In addition to the three non-native trees, Farmer’s Gardens. Left: Palm trees at The Huntington, ca. 1922. Right: L.A.’s boosterism, “the miracle-mongering of book takes up the Golden State’s most famous indig- Also on the grounds: A pair of overgrown vegetation and inflated prices.” enous flora: coast redwood and its Sierra cousin, lemon-scented gums (Eucalyptus citriodora) And yet, as historian Jared Farmer explains in his giant sequoia. The Big Trees existed long before photographed by Farmer near new book, Trees in Paradise: A California History the arrival of Europeans and—despite massive clear- the mausoleum of Henry and Arabella Huntington, 2007. (Norton, 2013), Austin remained “enchanted by cutting of old growth during that same pioneer 36 the eucalyptus trees.” Forty years later she would period of horticulture—would endure long after. recall their allure in her autobiography, Earth Together these four cultural and botanical Horizon: “At that time it was plain the eucalyptus histories weave a story, for better and for worse, cherished an intention to possess the land.” about the “human-arboreal bond,” argues Farmer, In the spring/summer 2007 issue of Huntington who, like Austin, remains enamored of eucalyptus Frontiers, Farmer wrote about how trees originally trees—at least in certain settings. imported as seeds from Australia have fueled pas- “My favorite trees at The Huntington are the sions from the 1850s to the present. The article, entwined pair of lemon-scented gums that tower “Gone Native: California’s Love-Hate Relationship over the mausoleum,” says Farmer. “Despite losing with Eucalyptus Trees,” came at the end of a two- some major branches in the big Santa Ana wind- year Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship with the storm of 2011, these sculptural, smooth-barked Huntington-USC Institute on California and the eucalypts still look magnificent.”

West. In November 2013, Farmer—now associate Photo by Pornchai Mittongtare professor of history at Stony Brook University— Read more and download Farmer’s lecture at returned to The Huntington to deliver a lecture huntingtonblogs.org/2014/04/farmer on his first stop of a book tour. “Of the countless trees introduced in California Matt Stevens is editor of Huntington Frontiers from roughly 1850 to 1950,” he said in his talk, “three Magazine. Pacific Design Center 8687 Melrose Avenue Suite B 209 Los Angeles California micuccicollection.com • micucciarte.com • 1.877.MICUCCI

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