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Conservation in 3D: Skype, Stereographs and Silicon

Posted by Lesley Bone on May 18, 2012

Recently one of the Museums’ most generous supporters, Dorothy Saxe, purchased a sculpture for the collection in memory of our late director John E. Buchanan. Created by contemporary glass artist Beth Lipman, Candlesticks, Books, Flowers and Fruit (2010) is a complex compilation of multiple elements balanced precariously on a table. My role as an objects conservator is to ensure that all the elements of this fragile sculpture are installed safely and in keeping with the artist’s original intent.

Lipman

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FRAME|WORK: The Salon Doré at the Legion of Honor

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on May 15, 2012

FRAME|WORK is a weekly blog series highlighting an artwork in the Museums’ permanent collection. This week, we feature an unusual treasure in the Legion of Honor—it is unusual because it’s not a painting or a sculpture, but rather an entire room. The Salon Doré, an 18th-century French period room, is currently on view.

Salon Dore

Salon Doré from the Hôtel de la Trémoille. French, Paris, ca. 1781. Painted and gilded wood with mirror. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Rheem. 1959.123 (Photograph of the 1962 installation).

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Carrie Cottini Will Work for Art!

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on May 15, 2012

We are happy to announce the return of Will Work for Art, a series of interviews featuring the incredibly diverse group of people who work here at the Fine Arts Museums! This week, we introduce you to Carrie Cottini, the acting member council administrator. Originally from Sacramento, Carrie has been with the Museums for four years as of this week. Happy anniversary, Carrie!

Carrie Cottini

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Music, Muses and Divas in the Art of the Victorian Avant-Garde

Posted by Gregory Stock on May 11, 2012

Tomorrow, May 12, 2012, the Legion of Honor presents Music, Muses and Divas, public programs associated with The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde, 1860–1900 (on view through June 17). Premier scholars of Victorian art Tim Barringer and Peter Trippi lecture on the complmentary topics of music and theater in the context of the Aesthetic Movement. We asked our lecturers a few questions about their respective talks to provide insight into the day’s presentations.

Saint Cecilia

John William Waterhouse, Saint Cecilia, 1895, oil on canvas. Private Collection

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Mystery Glass Negatives from Land's End

Posted by Debbie and Victor... on May 10, 2012

Before there were digital image files and even before there was film, photographers captured images on glass plate negatives. In the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco there are over seventy of these glass plate negatives depicting scenes of Land’s End and old San Francisco. Discovered in the basement of the old de Young, these century-old negatives were in desperate need of cleaning and re-housing. When the negatives came into the paper conservation lab at the Legion of Honor for proper care, the labor intensive project proved a perfect opportunity for pre-program conservation student Jennifer Martinez.

Foundation of Cliff House

Foundation of Cliff House, c. 1895

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FRAME|WORK: Zig V by David Smith

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on May 9, 2012

FRAME|WORK is a weekly blog series highlighting an artwork in the Museums’ permanent collection. This week, we feature David Smith’s monumental sculpture, Zig V (1961).

Zig 5

David Smith (American, 1906–1965). Zig V, 1961. Steel and automotive paint. Museum purchase, Gift of Mrs. Paul L. Wattis. 1999.66

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