Huntington picks Kevin Salatino to head its art collections

This post has been corrected. Please see note at bottom for details.

Kevin Salatino, director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, Maine, was named Thursday as the next director of art collections at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. 

Salatino, 55, will succeed John Murdoch, who is retiring in June after 10 years as head of the art collections. When he begins at the Huntington this summer, Salatino will achieve a possibly unprecedented trifecta -- it appears that no other curator or director has served on the staffs of L.A.'s three biggest visual art institutions.

From 1991 to 2000, Salatino was curator of graphic arts at the Getty Research Institution, part of L.A.’s (and the world’s) richest visual art institution, the J. Paul Getty Trust. Then he spent nine years as curator and head of the prints and drawings department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, leaving to lead the Bowdoin museum in 2009.

PST, A to Z: ‘The House That Sam Built,’ ‘In Words and Wood’

Pacific Standard Time will explore the origins of the Los Angeles art world through museum exhibitions throughout Southern California over the next six months. Times art reviewer Sharon Mizota has set the goal of seeing all of them. This is her latest report.

Charles and Ray Eames may be the most celebrated PST designers, but two exhibitions centered on midcentury woodworker Sam Maloof give them a run for their money. “The House That Sam Built: Sam Maloof and Art in the Pomona Valley, 1945-1985” at the Huntington, and “In Words and Wood: Sam Maloof, Bob Stocksdale and Ed Moulthrop,” at the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation, both look at Maloof’s work in relation to the remarkable community of artists and craftspeople who gathered around him.

Like the Eameses, Maloof was a magnet for talent and creativity, but unlike them, he never embraced mass production. Instead, a piece of his furniture — always made by hand, to order — could be seen as a highly personal dialogue between its maker and its recipient. This stance might seem too rarefied, even elitist, but it’s also evidence of Maloof’s intense focus on personal relationships.

In the Huntington show, which closes Monday, this value comes across even in relatively early works. The basic shape of a 1952 chair created for the office of industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss was inspired by Danish modern design, but Maloof added an extra bar across the back, which actually made the chair less comfortable. As it turns out, this change came out of discussions with Dreyfuss, who hoped that less accommodating chairs would encourage shorter meetings.

Huntington buys long-missing archive of Civil War telegrams

A lost archive of military telegrams from the Civil War, in which Abraham Lincoln and his generals gave orders, relayed information, celebrated victories and aired grievances, has been added to the collection of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

The 76 volumes -– pictured here on a cart in the Huntington’s Munger Research Center, with library director David Zeidberg sitting nearby –- include dozens of ledgers in which telegraph operators transcribed coded messages, and calfskin-covered booklets that held the key to a military code the Confederates never cracked.

While many Civil War telegrams had previously surfaced, saved by their recipients, not all of them were preserved, and the newly acquired ledgers could fill in some blanks in the historic record.

A near-perfect room of art at the Huntington library

Have you always wondered why it’s called the Green Umbrella series? What are the five most interesting buildings in Los Angeles area? Is the intermission an endangered species? Culture Monster is kicking off an occasional feature in which the arts critics -- Christopher Knight, Mark Swed, Charles McNulty and Christopher Hawthorne -- will answer a question from readers about their field of expertise.

The above are examples, not necessarily questions that will be addressed. We want to hear your questions. Simply leave yours in the comments section below.

Culture Monster composed the first question for art critic Christopher Knight. 

Q: Do you have a favorite permanent collection gallery at a Los Angeles art museum?

Huntington Library assesses damage from high winds

 

As parts of Southern California return to normal following last week's Santa Ana winds -- and the widespread power outages that resulted from them -- the job of assessing the damage has become a top priority. 

One institution that was particularly hard hit was the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. The organization reported that as many as 100 specimen trees from the collections will be lost due to the winds.

Huntington President Steven S. Koblik said in an emailed message that more than 50 major trees are down and that many others "have been so badly damaged they will have to be removed." The Huntington closed its doors for a few days last week due to the damage and power outage.

