BGuthrie Photos: CA -- San Francisco -- California Palace of the Legion of Honor -- Other

CA -- San Francisco -- California Palace of the Legion of Honor -- Other:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. LEGIOO_110728_038.JPG: Jeanne d'Arc Born January 6th 1412 Domremy, France Burned at the Stake May 10th 1431 Rouen, France Presented by Archer M. Huntington Anna Hyatt Huntington, Sculptor G. Albert Lansburgh, Architect
2. LEGIOO_110728_049.JPG: These two photos show how quickly the fog was moving
3. LEGIOO_110728_061.JPG: [American Legion symbol] That men may not forget, the Living Legion, in Convention, speaking in comradeship with the dead again voice their love for those who gave their lives that we might be free. October 17, 1923
4. LEGIOO_110728_071.JPG: By the grace of god and in boundless love for the youth of our land who died to make men free this palace is dedicated by Adolph B. Spreckles and Alama de Bretteville Spreckles November 11, 1924
5. LEGIOO_110728_091.JPG: Picasso Ceramics from the Permanent Collection In 1946, the artist Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) traveled to Vallauris in the south of France, a center for pottery production since ancient times. The visit stimulated prolific ceramic production by the artist for nearly eighteen years. Picasso created more than 3,500 ceramics during his lifetime, many in Vallauris at the Madoura workshop of Georges and Suzanne Ramie. Picasso later authorized the Ramies to created limited-edition copies of some of the pieces. All of the works on display in this exhibition are Medoura editions produced by the Ramies. Picasso's ceramics were produced not as functional wares but as art objects. The artist attempted to revive and reinvent ancient techniques of pottery production through experimental glazes, slips, and enamels combined with his own untraditional forms. Picasso clearly enjoyed the challenge of the ceramic medium and found inspiration in its flexibility and unpredictability. Although Picasso's ceramics were dismissed during his lifetime and later neglected by museums and scholars, a recent rise in popular exhibitions and increasing interest by collectors has drawn attention to this area of his practice. The exhibition Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris (June 11-October 9, 2011, at the DeYoung) has provided the perfect opportunity to highlight the collection of Picasso ceramics here at the Legion of Honor.
6. LEGIOO_110728_138.JPG: Figurine of a Dancing Woman Sicilian, Centuripe, 2nd century BC
7. LEGIOO_110728_147.JPG: Woman Holding a Swan Greek, Boeotia, mid-4th century, BC
8. LEGIOO_110728_156.JPG: Cycladic Figure Greek, early Cycladic II, late Spedos variety, ca 2500 BC)
9. LEGIOO_110728_162.JPG: Violin Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri (del Gesu), 1687-1745 Italy, Cremona, ca 1740
10. LEGIOO_110728_171.JPG: Winged Genius Assyrian, Nimrud, North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, 885-856 BC
11. LEGIOO_110728_186.JPG: Relief from the Tomb of Mentuemhet Egyptian, ca 600 BC
12. LEGIOO_110728_191.JPG: Lion-Shaped Rhyton (Libation Vessel) Anatolian, ca 1860-1780 BC
13. LEGIOO_110728_199.JPG: Foundation Nail from the Temple of Nin-Girsu Built by Ur-Baba, Governor of Lagash Babylon, ca 2250 BC
14. LEGIOO_110728_204.JPG: Ibis Egyptian, 525-332 BC
15. LEGIOO_110728_209.JPG: Statue of Harpocrates Egyptian, early 3rd century AD
16. LEGIOO_110728_214.JPG: Ushabati: Sennedjem, the Servant in the "Place of Truth" Egyptian, 1279-1212 BC
17. LEGIOO_110728_229.JPG: Rodin Collection: The Museums' [sic] collection of works by the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is one of the finest in the world outside the Musee Rodin in Paris. Composed of more than eighty sculptures in a variety of materials, the collection surveys a wide range of Rodin's prolific output. It covers all periods of his career and reveals the rich variety of his themes and stylistic approaches. Widely regarded as the father of modern sculpture, Rodin introduced expressiveness and psychological depth to the human figure in a way that revolutionized the academic conventions of the 19th century. Inspired by Michelangelo and Donatello, Rodin's intense realism was based on an unerring knowledge of anatomy, unconventional poses, and a new freedom of composition. He often inventively presented subjects previously considered unsuitable to public art, opening many paths of exploration for later 20th-century sculptors. The quality and depth of this Rodin collection are owed to one avid collector and patron, Alam de Bretteville Spreckels. With her husband, Adolph Spreckels, in 1924 she also donated the Legion of Honor building to the city of San Francisco. For over thirty-five years, Mrs. Spreckels amassed the works of Rodin, often buying them directly from the artist or from his closest associates. She made her first purchase in 1915, an early interest that allowed her to acquire casts that date almost exclusively from Rodin's lifetime, an important distinction when considering the large quantity of posthumous castings of his work that still occur today. Included in this collection are many of Rodin's most famous works: The Thinker, The Kiss, Victor Hugo, and the Burghers of Calais, considered by many to be his finest work. The plaster sculptures here are unique. It is rate to be able to view both plaster and bronze works together, documenting Rodin's sculptural process.
18. LEGIOO_110728_255.JPG: Auguste Rodin The Three Shades, c 1880
19. LEGIOO_110728_282.JPG: The Four Seasons, c 1750 Nevers Factory
20. LEGIOO_110728_309.JPG: Gorham B. and Diana Dollar Knowles Louis XV Room
21. LEGIOO_110728_346.JPG: Sedan Chair, ca 1730 Probably Italian
22. LEGIOO_110728_361.JPG: The Rhine Separating the Waters, 1765 Claude Michel (called Clodion)
23. LEGIOO_110728_383.JPG: Cabinet on Stand, c 1660 Pierre Gole
24. LEGIOO_110728_530.JPG: Salon from the Hotel d'Humieres Paris, France ca 1788
25. LEGIOO_110728_637.JPG: Tea and Coffee Service, 1839 and 1842 French, Sevres Porcelain Factory
26. LEGIOO_110728_669.JPG: Mary Queen of Scots, ca 1860-1869 Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
27. LEGIOO_110728_700.JPG: The Orator, 1933 or 1934 Pablo Picasso
28. LEGIOO_110728_708.JPG: Trotting Horse, the Feet Not Touching the Ground, ca 1881 Edgar Degas
29. LEGIOO_110728_727.JPG: Cabinet, ca 1650 Attributed to Pierre Gole
30. LEGIOO_110728_822.JPG: Memento Mori, ca 1550 French or German
31. LEGIOO_110728_863.JPG: Saint Boniface, 1500 Style of Hans Backoffen
32. LEGIOO_110728_876.JPG: Mudejar Ceiling, 1482-1503 Spanish, Torrijos region
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: California Palace of the Legion of Honor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The California Palace of the Legion of Honor (often abbreviated to simply Legion of Honor by locals) is a fine art museum in San Francisco, California. The name is used both for the museum collection and for the building in which it is housed.

