british children's book illustrations at huntington

We visited The Huntington Art Collections yesterday to see an exhibit of British children's book illustrators. It was a quite nice, although much smaller than I expected--really just one small room or a large closet, even. The two items in the collection I liked best were the Kate Greenaway and Arthur Rackham illustrations, which are pictured here.

It took us just a few minutes to go through the exhibit, which was a tiny bit disappointing since we'd come a long way and, although we love the Garden, it's a little expensive, and it was a bit too hot to walk around very much. Still, we braved the heat and did wander through the shadier sub-tropical rain forest, the Japanese and Chinese gardens, and the koi ponds again, where I did some more dragonfly-stalking.

Huntington is one of my favorite places to go in Los Angeles, though. The first time we came, we didn't know what to expect and ended up spending more than 5 hours there, and we even had tea in the Rose Garden Tea Room. The many gardens are just beautiful and impeccably kept, including an Australian one, a desert one, and a formal one with statuary. Their art collections includes the Blue Boy and many other beautiful paintings, and the library is well worth a visit with its astounding collection. It's a place that reflects impeccable taste and dollars well-spent, as well as a great place to spend a long afternoon.