Koblik said that the Huntington will be able to pay for some of the clean-up, but "total costs are likely to be quite significant." He said the Huntington is launching a public appeal for donations called the Huntington Arboreal Recovery Project.

As reported in the L.A. Now blog, the winds across the region caused at least $40 million in damage, though the dollar figure is expected to rise. A spokeswoman for the Huntington said Friday that dollar estimates for its damage are still preliminary but that the organization expects the total to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. She said the botanical staff is still surveying the damage from the winds.

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Huntington still closed; Sunday reopening possible

Huntington, Norton Simon closed because of high winds

-- David Ng

Photo: A near-miss for an 18th century statue in the North Vista at the Huntington Library. Credit: Huntington Library

Huntington still closed; Sunday reopening possible

The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens will remain closed through Saturday, the institution announced Friday, because of damage from the high winds that battered the San Gabriel Valley Wednesday night.

A Huntington spokesman said Thursday that a number of large oaks and some palm trees had been blown down in the windstorm. Buildings and other structures were not damaged.

A statement from the San Marino institution said that it hoped to open Sunday because there is a holiday event for members. For the most up-to-date information, visit www.huntington.org.

The Norton Simon Museum, which closed Thursday, reopened its museum and cafe Friday, but the sculpture garden was closed for maintenance because of storm debris. A spokesman said the museum and cafe would be open for normal hours this weekend, but it wasn't clear when the garden would reopen.

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Huntington, Norton Simon closed because of high winds

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 --Kelly Scott

Above: Two visitors to the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens earlier this year. Credit: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times

 

 

Huntington Library, Norton Simon closed due to fierce winds

The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino will be closed through at least Friday due to damage sustained by the unusually strong winds moving through Southern California.

Huntington spokeswoman Susan Turner-Lowe said structures and galleries appeared to be in good shape but a number of trees were downed. "They were some very sizable trees, in various locations," said the spokeswoman. Among the casualties were some historic oaks pines and palm trees, she said.

The Huntington could reopen as early as Saturday but the museum said that a return of the strong winds, as forecast, might make that impossible.

The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena said on its website that it was closed Thursday due to the city's state of emergency.

The Pasadena area sustained some of the area's worst damage late Wednesday and early Thursday. Trees were uprooted, wreaking havoc in neighborhoods. Many residents in the Pasadena area were still without water and power Thursday afternoon.

Some essential Huntington staff reported to work Thursday, including clean-up crews, but most remained at home, Turner-Lowe said.

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Huntington's renovated Japanese Garden to reopen in April

Huntington Library features the art of Sam Maloof and friends

John Murdoch, director of art collections at Huntington, to retire

-- David Ng

Photo: The Huntington. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

John Murdoch, director of art collections at Huntington, to retire

John Murdoch, 66, who oversees the art galleries at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, has announced that he will be retiring in June 2012.

Murdoch arrived at the Huntington in 2002, in time for a period of collection-building and expansion. Early on he oversaw the completion of architect Fred Fisher’s new Erburu Building, designed to create additional space for the display of American art. After that he led a three-year, $20-million renovation and re-installation of the Huntington mansion, the Italianate villa that houses celebrated British paintings by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds (above) as well as European decorative arts and furniture.

Known for his connoisseurship, Murdoch was hands-on in the placement of every artwork and choice of every wall color in the villa, which reopened to wide acclaim in 2008. Huntington President Steve S. Koblik said in a statement that “his remarkable leadership in restoring the historic Huntington residence and creating a coherent display of European art collections can only be described as awe inspiring.”

Murdoch joined the Huntington after nine years as the gallery director at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Currently based in Pasadena, he says he is considering a return to London.
 

