January 20–August 11, 2024 Fashion Exhibition
Curated by Laura L. Camerlengo Image: Christian Dior Fall/Winter 1949 Couture ‘Junon’ Gown. Randy Dodson Photography, Courtesy FAMSF, San Francisco.
de Young Museum
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive San Francisco, CA 94118 +1-415-750-3600
I LOVE a fashion exhibition. Covered quite a few of them over the years (listed below if you want to check out). The de Young’sFashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style opened earlier this year. The exhibition is curated by Laura L. Camerlengo and showcases approximately 100 avant-garde pieces from 50 designers, including Comme des Garçons’Rei Kawakubo and newer-comers like Christopher John Rogers, in the FAMSF fashion archive.
Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2013 ‘Falcon’ Gown. Randy Dodson Photography, Courtesy FAMSF, San Francisco.Lucile Evening Dress, ca. 1921. Randy Dodson Photography, Courtesy FAMSF, San Francisco.
Preview of Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style, de Young Museum, San Francisco.
In addition to viewing a collection of couture garments (soooo many Diors and YSLs) worn by influential San Franciscans, like Nan Kempner and Dodie Rosekrans (granddaughter-in-law of the founders of the Legion of Honor) during the past century, you’ll be able to ‘try on’ 3 designs from the exhibition with Snapchat’s AR mirror, marking its U.S. debut in a museum setting.
The exhibition’s catalogue by Laura L. Camerlengo is a fascinating historical profile of San Francisco through its fashion arbiters from the past 100 years. It can be purchased at FAMSF stores and is available on Amazon.
I’ve gone through the 169-page catalogue, and the couture gowns (including the ‘Junon’ gown [shown at the top of the page], which is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE DIOR GOWN OF ALL TIME and the DOVIMA AVEDON ELEPHANT GOWN, which you can ‘try on’ with Snap’s AR Mirror) are insane. You’ll see why I’m shouting in capitals once you see the show.
Rodarte Evening Dress Spring/Summer 2011 Ready-to-Wear. Randy Dodson Photography, Courtesy FAMSF, San Francisco.Ralph Rucci Fall Couture 2007. Randy Dodson Photography, Courtesy FAMSF, San Francisco.
🗓 Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style closes August 11, 2024. It runs alongside Irving Penn, which closes on July 21, 2024, at the de Young Museum. All Access tickets for BOTH exhibitions are $38 and include admission to the museum’s permanent collection.
QUICK GUIDE: de Young Museum
⭐ EXHIBITIONS: Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style (Jan 20–Aug 11, 2024); Irivng Penn (March 16–July 21, 2024); Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care[Beautiful interactive exhibition, where attendees can bring a sewing repair to be transformed into wearable art] (Feb 17–July 7, 2024); Nampeyo and the Sikyátki Revival (Closes Sept 15, 2024). ⭐ MUSEUM HOURS: Open Tuesday–Sunday 9:30 a.m.–5:15 p.m.; CLOSED MONDAY. *Hamon Observation Tower Closes at 4:30 p.m. ⭐ ADMISSION: General Admission Adults $20; Seniors 65+ $17; Students (w/ID) $11; 17 & Under FREE. *SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS +$12 (Includes access to permanent collections); *All Access Tickets are $38 and includes entry to Irving Penn and Fashioning SF; Membership (includes Legion of Honor) starts at $119. ⭐ DISCOUNTS: GeneralAdmission is FREE through the following programs:Free Satudays for Bay Area Residents (w/ID or postmarked envelope); Free First Tuesdays of the Month; Discover and Go (Free w/library card—may not apply to all counties); SF Museums for All (show your EBT or Medi-Cal card/ID); Public Transportation Discount (receive a $2 discount w/proof of receipt); Free Admission to all exhibitions w/Sotheby’s Preferred Membership. THE PERMANENT COLLECTION IS FREE TO VISIT AT 4:30 p.m. ⭐ EVENTS: (FREE) Sketching in the Galleries from 11–3 p.m. on June 29/Sculpture Garden; July 13/Gallery 28; July 20/Gallery 40; July 27/Sculpture Garden; Crochet Jam with Artist Ramekon O’Arwisters on July 27, 11–3 p.m; DOCENT TOURS: Fashioning San FranciscoTues–Sun 11:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.; Irving PennTues–Sun 12:30 p.m. ⭐ FOOD: de Young Café. American and European classic cuisine. Indoor and outdoor dining (w/weather permitting on the Barbro Osher Sculpture Garden Terrace). Open Tuesday–Sunday 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Currently on View at de Young Museum (FAMSF)
Page not found | A LOVE LETTER TO ART
A Curated Guide to All Things Art
Feb 17–July 7, 2024 | Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care
Experience Lee Mingwei’s interactive installations and performances that place you at the center of radical acts of generosity and care.
