Archer Milton Huntington | |
|---|---|
 Huntingtonc. 1900 | |
| Born | (1870-03-10)March 10, 1870 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | December 11, 1955(1955-12-11) (aged 85) Bethel,Connecticut, U.S. |
| Spouse | Anna Hyatt Huntington |
Archer Milton Huntington (March 10, 1870 – December 11, 1955) was an American philanthropist and scholar, primarily known for his contributions to the field of Hispanic studies. He founded theHispanic Society of America inNew York City, and made numerous contributions to theAmerican Geographical Society.[1][2]
He was also a major benefactor of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters and theAmerican Numismatic Society. He convinced the latter to relocate next to the Hispanic Society and theGeographical Society at theBeaux ArtsAudubon Terrace complex in upper Manhattan. In 1932, he and sculptorAnna Hyatt Huntington, then his wife, founded theBrookgreen Gardens sculpture center inSouth Carolina in association with the antebellumBrookgreen Plantation; and theMariners' Museum inNewport News, Virginia; it is one of the largestmaritime museums in the world.
Huntington grew up in a wealthy family: he was the son ofArabella (née Duval) Huntington and the adopted son of her husbandCollis P. Huntington, arailroad magnate andindustrialist. He may have been Collis Huntington's biological son.
Huntington was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1918 and theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1930.[3][4]
Huntington is primarily known for his scholarly works in the field of Hispanic Studies and for foundingThe Hispanic Society of America inNew York City in 1904. It is a museum and rare books library whose collections focus on Old Spain and are unrivaled outsideSpain.
He purchased a house in the city ofValladolid in Spain where authorMiguel de Cervantes had lived for a short while.[citation needed] He later bequeathed it and other Cervantine artifacts to the Spanish nation and it is now a museum.[citation needed]
In 1908 Huntington met Spanish impressionist painterJoaquin Sorolla in England. Huntington soon made him a member of the Hispanic Society, and invited him to exhibit there in 1909. This grand exhibition comprised 356 paintings, 195 of which sold. Sorolla spent five months in the United States and painted more than twenty portraits.[5]
In 1911, Huntington commissioned Sorolla to paint 14 murals that came to be known asVision of Spain. These are considered to be the major commission of Sorolla's career.[6] His enormous canvases hang in what is now called the Sorolla Room of the Hispanic Society building in Manhattan; the room was opened in 1926 following Sorolla's death and dedicated to him. A major restoration of this room was completed in 2010.[7] During the restoration of the Sorolla Room, the murals toured major art museums in Spain.
Shortly after 1920, Huntington launched the careers of six art historians in the Hispanic field:Elizabeth du Gué Trapier,Beatrice Gilman Proske,Alice Wilson Frothingham,Florence Lewis May,Eleanor Sherman Font, andClara Louisa Penney, aiding their curatorial work and publications. He is said to have encouraged Proske, Frothingham, and May, in particular, to create the seminal works in their fields.[8]
Huntington's wife,Anna Hyatt Huntington, was a noted American sculptor. She sculpted the bronze statues and limestone bas-reliefs that stand outside the entrance to the Hispanic Society building.
In 1894 Archer Huntington became a Fellow of theAmerican Geographical Society and a Councilor in 1904, the same year he founded the Hispanic Society of America. In 1907, Huntington was elected President of the American Geographical Society.[9] Huntington donated land on Audubon Terrace to the AGS in 1911 and “contributed the greater part of the cost of construction” for the new building himself; Huntington also provided generous financial assistance to the AGS throughout his tenure as member.[9]
Huntington was one of the Society's most influential leaders; he provided new facilities which enabled the AGS to expand its “staff, collections, and activities,” arranged for the AGS to conduct a transcontinental excursion for geographers around the world in 1912, balanced the Society's budget, expanded its library, coordinated a collaboration between the AGS and the Association of American Geographers, and selected Isaiah Bowman as the first Director of the American Geographical Society.[9]
Huntington was also responsible for the acquisition of the American Geographical Society Library's oldest world map: theLeardoMappamundi.[10] Huntington donated the 15th century map to theAGS of NY in 1906 and the map now resides in theAmerican Geographical Society Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In a letter honoring Huntington after his death in 1955, the Society stated that Huntington would be remembered for his work bringing many institutions together with “academic dignity and repose.” [11]
In 1915, Huntington donated land next to the Hispanic Society in Washington Heights on which theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters could construct a permanent building in New York City.[12] He also donated land and funds to relocate the Numismatic Society and theMuseum of the American Indian to Audubon Terrace, at this same complex.
During theGreat Depression, Huntington and his wife donated major portions of property for philanthropic and public purposes, helping establish museums, parks, and facilities to support research and education. They had an estate calledAtalaya Castle in coastal South Carolina, near Georgetown.
