The Huntington spent nearly $1 million to buy two paintings and a ceramic sculpture that will fill gaps in the museum’s American art galleries.

At an annual meeting last month, The Huntington’s Art Collectors’ Council purchased two 1936 paintings — “Burlesque” by Milton Avery and “Irises (The Sentinels)” by Pasadena artist Helen Lundeberg — as well as a Sargent Claude Johnson sculpture, “Head of a Boy.”