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Claude Monet, "Luncheon on the Grass, Central Panel," 1865–66. Oil on canvas, 248 x 217 cm (97 5/8 x 85 3/8 in.). Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
February 25 – May 29, 2017
Legion of Honor
Legion of Honor app
App uses Interactive 3D Mapping & Indoor Positioning Technology
SAN FRANCISCO (January 21, 2016) – The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are pleased to unveil the official app for the Legion of Honor. Taking advantage of Apple’s latest developments in indoor positioning, the app serves as a personal tour guide for museum-goers, allowing visitors to wander the galleries as if on a private curatorial tour. This is the first app for the Legion of Honor.
SAN FRANCISCO – The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are pleased to present the world premiere retrospective of Oscar de la Renta’s work – the first major survey celebrating the life and career of one of fashion’s most influential designers. The exhibition is organized in close collaboration with the House of Oscar de la Renta and the designer’s family, and is curated by André Leon Talley, former American editor-at-large for Vogue and a lifelong friend of de la Renta.
It was not until the emergence of the artist book in the 20th century that book bindings—a book’s front and back covers and spine—came to be appreciated as more than merely protective or decorative. In the early 1900s, any deluxe artist book—with original print illustrations by a well-known artist, printed on fine papers, and issued unbound in limited quantity—fairly cried out for a creative binding. Collectors of these elegant books often commissioned bookbinders to fabricate unique leather covers with original designs that evoked the spirit or mood of the book’s text or illustrations.
Paul Bonet, binding design for the book Nuits de Paris, by Francis Carco (Paris: Au Sans Pareil, 1927), 1927. Onlays of leather with gold tooling. FAMSF, gift of Earl M. Collier Jr. in honor of Ann and Bill Anderson
Since the dawn of time, human beings have been fascinated with the animal world. Depictions of animals are some of the earliest known artistic efforts, dating back to the Paleolithic Era. And this interest has never abated. From sustenance to companionship, animals play a variety of roles in our lives and inspire a range of emotions—fear, love, awe—as well as a host of symbolic associations.
Anonymous Indian artist. Composite Camel, 19th century. Miniature. Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts. 1963.24.694
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco present an unparalleled collection of decorative arts from the Musée du Louvre, Paris, including some of the most exquisite treasures of the French monarchy from the time of Louis XIV until the Revolution of 1789.
Adults $20, Seniors 65+ $17, Students with current ID $16, Youths 13-17 $10 and Members and Children 12 and under are free.
Groups of 10 or more have access to priority booking and private tours. Contact the group sales office at groupsales@famsf.org or 415.750.3620.
Exhibition organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco with the exceptional collaboration of the Musée du Louvre.
Grand Patrons
Cynthia Fry Gunn and John A. Gunn
Major Patron
San Francisco Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museums
Louvre Circle
Mr. and Mrs. Adolphus Andrews, Jr.
Stephanie Ejabat
Richard B. Gump Trust
Mr. and Mrs. William Hamilton
Mr. and Mrs. Kevin C. Lynch
The luxury hotel sponsor is Taj Campton Place.
The catalogue is published with the assistance of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowment for Publications.
L: Portrait of Louis XIV, 17th century. Goldsmith-jeweler: Laurent Tessier Montarsy (?–1684). Miniature painting, silver, and diamond. Inv.: OA12280. Photo: Jean-Gilles Berizzi. C: Agate ewer. Paris, c. 1650. Enamelled gold mount. Entered the collection of Louis XIV before 1673. Inv.: MR231. Photo: Jean-Gilles Berizzi. R: Bust of Marie-Antoinette. Commissioned by Prince Alexandre Kourakine. 1782. Hard-paste porcelain. Inv.: OA10898. Photo: Peter Harholdt.
In 1940, art director and fashion illustrator René Bouché (1905-1963) left war-torn Paris for New York and became a regular contributor to Vogue magazine. In 1945, Vogue commissioned Bouché, who was an art director and fashion illustrator in Paris before World War II, to cover the first post-war couture shows in Paris. The trip to Europe was traumatic for the artist, who discovered a people struggling to regain normalcy after the war.
L: René Robert Bouché, “La Parisienne,” from The Morning After, Paris, 1945. Pen, ink, and color wash. Gift of Denise B. Fitch in memory of my late husband, René Robert Bouché (1905–1963). 2010.61.2.13. R: René Robert Bouché, "5 o'clock beer—cherchez la femme, never mind where and how" from The Morning After, Paris, 1945. Pen, ink and color wash on paper Gift of Denise B. Fitch in memory of my late husband, René Robert Bouché (1905–1963). 2010.61.2.15
The rarely seen Boîte en Valise (1941) and Sur Marcel Duchamp (1959) take center stage in this small-focus exhibition featuring seven artworks by Marcel Duchamp (1877–1968) that refuse to conform to traditional bibliographic structure, hovering between book, objet d’art, and sculpture. The Boîte for example is a leather suitcase that contains miniature replicas, photographs, and color reproductions of Duchamp’s other works.
Marcel Duchamp, Self-Portrait in Profile, from Sur Marcel Duchamp/Eau et gaz à tous les étages by Robert Lebel (Paris: Editions Trianon, 1959). Torn-paper collage. Museum Purchase, Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated books, Reva and David Logan Fund. 2001.19.3
Plato considered both art and athletics to be gifts from the gods, and the connection between art and sports in ancient Greece can be viewed as an aspect of its religious beliefs as well as its competitive spirit. Every fourth year for a thousand years, from 776 BC to AD 395, the pageantry of the Olympic festival attracted citizens from all over the Greek world. The Games at Olympia were held in honor of Zeus, and a visit to these competitions was also a pilgrimage.
Support for the exhibition is provided by Richard Beleson in memory of the 1972 Israeli Olympic Team.
Red-figure Kylix (detail). Greek, Athens, 440−430 bc. Painter of London E 777 Painter. Terracotta. Interior: Two athletes. Exterior: Athletes conversing. Gift of the Queen of Greece through Alma de Bretteville Spreckels. 1925.346.16
