Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis
“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis” traces the rise of environmental awareness in the 19th century—an age of rapid industrialization in the English-speaking world as well as a period in which the sciences of geology, paleontology, meteorology, and ecology developed.
“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis,” Photo by Elon Schoenholz. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
The title comes from a lecture by the writer and art critic John Ruskin, in which he described the changing appearance of the sky due to industrial pollution. British and American visual and literary artworks by the Romantics, the Pre-Raphaelites, and members of the Arts and Crafts movement are displayed alongside key scientific texts and images, as well as works by early 20th-century preservationists John Muir and Mary Hunter Austin. The exhibition also documents water use and oil extraction in the Los Angeles region in the early 20th century.
Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg (French‐British, 1740–1812), Iron Works of Coalbrook Dale in The Romantic and Picturesque Scenery of England and Wales, 1805, aquatint in printed book, 15 3/4 x 11 3/8 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Thomas Forster (British, 1789–1860), Researches about Atmospheric Phaenomena, 1815, colored engraving in printed book, 9 1/16 x 5 3/4 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
John Constable (British, 1776–1837), View on the Stour near Dedham, 1822, oil on canvas, 51 x 74 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Francis Michelin (American, 1809 or 1810–1878), Scott’s European Fashions, for the Summer 1848. No. 146 Broadway, New York, 1848, lithograph with hand coloring, 18 3/4 x 23 3/8 in. Jay T. Last Collection. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Carleton Watkins (American, 1829–1916), Yosemite Falls “front view” (plate 30) in Yo-semite Valley/Photographic Views of the Falls and Valley of Yo‐semite in Mariposa County, California, 1861, albumen print, 19 3/4 x 25 5/8 in. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Arthur Severn (British, 1842–1931) after John Ruskin (British, 1819–1900), Cloud Study: Ice Clouds over Coniston, 1884, bodycolor on buff paper, 5 x 6 3/4 in. | © The Ruskin, Lancaster University.
Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900), Vale of St. Thomas, Jamaica, 1867, oil on canvas, 48 3/8 x 84 5/8 in. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut. The Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt Collection. | Image courtesy of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
William Buckland (British, 1784–1856), Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 1837, colored engraving in printed book, 8 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. (22.7 x 14.9 cm). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
William Buckland (British, 1784–1856), Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 1837, colored engraving in printed book, 8 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. (22.7 x 14.9 cm). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
William Buckland (British, 1784–1856), Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 1837, colored engraving in printed book, 8 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. (22.7 x 14.9 cm). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
William Buckland (British, 1784–1856), Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 1837, colored engraving in printed book, 8 15/16 x 5 7/8 in. (22.7 x 14.9 cm). | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Through nearly 200 items drawn from The Huntington’s collections and on loan from collections in the United States and Britain, “Storm Cloud” places our current climate crisis in its historical context, examining the profound changes that industrialization and a globalized economy have wrought on everyday life, as charted by scientists, artists, and writers for over 150 years. The questions and issues addressed in the historical material are brought to the present with the inclusion of works by five contemporary artists: Binh Danh, Rebeca Méndez, Jamilah Sabur, Leah Sobsey, and Will Wilson.
Artist, designer, and UCLA professor Rebeca Méndez discusses her work Any-Instant-Whatever (2020), which is featured in “Storm Cloud.” Her video installation documents 12 hours of Los Angeles’ winter skies, creating an immersive experience that encourages contemplation while also addressing themes of environmental change.
Related Programming
Related Resources
Explore how 19th-century artists, writers, and scientists first sounded the alarm on industrialization’s impact on the environment. This insightful book connects early environmental awareness—showcased through art and literature—to today’s climate crisis.
Check out this list of books compiled by the curators of the exhibition, including full-text 19th-century climate-fiction courtesy of Project Gutenberg, and a list of climate- and sustainability-related nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and children’s and young adult books.
Podcast Playlist
Listen to podcasts—recommended by the “Storm Cloud” curators—that discuss climate change in the context of the past, present, and future.
Podcasts on Spotify
Henry David Thoreau’s Aeolian Harp Music
Listen to the meditative music of an Aeolian harp, an instrument played by the wind. This music was recorded using a replica of an Aeolian harp designed by American naturalist Henry David Thoreau.
Harp Music on Spotify
Global CO2 Levels
This graph features atmospheric CO2 levels that combine measurements from as far back as 800,000 years up to the present day with an atmospheric temperature overlay option. This is a project of the 2 Degrees Institute, a nonprofit organization.
Interactive CO2 Graph
California Department of Conservation: Well Finder
The Geologic Energy Management Division’s (CalGEM) online mapping application Well Finder presents California’s oil and gas industry information from a geographic perspective. Readily available data contributes to better health and environmental safeguards.
Well Finder Map
“Storm Cloud” Key Image Credit: Unknown, Oil Well Fire, ca. 1920s, photograph, 5 3/8 x 3 7/16 in. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
This exhibition is made possible with support from Getty through its PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative.
“Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis” is among more than 70 exhibitions and programs presented as part of PST ART. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information, visit PST ART: Art & Science Collide
Generous support for this exhibition is provided by the Douglas and Eunice Erb Goodan Endowment. Additional funding is provided by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Neilan Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation Exhibition and Education Endowment, The Melvin R. Seiden-Janine Luke Exhibition Fund in memory of Robert F. Erburu, and the Boone Foundation.
This exhibition is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