In 1932 he donated land and helped to createBrookgreen Gardens inSouth Carolina, a publicsculpture garden in which to display the figurative sculpture ofAmericansculptors. Included were many pieces by his wife, sculptorAnna Hyatt Huntington.
A portion of Brookgreen Gardens is held as a nature reserve. Another preservesBrookgreen Plantation, dating to the antebellum era. It was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1978. Another section of land is leased to the state forHuntington Beach State Park. The gardens, historic plantation sites, and the Huntingtons' adjacent residence,Atalaya Castle, were designated aNational Historic Landmark District in 2012.[13]
In 1932, Huntington worked withHomer L. Ferguson, president ofNewport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, to found theMariners' Museum inNewport News, Virginia. It is one of the largestmaritime museums in the world.
In 1936, Huntington created an endowment to establish an annual stipend for a Consultant in Poetry to theLibrary of Congress, a position now officially known as thePoet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. In 2006, this stipend amounted to $40,000 per year, including a $35,000 salary and $5,000 in travel expenses.[14]
From 1932 to 1939, the Huntingtons donated land for what was to become the 15,000-acreArcher Milton Huntington and Anna Hyatt Huntington Wildlife Forest inNewcomb, New York. It is now part of theState University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.[15][16]
In 1939, the Huntingtons donated their mansion at 1083 Fifth Avenue, and adjacent properties between 89th & 90th streets, to theNational Academy, the oldest artists' organization in the United States. The property also houses the National Academy Museum and Art School.[17]
Early in 1927,Mrs. Thomas Sheldon Maxey donated to theUniversity of Texas at Austin a bronze sculpture,Diana of the Chase, by Archer's wife,Anna Hyatt Huntington.[18] The gift sparked Huntington's interest in providing an art venue on the campus. In October of 1927, Huntington donated approximately 4,300 acres of land inGalveston County to the University of Texas at Austin for the use and benefit of a museum. Originally valued at $145,000, the gift became the Archer M. Huntington Museum Fund. Over the ensuing thirty-five years the Fund contributed $600,000 of the $1.5 million raised to construct the Art Building, which housed both the University's Art Department and the Archer M. Huntington Gallery, which opened its doors to the public in late 1963.[19]
Sales of the Fund's land and reinvestment of endowment income generated distributions used to support art acquisitions, exhibitions, publications, and salaries. Distributions grew from $28,000 in fiscal year 1964 to $811,000 in fiscal year 2000, when the total value of all the Fund's assets was $24.6 million.[19]
Galleries in theHarry Ransom Center provided another venue for art on the campus, displaying the collection of paintings donated byJames Michener and his wife,Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, and the Battle Collection of Plaster Casts,[20] reproductions of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. Oil industry executive and philanthropistJack S. Blanton, a former UT System regent, advocated for the creation of a new, modern facility that would unite all the University's art collections. In 1996, the University launched a campaign to raise funds to construct and endow a new museum building.[19] TheBlanton Museum of Art, which opened to the public in 2006, now houses numerous collections acquired by the University over the decades, including the more than 1400 works of art that were acquired using the Archer M. Huntington Fund, ranging from an early Corinthian round aryballos (oil bottle), created c. 600 B.C.E.,[21] to the 4-minute videoNuevo [New] by Russian artistAnton Vidokle, created in 2003 and acquired using the Fund in 2004.[22]
Huntington had several cousins who became prominent, including the New York City architectCharles P. Huntington. His cousinHenry E. Huntington founded the renownedThe Huntington Library, Art Museums, and Botanical Gardens inCalifornia.
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Huntington first married writerHelen Manchester Gates on August 6, 1895. She was the daughter of Rev.Isaac E. Gates andEllen M. (née Huntington) Gates, a poet and the sister of Huntington's adoptive father. While traveling in Europe at the outbreak of World War I, the young Huntington couple were temporarily detained in August 1914, and effectively under arrest by German authorities inNuremberg,Bavaria, due to suspicions that Huntington was a spy. He was representing theAmerican Geographical Society. Secretary of StateWilliam Jennings Bryan appealed for their release through diplomatic channels.[23] The Huntingtons had no children and divorced in 1918.
Huntington married AmericansculptorAnna Hyatt on March 10, 1923. She completed both bronze sculptures and bas-reliefs featuring animals, historic Spanish figures and characters from classical literature at theAudubon Terrace at theHispanic Society of America inNew York City.
Together the couple foundedBrookgreen Gardens sculpture center and nature reserve nearGeorgetown, South Carolina, in 1931. It incorporates the antebellumBrookgreen Plantation as part of a park.[13]
Both of the Huntingtons' birthdays were March 10. They referred to the day as "3 in 1 day;" it is marked by celebrations atAtalaya and Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina. The Huntingtons had no children together.[24]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)These murals can be seen in detail online at this Web site. n the First Floor map at the upper right, click on the blue dot in the left-most empty room -- which shows the whole Sorolla Room.
