The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington in San Marino, California, United States. In addition to the library, the institution houses an extensive art collection with a focus on 18th and 19th century European art and 17th to mid-20th century American art. The property also has approximately 120 acres (49 ha) of specialized botanical landscaped gardens, including the "Japanese Garden", the "Desert Garden", and the "Chinese Garden". History Huntington Library, built in 1920; its main reading room now is an exhibition hall. As a landowner, Henry Edwards Huntington (1850–1927) played a major role in the growth of Southern California . Huntington was born in 1850, in Oneonta, New York , and was the nephew and heir of Collis P. Huntington (1821–1900), one of the famous "Big Four" railroad tycoons of nineteenth century California history . In 1892, Huntington relocated to San Francisco with his first wife, Mary Alice Prentice, and their four children. In 1902, he relocated from the financial and political. Art collections The Huntington's collections are displayed in permanent installations housed in the Huntington Art Gallery and Virginia Steele Scott Gallery of American Art. Special temporary exhibitions are mounted in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery, with smaller, focused exhibitions displayed in the Works on Paper Room in the Huntington Art Gallery and the Susan and Stephen Chandler Wing of the Scott Galleries. In addition the gallery also hosts different exhibitions of photography throughout the year including those about different social and political subjects. European art The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough , c. 1770.