L-R: Agostino Brunias, Free Women of Dominica with a Child, 1770–80s, oil on canvas, one of six paintings: 11 3/4 x 9 1/8 in. each.
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Letitia Huckaby, And Thy Neighb(our), Shwanda, 2020, pigment print on fabric with embroidery, one of two works: 70 x 40 x 2 in. each.
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. ©Letitia Huckaby.
Tiffany & Co., Covered pitcher, ca. 1880, silver with mixed metals, 9 1/4 x 6 in.; weight 27 oz. 2 dwt. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens has acquired a group of artworks spanning nearly 300 years that significantly broaden the range of American art in its collection. The acquisitions comprise a New England landscape painting by Edward Mitchell Bannister, an important Black artist of the 19th century; a series of six paintings depicting life in the colonial Caribbean by Agostino Brunias; an interpretation of the figurative silhouette by contemporary artist Letitia Huckaby; a mid-19th-century still-life by Lilly Martin Spencer; a monumental mural made in 1935 by Tyrus Wong, a key figure in the history of Asian American art; and an early work in silver by Tiffany & Co. The acquisitions were funded by The Huntington’s Art Collectors’ Council.
“These exciting new acquisitions represent a wide range of media, from oil painting on canvas to mixed-metal silverwork, photographic portraits on textiles, and oil and charcoal on plywood,” said Christina Nielsen, the Hannah and Russel Kully Director of the Art Museum at The Huntington. “They also represent a diversity of artists and continue to broaden the range and depth of our American art collection. Two artists are women, two are African American, and one is Asian American. The artists’ places of birth—England, Canada, China, and Italy—also tell a compelling story of émigré artists who worked in the United States and, in one case, the colonial British West Indies. We are tremendously grateful to be adding these works to our collection.”
Some of the new acquisitions will go on display in the American art galleries in the coming months, and others will be featured in upcoming special exhibitions at The Huntington.
The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, California, 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Visitor information: huntington.org.
