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In a Nutshell...

The de Young Museum is a fine arts museum in Golden Gate Park on the Music Concourse opposite the Academy of Science Museum. It is best known for its anthropological collections and its collection of American (USA) fine and decorative art. While the museum’s collection is eclectic, you will not find European fine art For that you must go to the Legion of Honor Museum, or Asian art, which of course is housed in the city’s Asian Art Museum.

Its holdings of 18th and 19th century American art are one of the finest in the world and include such important works as some of  John Singleton Copley portraits of colonialist, George Caleb Bingham’s Boatmen on the Missouri and Frederic Church’s showstopper, Rainy Season in the Tropics.

 

 
The museum reopened in 2005 in a new building that has been compared to a rusty aircraft carrier (by which I would guess they mean an old Soviet hulk on its way to the scrap yard) and it has been observed that about the only people who feel a passion toward this structure are bow tied architecture critics. Whether or not this is fair, or even true, I will leave for you to decide. I will point out one positive thing about the new building and that is its observation tower which is free to visit and gives a nice panorama of the city. However, why they did not give it a café where one could sit and linger and enjoy the view is a mystery known only to its designers. Form without function.

Pros:

• Many important early American pieces
• Many important American 19th century pieces
• Excellent anthropological collection
• Free access to observation tower

 

Cons:

• Open floor plan and hard surfaces acts as echo chamber

 

 

Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday. 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
Friday, 9:30 am to 8:30 pm
Saturday – Sunday, 9:30 am to 5:00 pm

Admission:

• Adults: $10
• Seniors 65 (& +): $7
• Youths 13-17: $6
• College Students with ID: $6
• Children 12 and under: Free
• Tickets are good for same day admission to the Legion of Honor Museum
• First Tuesday of the month: Free
  

Location:
Neighborhood: Golden Gate Park
50 Tea Garden Dr
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 750-3600 / deYoungMuseum.org

 

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