Why arabella?

In the spring of 2022 I began researching the San Marino, California home of Henry E. and Arabella D. Huntington from an architectural conservation standpoint, investigating the character of the site as can be gleaned from the art and decorative collection that comprises The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Garden’s museum (known now simply as “The Huntington”).

What I quickly discovered was a startling lack of conclusive information about Arabella, specifically (despite thorough records for the men in her life), and I’m not the first. Generations of historians have come to the same dead ends about this formidable Gilded Age figure.

But spring turned to summer and I felt I was getting to know her through her collection, through her interiors. I wanted to test how far I could take this theory of mine, wondering if it was possible to converge upon a “true” portrait of Arabella, by piecing together what remains.

So, in October 2022 I boarded a west-bound Amtrak train from Chicago to Los Angeles to begin researching Arabella’s biography as a self-funded independent scholar, to see if my own research might uncover some lost truth. (And I haven’t stopped searching.)

What I’ve found (and importantly, what I’ve failed to find) has made this biographical endeavor far less objective than I had set out believing it might be. But I know her better each day more than the last. And as I continue to get to know Arabella, I am endlessly amazed by her presence—of mind, manner, taste, and heart.

The research continues, and I’m excited to share it and what I learn about Arabella with you.

Until then!

In October 2023, Visualist interviewed me about my research. For more about my work on Arabella’s story, click here.

Remembering Belle (Exhibition proposal)

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