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A renovated Huntington art gallery 

--Jori Finkel

www.twitter.com/jorifinkel

Photo: The portrait gallery at the Huntington mansion in 2008. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Huntington's renovated Japanese Garden to reopen in April

In time to mark its centennial, the Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens will reopen April 11 after a yearlong $6.8-million renovation.

Among the highlights, officials said Thursday, will be the installation of a ceremonial teahouse that was built in Kyoto in the 1960s. It will be set in a traditionally landscaped tea garden on a ridge above a 19th-century Japanese house that is one of the Huntington's landmarks. The wooden house is being restored as part of the project, which also includes the creation of a waterfall connecting the tea garden and ponds below and repairs and upgrades to the ponds and to bridges, pathways and water system.

The Japanese Garden is "arguably the most popular spot at the Huntington," says James Folsom, director of botanical gardens at the San Marino institution. The 9-acre site "teaches us about Japan's unique landscape traditions, craftsmanship, horticulture and rituals," he says.

A century ago, Huntington founder Henry E. Huntington created the garden on his estate, relocating the house as well as plants and ornamental elements from a commercial tea garden in Pasadena. A moon bridge was built by a Japanese craftsman soon after the garden was established; a rock and sand garden and a bonsai exhibition area were added in 1968.

After Huntington's estate was opened as the Huntington Library in 1928, the Japanese Garden became a favorite destination for visitors, although it was closed for several years surrounding World War II. The San Marino League, the garden's chief philanthropic group, has helped to support refurbishment of its buildings and its landscaping, which includes Japanese black pines, fruit trees and wisteria arbors.

With the 2012 centennial approaching and the garden showing its age, the Huntington formed a team including several Japanese experts and craftsmen to pursue the renovation. Funding mainly came from bequests and foundation and individual support.

The teahouse, a finely crafted structure that features native woods, was donated by the Pasadena Buddhist Temple in 2010. It was returned to Japan for restoration and is being reassembled in San Marino under the guidance of Kyoto-based architect and craftsman Yoshiaki Nakamura, whose father--in what Folsom calls "an amazing small-world moment"--turned out to be the teahouse's builder.

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--Karen Wada

Upper photo: The Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens before it closed for renovation. Credit: Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Lower photo: This ceremonial teahouse, which was built in Kyoto in the 1960s, was restored in Japan and is being reassembled at the Huntington. Credit: Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. 

 

Huntington Library features the art of Sam Maloof and friends

In their sprawling redwood abode in Alta Loma, east of Los Angeles, Sam Maloof and his first wife, Alfreda, amassed an art collection rich with works produced by the community of painters, sculptors, ceramists, enamelists and weavers that blossomed around the college town of Claremont after World War II.

The master furniture-maker, who died at 93 in 2009, was a major figure in that community, says Hal Nelson, curator of American decorative arts at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. And his home was such an important gathering place for art and artists that it has made "a wonderful central metaphor" for a new exhibition focusing on Maloof and his extended circle of friends.

"The House That Sam Built: Sam Maloof and Art in the Pomona Valley, 1945-1985,"  which opens Saturday, includes 35 pieces by Maloof and more than 80 by nearly three dozen others, including Millard Sheets, Karl Benjamin, Phil Dike, Harrison McIntosh, Albert Stewart and Jean and Arthur Ames.

The show, which is part of the Getty-sponsored Pacific Standard Time initiative, examines Maloof's "artistic evolution in the context of his community," says Nelson, who curated the exhibition. When the self-taught woodworker decided to design and build furniture as a career, his aspirations were buoyed by his Claremont colleagues, with whom he traded ideas and pieces of work. “The respect they had for craft supported Sam’s own vision throughout his life,” says Nelson. “Many of them also shared his dedication to hand workmanship, simplicity and natural materials.”

For more about "The House That Sam Built," please read this story in Sunday's Arts & Books.

-- Karen Wada

Photo: A Sam Maloof coffee table (1958) owned by painter Karl Benjamin with ceramics by Gertrud and Otto Natzler. Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens