The M.H. de Young Museum
(commonly called de Young Museum
) is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H. de Young.
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History
The museum opened in
1895 as an outgrowth of the
California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 (a fair modeled on the
Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of
the previous year). The building was originally decorated with cast-concrete ornaments on the façade. The ornaments were removed in 1949 as they began to fall and had become a hazard. The
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake severely damaged the building.
Architects
Jacques Herzog and
Pierre de Meuron and engineers
Arup designed the newly rebuilt structure, which reopened on
October 15,
2005. The current building is clad with perforated
copper plates, which will change colors through exposure to the elements. A 144 ft. (44 m) observation tower allows visitors to see much of Golden Gate Park's Music Concourse (see below) and rises above the Park's treetops providing a view of the
Golden Gate and
Marin Headlands.
As part of the agreement that created the
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in
1972, the de Young's collection of European art was sent to the
Legion of Honor. In compensation, the de Young received the right to display the bulk of the organization's
anthropological holdings. These include significant pre-Hispanic works from
Teotihuacan and Peru, as well as indigenous tribal art from sub-Saharan Africa.
Collections
The courtyard of the de Young features a sculptural installation by
Andy Goldsworthy named
Drawn Stone
.
The de Young also exhibits American decorative pieces, textiles, and paintings from the
Rockefeller Collection of American Art. It is home to the annual floral exhibition
Bouquets to Art. Other permanent collections include the African and Oceanic collections which, along with the 'Art of the America's' collection, were curated by Kathleen Berrin.
Exhibits
The de Young Museum was the last of seven U.S. museums to host
The Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit in the late 1970s.
Architecture
The new M.H. De Young Museum building was completed in October 2005. It stands near the San Andreas fault, where the original De Young had been severely damaged in 1989 by the
Loma Prieta earthquake. The terrain and seismic activity posed a problem for the designers
Herzog & de Meuron and principal architects Fong & Chan.
To address the problem of the fault, “[the building] can move up to three feet (91 centimeters) due to a unique system of ball-bearing sliding plates and viscous fluid dampers that absorb kinetic energy and convert it to heat” (Ashmore).
Location in the middle of an urban park has also been controversial, and San Francisco voters twice defeated bond measures that were to fund the project. After the second defeat, the museum itself planned to relocate to a location in the financial district. However, an effort by supporters arose to keep the museum in the Park.
In reaction, the designers were sensitive to the appearance of the building in its natural setting. The entire exterior is clad in 163,118 ft
2 (15,153 square m
2) of copper, which is expected to eventually oxidize and take on a
greenish tone and a distinct texture to echo the nearby eucalyptus trees. In order to further harmonize with the surroundings, shapes were cut into the top to reveal gardens and courtyards where 48 trees had been planted. 5.12 acres (20,700 square meters) of new landscaping had been planted as well, with 344 transplanted trees and 69 historic boulders.
The twisting 144 foot (44 m) tall tower is a distinctive feature, and can be seen sticking up through the canopy of Golden Gate Park from many areas of San Francisco.
See also
Notes
References