The Year Ahead at the Huntington: Full Slate of Exhibitions and Opening of the New Education and Visitor Center

A full slate of exhibitions at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens – from a powerful installation of photographs featuring two renowned American photographers to anniversary celebrations of the Magna Carta and the 13th Amendment – is planned through summer 2015, as well as the opening of the new $68 million Education and Visitor Center.

The northernmost section of the Steven S. Koblik Education and Visitor Center opens in mid January, when visitors will have an opportunity to experience the new ticketing area, coffee shop, and a substantially enlarged gift shop. The rest of the Education and Visitor Center – the new auditorium, café, classrooms, meeting space, orientation gallery, and six and a half acres of new gardens – opens in April. Dates and details relating to the Education and Visitor Center’s openings will be released in coming months.

Exhibition schedule through summer 2015:

Bruce Davidson/Paul Caponigro: Two American Photographers in Britain and Ireland
Nov. 8, 2014–March 9, 2015
MaryLou and George Boone Gallery

This traveling exhibition pairs for the first time approximately 150 works by American photographers Paul Caponigro (b. 1932) and Bruce Davidson (b. 1933), enlightened observers of Britain and Ireland in the 1960s and ’70s. For Caponigro, Ireland and Britain became sites of creative energy to which he returned repeatedly. Davidson brought the same gritty street sensibility that had made his Brooklyn Gang series a sensation among photograph collectors. The exhibition examines the artistic, social, and historical forces informing two master photographers as they bring American eyes to enduring landscapes and changing cultural scenes. Co-organized by the Yale Center for British Art (where it is on view June 26–Sept. 14, 2014) and The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, “Bruce Davidson/Paul Caponigro: Two American Photographers in Britain and Ireland” is accompanied by a catalog of the same title published by Yale University Press.

Samuel F. B. Morse’s “Gallery of the Louvre” and the Art of Invention
Jan. 24–May 4, 2015
Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art, Susan and Stephen Chandler Wing

Samuel F. B. Morse, of Morse code fame, may be better known as an inventor, but he began his career as a painter. This exhibition focuses exclusively on his masterwork, Gallery of the Louvre (1831–1833), featuring great paintings from the Louvre’s collection. The six-by-nine- foot canvas depicts masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Caravaggio, Rubens, and Van Dyck, among others, in a configuration deliberately fabricated by Morse. Gallery of the Louvre underwent extensive conservation before being exhibited from 2011 to 2013 at the Yale University Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, during which it was the subject of scholarly investigation and dialogue, culminating in an anthology of essays due out this fall. The exhibition’s presentation at The Huntington, organized by and with support from the Terra Foundation for American Art, marks the beginning of a multi-year, nine-venue tour of the United States.

The U.S. Constitution and the End of Slavery
Jan. 24–April 20, 2015
Library, West Hall

Just after 3 p.m. on Jan. 31, 1865, Samuel Colfax, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, called for the vote on a joint resolution that would amend the Constitution to abolish slavery in the United States. After the roll call was finished, Colfax asked the clerk to add his name to the roll, so that he too could cast his vote for “that great measure, which hereafter will illuminate the highest place in our History.” The tally was announced: 119 ayes to 56 nays, with eight abstaining. After a moment of stunned silence, the chamber erupted in wild jubilation. Timed to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Thirteenth Amendment, this exhibition explores the long, tortuous, and bloody road that led to that fateful vote. With more than 80 items, drawn entirely from The Huntington’s rich collection of historical materials, it features rare manuscripts, books, and prints, including letters by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.

Magna Carta: Law and Legend, 1215-2015
June 13–Oct. 12, 2015
Library, West Hall

This exhibition celebrates the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta by exploring the language and ideology of constitutionalism (both written and unwritten) and the rule of law. While the cornerstone of the exhibition is The Huntington’s 13th-century draft of the Magna Carta, the themes move beyond Medieval England to explore the relevance of Magna Carta to later English history, the history of the United States, and the modern world, drawn from various areas of the Huntington’s collections. The exhibition also delves into the legend and popular perceptions of Magna Carta. Over the past eight centuries Magna Carta, as a concept, holds a powerful and empowering place in the imaginations of thinkers, artists, and rebels, demonstrating how people across time have offered unique interpretations of this significant document.

About The Huntington

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution serving scholars and the general public. More information about The Huntington can be found online at huntington.org.

Visitor Information

The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It is open to the public Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from noon to 4:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Sunday, and Monday holidays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Summer hours (Memorial Day through Labor Day) are 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed Tuesdays and major holidays. Admission on weekdays: $20 adults, $15 seniors (65+), $12 students (ages 12–18 or with full-time student I.D.), $8 youth (ages 5–11), free for children under 5. Group rate, $11 per person for groups of 15 or more. Members are admitted free. Admission on weekends: $23 adults, $18 seniors, $13 students, $8 youth, free for children under 5. Group rate, $14 per person for groups of 15 or more. Members are admitted free. Admission is free to all visitors with advance tickets on the first Thursday of each month. Information: (626) 405-2100 or huntington.org.