Huntington to Close Library Exhibition Hall
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| Exhibition Hall, installed as "Remarkable Works, Remarkable Times: Highlights from the Huntington Library". The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens |
The Huntington will be closing its Library Exhibition Hall after May 26. The following month the institution will launch an ongoing series of changing exhibitions of rare books and other library materials in the Art Gallery (that is, the Huntingtons' former home).
The first two Art Gallery shows will focus on the Ellesmere Chaucer and 20th-century Los Angeles. The Chaucer show, "The Tales Through Time," will present the Huntington manuscript of The Canterbury Tales in the context of later print editions. "Los Angeles Revisited" will assemble documents tracing the promotion and development of Los Angeles as a modern metropolis. Both exhibitions run June 21 to Dec. 1, 2025, in the Large Library and Focus Gallery, respectively.
The press release doesn't say anything about future plans for Exhibition Hall, which was built as a study space for scholars, and the adjacent Dibner Hall of the History of Science.
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| Ellesmere Chaucer, start of "The Friar's Tale," 1400-1405. The Huntington |
Comments
> books and other library
> materials in the Art Gallery
> (that is, the Huntingtons'
> former home).
Cramming additional material into it implies the display of largely classical British decorative arts and paintings will be reduced. The plans seem makeshift or compromised, possibly due to issues of attendance (most visitors spend time in the gardens) or budget. Maybe staffing conflicts similar to what struck the Marciano Arts Foundation on Wilshire Blvd?
The library has always had a separate exhibit hall, at least based on my recollections of visiting the Huntington a long time ago. Some of the rooms in the former house and other buildings have been temporarily closed off due to staffing issues or technical problems caused by the fires in January.