T R AV E L
THE HUNTINGTON MUSEUM PASADENA, CALIFORNIA THE JAPANESE GARDEN
BONSAI AND ZEN COURT
Arguably the most popular spot at The Huntington, the Japanese garden has attracted more than 20 million visitors from all over the world and has always been a place of extreme allure, charm, and contemplation. The garden educates guests on Japan’s landscape traditions. Completed in 1912, the nine-acre Japanese garden was inspired by a fascination with Asian culture. At the time, many American and Europeans added exotic gardens to their estates, including Huntington, who built a Japanese garden on his San Marino estate.
The Bonsai collection and Zen court were added in 1968, when the garden was expanded. The Huntington has served as the Southern California site for the Bonsai Federation; displays are rotated throughout the year to highlight what’s in season, and its collection of trees number in the hundreds. The Zen court is an example of the contained landscapes that were grown in the temple gardens of Japan.
THE ARBOR OF PURE BREEZE The Arbor of Pure Breeze, or ceremonial teahouse, was donated to The Huntington by the Pasadena Buddhist temple. Seven years ago, the teahouse was taken back to Japan for restoration that was overseen by the architect Yoshiaki Nakamura, whose father built the original. Unfortunately, they do not serve tea here. SocialLifeMagazine.com
THE BLUE BOY One of the world’s most famous oil paintings can be seen at The Huntington: The Blue Boy, by the English portrait and landscape artist Thomas Gainsborough. Henry E. Huntington purchased the painting at the same time he purchased Gainsborough’s Cottage Door and Joshua Reynolds’s Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, all from the Duke of Westminster. The Huntington huntington.org