Feb 27, 2021–Sept 15, 2024 | Nampeyo and the Sikyátki Revival
Celebrating the artistic ingenuity of Nampeyo, famed Tewa-Hopi potter, the de Young museum presents an installation of 32 pots from the collections of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. During her lifetime, Nampeyo (ca. 1860 – 1942) was, and remains today, perhaps the most renowned potter from the American Southwest. The single-gallery exhibition highlights Nampeyo’s work, juxtaposed with examples of Hopi pottery from her time. Exquisite ceramics made by ancestral Hopi artists demonstrate Nampeyo’s sources of inspiration, and artworks by four generations of her descendants attest to the master potter’s enduring legacy.
Coming Soon to de Young Museum (FAMSF)
Aug 10, 2024–Sept 28, 2025 | About Place: Bay Area Artists from the Svane Gift
This installation highlights contemporary Bay Area artists, and explores themes of belonging, ecological stewardship, and social justice.
Aug 10, 2024–Jan 12, 2025 | Robert Bechtle: Prints and Drawings
A lifelong resident of the Bay Area, American artist Robert Bechtle (1932–2020) captured local life in mesmerizing detail. A tribute to the artist’s life and work, this exhibition of prints and drawings celebrates Bechtle’s legacy and his close relationship with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. One of the earliest Photorealists, Bechtle worked from personal photographs of friends, family, nearby streets, cityscapes, and, above all, automobiles. Tinged with nostalgia, his most recognizable works memorialize moments that might otherwise be lost: San Francisco’s 34th Avenue fading into a bright blue sky or a parked Oldsmobile bathed in California sunshine. Drawn from our collection, the works on view — from the first abstract print he gifted to the Museums in 1961 to meticulous photo-based works from the final years of his career — reveal Bechtle’s stylistic evolution.
Oct 12, 2024–Feb 9, 2025 | First Major US Retrospective of Art Deco Icon Tamara de Lempicka Premieres at the de Young in October 2024
With over 120 works on display, Tamara de Lempicka will present a new perspective on the artist, her life, her work SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 - Through her liberal and glamorous lifestyle, artist Tamara de Lempicka (1894-1980) has become synonymous with the carefree spirit and opulence of the 1920s. Her paintings, combining a classical figural style with the modern energy of the international avant-garde, have cemented Lempicka as one of Art Deco’s defining painters, with an enduring influence on today’s pop culture landscape. Retrospective Tamara de Lempicka—the first exhibition in the United States dedicated to the artist’s full oeuvre—will reveal a new perspective on her life and design practice. In addition to her celebrated portraits, the more than 120 works on view will also include a number of rarely seen drawings, experimental still lifes from Lempicka’s early Parisian years, melancholic domestic interiors, as well as a selection of Art Deco objects, sculptures and dresses from the Fine Arts Museums’ collection that provide perspective on the artist’s process and historical context. The exhibition is co-curated by Furio Rinaldi and Gioia Mori. “We are thrilled to present the first major retrospective of Tamara de Lempicka’s work in the United States.
Currently on View at Legion of Honor (FAMSF)
April 6–Aug 18, 2024 | Japanese Prints in Transition: From the Floating World to the Modern World
This exhibition of Japanese woodcut prints highlights the transition from delicately colored ukiyo (floating world) prints to brightly colored modern world prints reflecting Western fashions and customs.
April 6–Aug 18, 2024 | Zuan-cho: Kimono Design in Modern Japan (1868–1912)
This exhibition features zuan-cho (kimono design books) from the Meiji era (1868–1912) that reimagined Japanese visual traditions in the context of modern Japan.
A LOVE LETTER TO ART RECOMMENDS
(Book) Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style
Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style [Camerlengo, Laura L., Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style
(Book) Dior: Couture
Dior: Couture [Demarchelier, Patrick, Sischy, Ingrid] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Dior: Couture
(FAMSF Article) Sister Dresses: Christian Dior’s “Junon” and “Venus”
The designer’s “Junon” and “Venus” gowns represent the pinnacle of his creativity.
(Film) Watch The First Monday in May | Prime Video
Follow the creation of the most attended fashion exhibition of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the 2015 Met Gala. With Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and Met Gala chair, and Andrew Bolton, the curator.
(Documentary) Watch Dior and I (English Subtitled) | Prime Video
Dior and I brings the viewer inside the storied world of the Christian Dior fashion house with a privileged, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Raf Simons’ first haute couture collection as its new artistic director.
(Documentary) Watch L’amour Fou | Prime Video
This extraordinary documentary provides an unprecedented look at the life of a mythic personality, Yves Saint Laurent, whose personal life matched his public for elegance, extravagance and passion.
(Biopic) Watch Yves Saint Laurent | Prime Video
Following a young assistant’s meteoric rise to the height of haute couture’s elite class in the wake of Christian Dior’s unexpected death, Yves Saint Laurent is at once a captivating story about the making of a fashion icon and a testament to the power of enduring love.
(Biopic) Watch Saint Laurent | Prime Video
SAINT LAURENT tells a story of the brilliant designer, his indulgent life and the price paid to be at the top of the world of fashion.
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