Tea for Two Times Two:

Museum fun with grandchildren
By Angela Rocco DeCarlo

It’s a fantasy of mine. Having an English tea with my grandchildren.
For a last hurrah before school began we spirited our two eldest grandchildren away to “do tea” and to see the newly restored galleries at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA. The restoration is gloriously beautiful. The creamy expansive entrance halls give way to rich forest green walls in the picture gallery, all situated in what once was the Henry and Arabelle Huntington family residence. The children loved the paintings, and the delight of rushing up the splendid double staircase, while the grandparents took the elevator.
It seemed like a good idea – culturally speaking – to treat Michelle, 10, and Andrew, 8, to English tea and a tour of the grand Huntington Library and picture galleries. I was half right. They loved the place…the beauty of the art, gardens, the buildings, and the Library’s giant Gutenberg Bible ( c.1455). They’ve been memorizing Bible verses for years at school, so they had more than a passing interest.
Alas, I misjudged one point - tea sandwiches for hockey-playing little boys are not so thrilling as they are for grandmamma. The beautiful buffet of sandwiches, fruits, cheeses, pastries, crackers, spreads, held no charm for Andrew. He’s too much of a gentleman to complain; he tried various things without success and ended up nibbling on strawberries. (cost: adults, $24.95; children ages 4-8, $12.49). Oh, well, you win some and lose some.
However, he and Michelle loved the self-guided audio tour of the art collections in the residence. It is amazing how diligently they listened and moved from painting to painting. I was disappointed to note that my favorite sculpture – three putti (baby boys) tipsy on wine – had been placed too far away, behind barriers in the dining room, for us to view it up close.
Growing up on Chicago’s far West border, contiguous to Oak Park, my little school, Key Clark Branch, – less than 100 students – proudly displayed copies of the Huntington’s iconic paintings, Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy and Lawrence’s Pinkie. We had no clue why they were there, but they are exceedingly pretty and we liked how they looked, all delicate and dreamy. I never imagined I’d one day see the real thing. So it’squite a delight to be able give our grandchildren the fun of seeing, up close, the lovely, original paintings. They took home their own little copies, along with a book and snuff box from the gift shop. I’ve come to believe, it is not possible to have a true cultural experience without making a purchase in the museum gift shop. One finds unique books, jewelry and other interesting objects. Our collection of books from museum gift shops, about a little girl named Katie, who visits museums with her grandmother, is a treasure.

The Huntington has become one of our favorites. It’s a bit like the Villa Borghese in Rome, with art galleries, antiquities and gorgeous gardens. However, the Huntington does not sport a zoo. Most interestingly, each museum reflects the artistic and intellectual taste of a private individual, rather than “only” museum curators. In Rome, early 1600s, it was Scipione Cardinal Borghese who assembled the antiquities; in San Marino (near Pasadena), the art was collected by Henry and Arabelle Huntington, he, the 19th century magnate.
It’s the perfect place to introduce children to the idea of what great wealth, combined with fine artistic taste, can accomplish. There are lots of reasons to take children to museums. Granted, they may not fully appreciate the purpose and mportance of preserving fine objects of art and literature. However, by repeated exposure to fine art, they begin to see how big the world is and how long humans have been engaged in artistic expressions. History, combined with beauty, is ultimately an easy and useful lesson for children of any age.
In any case, we apparently had picked the hottest day of the summer to visit this stellar venue. Nonetheless, we managed to hit the highlights in the library, the art gallery and the new Chinese garden, Garden o fFlowing Fragrance. We wish the weather had been cooler, as our plan to see the Children’s Garden, which would have been a better choice for us, was sidetracked.
The Huntington is a place to return to over and over. Founded in 1919 by railroad and real estate magnate Henry Edwards Huntington, the estate was opened to the public in 1928. One Art Gallery occupies the original Beaux Arts mansion built for Henry and Arabelle Huntington in 1911. The residence houses a world-famous collection of British paintings by Gainsborough, Lawrence, Constable, Turner, Romney and Van Dyck; a short walk across the Shakespeare Garden is the Virginia Steele Scott Gallery which displays American paintings and decorative arts, including works by Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Frederick Remington, Gilbert Stuart and Edward Hopper.
The entire place is a feast for eye and soul.
When we returned to my home, the children took out the painting supplies I keep for them, including smocks, and sat down to capture a quickly arranged still life of roses and fruit. They became lost in their work, much as they had when new to painting as toddlers. Their paintings hang in my kitchen “gallery” alongside their cousins’ works.
It was avery happy day. Beauty and learning does that for you.

TO GO:
The Huntington
1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, CA 91108
(626) 405-2100 www.huntington.org
HOURS:Mon.,Wed., Thurs., Fri., noon to 4:30 p.m., Sat. & Sun.,10:30 to 4:30 p.m.
ADMISSION: Adults $15, Seniors (age 65+), $12, Students( age 12-18, or full-time ID) $10,Youth, (age 5-11) $6. Parking lot is free.
Admission is FREE to all on the first Thursday of each month with advanced tickets.
The Rose Garden Tea Room – (626) 683-8131. Reservations encouraged. Closed Tues. $24.95 per person; $12.49 for children ages 4-8, plus tax & gratuity.

Tea and Tour packages are available. Call 626-2240 or email tours@huntington.org to schedule a morning “Tea & Tour” for your group.

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Angela Rocco DeCarlo, copyright, 2008