History:

The Legion of Honor was the gift of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, wife of the sugar magnate and thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder Adolph B. Spreckels. The building is a three-quarters scale imitation of the Palais de la L�gion d'Honneur also known as the H�tel de Salm in Paris by George Applegarth and H. Guillaume. It was completed in 1924.

The museum building occupies an elevated site in Lincoln Park in the northwest of the city, with views over the Golden Gate Bridge. Most of the surrounding Lincoln Park Golf Course is on the site of a potter's field called the "Golden Gate Cemetery" that the City had bought in 1867. The cemetery was closed in 1908 and the bodies were relocated to Colma. During seismic retrofitting in the 1990s, however, coffins and skeletal remains were unearthed.

The plaza and fountain in front of the Palace of the Legion of Honor is the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across America. The terminus marker and an interpretive plaque are located in the southwest corner of the plaza and fountain, just to the left of the Palace.
Collections

The Legion of Honor displays a collection spanning more than 6,000 years of ancient and European art and houses the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts in a neoclassical building overlooking Lincoln Park and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Ancient Art:

The Ancient Art collection has been an integral part of both Fine Arts Museums since they were founded. M.H. de Young and Alma Speckles, the founders of the museums, furnished their institutions with a variety of ancient objects. The works they brought to their collections, and those that have been added over the years, cover broad geographical and chronological ranges within the ancient Mediterranean basin—primarily Egypt, the Near East, Greece, the Aegean Islands, Etruria, and Rome. The earliest pieces date to the fourth millennium B.C. and the latest to early Christian, Sasanian, and early Islamic periods, through the 14th century A.D.––a period of almost 6,000 years of art.

It is a relatively small collection, under 1,400 objects, containing a number of rare works of high quality and importance that form the basis for an introduction to the art of the cultures represented. They provide, in a coherent, aesthetically pleasing manner, splendid examples of the art of early civilizations. The collection also provides the foundation for the understanding of Western art and the procession of cultures through the ages. It illustrates the origins of later European and American art in the Museum’s collection in form, iconography, and materials by displaying sculpture, pottery, glass, decorative art, and painting.

The main strength of the collection lies in Greek vase painting, where over 100 examples represent most periods of Greek art from the prehistoric to the end of the classical age. Among the most important objects are nine carved ivory plaques and a palace wall relief from the 9th—7th-centuries B.C. Assyrian site of Nimrud, which epitomizes a high point in the history of Ancient Near Eastern art and have few equals in museum collections worldwide. The most recent acquisitions include an exquisitely carved Persian sculpture of an Offering Bearer (ca. 490–470 B.C.) from the fabled ancient site of Persepolis, which in style and form connects ancient Near Eastern art with the classical world.

