San Francisco’s for Worldwide Fine Art

By Lee Foster

If you want to experience the best-of-the-best fine art culture available during a visit, put the de Young Museum in at the top of your must-do list. View from the Tower at the de Young

The museum’s website is highly informative athttp://deyoung.famsf.org . The museum flourishes in a dense cluster of attractions in Golden Gate Park. Next door is the Japanese Tea Garden, an engaging and reflective place to walk and enjoy a meditative tea service. Across from the de Young is the California Academy of Sciences, which raises the wonder of science to admirable levels, all housed in its new building, below an ecologically-focused sod roof. A short walk north is the lacy glass confection known as the Conservatory of Flowers, a 19th century glass hothouse, hosting a great collection of tropical plants. Another short walk in a southerly direction takes you to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, with its walkable 55-acres of worldwide plsny displays, including a lovely California redwood forest. Both the de Young and Academy of Science have credible restaurants for a repast. This dense cluster of attractions, radiating from the de Young, could easily occupy two days of your attention, or one day for the especially efficient planner.

The de Young Museum name honors one of the philanthropic families in the historic San Francisco scene, that of newspaperman M. H. de Young, who plunked down the make-it-happen funds in 1895 to get this institution going. Today the de Young displays 4,000 years of art for many worldwide cultures. There are also ongoing temporary shows. One recent favorite was a Dale Chihuly glass art extravaganza. Check the website for the shows occurring during your visit time.

The FAMSF (Fine Art Museums of San Francisco) name in the website is worth noting, for a further cultural destination in San Francisco beyond walking distance from the de Young. FAMSF, at http://www.famsf.org, includes both the de Young and the Legion of Honor, in Lincoln Park. The Legion of Honor focuses more on Francophile and other European art experiences, but ventures everywhere in its temporary shows. At this level of museum excellence, there are two other institutions worthy of an art-lover’s attention in San Francisco. They are the SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Fine Art (http://sfmoma.org), now in a chrysalis phase as new construction continues for its display of the newly acquired Fisher Collection. Finally, the Asian Art Museum (http://asianart.org) in the Civic Center area features Asian and Near Eastern art, a San Francisco window on everything from China to Iran.

The range of the de Young collections is extraordinary. One special group is the “American Painting” collection, including those from the Rockefeller Collection. An example is Thomas Pollock Anshutz’s “The Ironworkers’ Noontime.” There is an unusual selection of masks in the “African Art” group. The “Oceanic Art” holding includes such masterpieces as fabrics from Indonesia. Browse the Collections tab on the museum website to see a set of visuals from the various collections. Consider taking a docent tour to get a perspective on a few highlights at the museum.

Aside from the permanent Collections, the de Young hosts some amazing shows traveling the fine art circuit. Be sure to review the museum website for the time of your visit to see what’s showing. The show may be contemporary or of some historic subject, and may be a traveling exhibit or drawn thematically for the de Young’s own holdings. Recent blockbuster shows include “Objects of Belief,” ethnic artifacts from the Vatican, and “Eye Level in Iraq,” photos of present-day culture and change in that troubled country.

Beyond a leisurely visit to the ground floors of the relatively new building, be sure to allow time for a visit (free) to the tower, the Hamon Education Tower Observation Deck. From this vantage point, you can gaze out at wide-angle perspectives on San Francisco and see a scale-model mockup of the city. The tower also has a bookstore with some current titles from the museum. You can look across the Music Concourse at the California Academy of Sciences. De Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, USA

When planning a visit to the de Young, be aware that the museum is closed Monday, but open Tuesday through Sunday 9:30-5:15. Friday nights it is open later, until 8:45pm from April through November, making the venue a strolling art-lovers party. Highly recommended are the self-guided audio tours for the permanent collections and some exhibits. The restaurant at the de Young sometimes has fun responding to the shows, as when chef Lucas Shoemaker presented Dutch food for the “Dutch Masters” exhibit. You can always take a break from gallery viewing at the de Young and enjoy a glass of wine or lunch.

The de Young affords a visitor many insightful moments in which you gaze at a masterpiece art object and marvel at homo sapiens’ diverse desire to make a visual or tactile statement about life. The artist seems to say “I am” and “Here is my sense of life.” While standing in front of George Caleb Bingham’s classic canvas, “Boatmen on the Missouri,” you may better appreciate the new-world landscape and sensibility that the U.S. contributed to the world. —

San Francisco’s de Young Art Museum: If You Go

The de Young Museum is midway through Golden Gate Park, on Tea Garden Way. The museum website has details on all the volatile matters of interest to a traveler at http://deyoung.famsf.org.

—

(This article will appear in one of Lee Foster’s new books for Spring 2016, which will be The 100 Top San Francisco/Bay Area Travel Experiences and The 100 Top Northern California Travel Experiences (Beyond the San Francisco/Bay Area). These projects will appear as printed books, ebooks, websites, articles, photos, and videos.)