Gaston Lachaise (1882 – 1935), The Peacocks, 1918, bronze with gilding, 22 1/2 × 56 × 10 in.
The French-born Gaston Lachaise emigrated to America in 1912 and became one of the most important early 20th-century American sculptors, especially famous for his large and powerful female nudes. Of the same generation as Picasso and Brancusi and a member of the most avant-garde circles of his day, Lachaise was the subject, in 1935, of the first Museum of Modern Art retrospective of a living sculptor.
Conceived in 1918, The Peacocks is one of Lachaise’s best-known and most popular sculptures, demonstrating his ability to seamlessly combine design with nature to create a work characterized by elegance, balance, rhythm, and dynamism. A total of 14 bronze casts were made of the work between 1922 and 1929, most of which are now in public collections, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The sixth in the edition, The Huntington's example was cast in 1924. The Peacocks joins other significant examples of early 20th-century modernist sculpture, including several works by Lachaise's teacher, Paul Manship.
Real American Places: Edward Weston and ‘Leaves of Grass’
The photographs from this exhibition illuminate an understudied chapter of Weston’s career. In 1941, the Limited Editions Book Club approached him to collaborate on a deluxe edition of Walt Whitman’s poetry collection, “Leaves of Grass.” Weston accepted the assignment and set out with his wife, Charis Wilson, on a cross-country trip that yielded a group of images that mark the culmination of an extraordinarily creative period in his career.
Real American Places: Edward Weston and 'Leaves of Grass' from The Huntington on Vimeo.
The Huntington Channel
We’ve created the Huntington Channel to share lectures and conferences with the world as a testament to the vitality of the intellectual work done here. We’ve been capturing audio and posting it on iTunes U for some time; that’s now all available here. And, with video, we’re now beginning to provide our online audience with an even richer experience, almost as if you were seated in the auditorium itself. We’ll live stream some of our lectures so you can view them in real time if you’re unable to make it to The Huntington for a talk, or if it’s sold out. And we’ll archive them right here so you can see them anytime. Welcome to the future of the Huntington … and the Humanities!
History of the Botanical Gardens
Henry Huntington's superintendent, William Hertrich, was instrumental in developing the various plant collections that comprise the foundation of the Botanical Gardens. Together, they molded the working ranch into a botanical collection of rare and exotic plants. They searched local nurseries and visited other plant collectors in the area to find mature and unique specimens. Mr. Huntington imported plants from many parts of the world to experiment with their cultivation in Southern California.
The Lily Ponds were developed first. They were heated at the time to maintain the giant-leafed Amazon water lily during the relatively cool Southern California winters. Huntington and Hertrich also worked together on the Palm, Desert, and Japanese gardens and planned the North Vista and the landscaping around the mansion.
Today, forty gardeners, a curatorial staff of seven, and more than 100 volunteers maintain the botanical collections, provide educational programs for visitors, and propagate plants that are often included in special sales.
The grounds also include the Huntington Ranch, a demonstration garden that holds workshops and classes focused on sustainable urban agriculture.
Mr. Huntington planted a few avocado seeds (a gift from the chef of Los Angeles’ Jonathan Club) that became a grove in what is now the main parking lot. These trees are considered the last surviving members of California’s first commercial avocado grove. The parking lot is now planted mostly with drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, and ground covers.
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