Exhibitions add visibility to the permanent collection and Ancient Art shows have had wide appeal bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors. The Department has organized and mounted world-renowned exhibitions that secure the Museum’s international reputation for scholarly excellence. Some of these enabled the Museum to foster and secure relationships with foreign cultural organizations, especially those in Europe and the Middle East.

European Art:

The museum contains a representative collection of European art, the largest portion of which is French. Its most distinguished collection is of sculpture by Auguste Rodin. Casts of some of his most famous works are on display, including one of The Thinker in the Court of Honor. However there are individual works by many other artists, including Fran�ois Boucher, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, David, El Greco, Rubens, and many of the Impressionists and post-Impressionists—Degas, Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Seurat, C�zanne and others. There are also representative works by key twentieth century figures such as Braque and Picasso, and works of contemporary artists like Gottfried Helnwein and Robert Crumb.Painters also represented include;Lorenzo di Bicci("Madonna and Child With Angels"),Master of Cappenburg,Friederich Pacher("Saint Catherine")Rodrigo Osona the Elder,Titian,Simon Vouet,Guercino("Samson and the Honeycomb"),Domenichino("Italian River Landscape")Lodewijk de Vadder("Village Road"),Frans Hals,Jan Goyen,Jan Van Noordt("Susannah and The Elders"),Claude Lorrain,J.M. Nattier("Thalia,Muse of Comedy"),Frederic Leighton,Thomas Seddon,Konstantin Makovsky("Russian Bride's Attire"),Charles Daubigny,Rafaelli("Absinthe Drinkers"),and Eduard Viullard.
The Grand Canal, Venice, 1908

Collection Highlights

St. Francis Venerating the Crucifix. El Greco, 1595
St. John the Baptist. El Greco, 1600
The Tribute Money. Peter Paul Rubens, 1612
The Age of Bronze. Auguste Rodin, 1875
Trotting Horse. Edgar Degas, 1881
The Kiss. Auguste Rodin, 1884
The Grand Canal. Claude Monet, 1908
Waterlilies. Claude Monet, 1914

Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts:

Mr. and Mrs. Moore S. Achenbach created the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts in 1948, giving their personal collection of works on paper to the city of San Francisco. Over the 50 years previous, Mr. Achenbach strove to build a collection that systematically illustrated the entire development of the graphic arts, and in this pursuit he built a collection of reputedly more than 25,000 graphic works. When he donated it to the city, the collection was briefly placed in the San Francisco Public Library, but in 1950 it was moved to the Legion of Honor, where it remains to this day. This enormous collection became the foundation for the museum’s department of works on paper, which has the distinction of being the largest collection of works of art on paper in the western United States. Today the department’s holdings number more than 90,000 and cover the period from the end of the 15th century to the present time. Thanks to the Achenbach’s endowment bequest and gifts of other donors, the collection now consists of Old Master and 19th-century prints and drawings, Japanese prints, Indian miniatures, photography, modern and contemporary graphics, and artists’ books.

The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts and the collections of works on paper of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco receive financial support for the department’s exhibitions, programs, and acquisitions from the Achenbach Graphic Arts Council, a member council of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Symphonic organ:

In 1924 John D. Spreckels commissioned the Ernest M. Skinner Company of Boston to build the symphonic organ. The museum organ, which is housed inside the museum above the main galleries, has 4 manuals and pedals, 7 divisions, 63 ranks, with a total of 4,526 pipes. Symphonic music is especially effective on the museum organ with its battery of pneumatically-operated percussion instruments and set of tubular chimes. A thunder pedal is used for the musical representation of storms. All together, the organ comprises one Great Organ, a Swell Organ, a Choir Organ featuring a 16 foot Contra Dulciana, Choir Organ Echo, a Solo Organ, Solo Organ Echo, an Arch Organ outfitted with 8 foot Arch Clarion, a 64 foot Gravissima and a 32 foot Bourdon Profunda, in addition to the final Traps that were enclosed in the Choir: Bass drum, castanets, Chinese block, crash cymbal, gong snare drum (f), snare drum (ff), and a tambourine triangle.

Proponents have acclaimed that an instrument that is capable of producing these sounds, (similar to that of an orchestra), is a work of art, no matter its outright visual appeal. The organ's console, made of mahogany, ivory, and ebony, is located in the A.B. and Alma de Bretteville Spreckels Rodin Gallery. The apse of the gallery is canvas, painted to look like marble in order to allow the organ to "speak" through the dome. The frieze over the main entrance to the museum is made of plaster and can be opened so that the music can be heard in the Court of Honor also containing ten large tubular chimes and a heroic fanfare register concealed behind doors that can be opened during performances. The museum hosts a weekly organ recital from 4:00-5:00pm every Saturday and Sunday.
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