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Outlasting Eternity: A Reflection on the Figures of Stephen De Staebler

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on May 4, 2012

Guest-blogger Tim Svenonius is the interpretive media producer at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and an artist in his own right. Here he shares his insights and reflections after seeing Matter + Spirit: The Sculpture of Stephen De Staebler on view at the de Young through May 13.

Three Figures

From left to right: Man with Broad Chest, 2010. Bronze with patina. Courtesy of Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco; Winged Woman Walking I, 1987. Bronze with patina. Courtesy of Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco; Winged Figure with Three Legs, 2003. Collection of Peter and Beverly Lipman, Portola Valley, California.

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Our People, Our Queen

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on April 27, 2012

Today’s guest blogger is 2012 de Young Artist Fellow Monique Jenkinson (aka Fauxnique). During her yearlong fellowship, she is focusing on the Museums’ costume and textiles collection, particularly the work of Jean Paul Gaultier as represented in the special exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk (on view at the de Young through August 19). This Friday Night at the de Young, April 27, Jenkinson presents Making Scenes, a curated evening that includes a new dance/installation piece entitled Our People, inspired by the work of Gaultier—his icons, his fetishes and his light-hearted, humanistic irreverence. Here she shares with us the creative process behind the making of Our People.

Monique for Our People

Monique in costume for Our People. Photo courtesy of Arturo Cosenza

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Inside the Pavonia Room

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on April 26, 2012

Two weeks ago we introduced you to Geoffrey De Sousa’s concept for the Pavonia Room. Inspired by the special exhibition The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde 1860–1900 (on view at the Legion of Honor through June 17), De Sousa’s gentleman’s study will be installed at the San Francisco Decorator Showcase opening this Saturday, April 28. Today, De Sousa serves as a guest-blogger to unveil the completed space.

De Sousa in the Pavonia Room

Geoffrey De Sousa, the gentleman in his study

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Love and the Maiden: A Harmony of Hues

Posted by Melissa Buron on April 19, 2012

In this installment of our continuing blog series examining key elements of the Aesthetic Movement through the lens of John Stanhope’s masterwork Love and the Maiden (typically on view in gallery 18 at the Legion of Honor and currently on view in The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde, 1860–1900), curatorial assistant of European art Melissa Buron takes a closer look at color.

Love and the Maiden

John Roddam Spencer Stanhope (English, 1829–1908). Love and the Maiden, 1877. Tempera, gold paint and gold leaf on canvas. Museum purchase, European Art Trust Fund, Grover A. Magnin Bequest Fund and Dorothy Spreckels Munn Bequest Fund. 2002.176

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Discarded to Divine at the de Young!

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on April 13, 2012

From his earliest forays into fashion design, Jean Paul Gaultier utilized surprising and sometimes recycled materials. As a child, inspired by his grandmother’s corset, Gaultier repurposed crumpled newspaper to create the conical-shaped falsies that he attached to his beloved teddy bear, Nana. Entering its seventh year, Discarded to Divine—an event that auctions off designer duds made from donated clothing to benefit the homeless—exemplifies Gaultier’s earliest instincts to recycle with style and purpose.

Nana

Jean Paul Gaultier’s teddy bear, Nana, wearing the first cone bra. © Rainer Torrado/Jean Paul Gaultier

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The Pavonia Room and the Art of Design

Posted by Sarah Bailey Hogarty on April 11, 2012

Since 1977, the San Francisco Decorator Showcase has taken over some of the city’s most prestigious addresses and redesigned them to benefit the San Francisco University High School’s financial aid program. Celebrating its 35th anniversary, this year’s Decorator Showcase sets up residence at 2020 Jackson Street from April 28–May 28, 2012.

2020 Jackson

2020 Jackson Street, site of the 2012 San Francisco Decorator Showcase

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