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Through the Looking Glass: December Artist-in-Residence Genevieve Quick

December Artist-in-Residence Genevieve Quick examines the history and wonder of telescopes, Victorian projectors, photography and space-age satellites. In The Lens Lab (on view through December 31, 2011, in the Kimball Education Gallery), Quick invites the public to interact with her hand-fabricated cameras. Participants are encouraged to use her modified cameras to photograph the museum and its grounds. The resulting photographs will be projected as a slide show in the gallery as the project evolves throughout the residency.

Courtesy Genevieve Quick

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FRAME|WORK: Virgin and Child with Putti by Andrea della Robbia

FRAME|WORK is a weekly blog series that highlights an artwork in the Museums' permanent collections. As we approach the Christmas holiday, it seems only appropriate to examine one of the many works in the European Decorative Arts and Sculpture department that deals with the subject of the Holy Family. This poignant Virgin and Child with Putti by Andrea della Robbia is currently on display in Gallery 4 at the Legion of Honor.

Virgin and Child with Putti

Andrea della Robbia (Italian, Florence, 1437–1525). Virgin and Child with Putti, ca. 1490–1495. Glazed terracotta. Museum purchase, Alfred S. Wilsey Memorial Fund. 2003.1

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Turpitudes Sociales Occupies the Legion of Honor

One of the most remarkable moments in Pissarro’s People (on view at the Legion of Honor through January 22, 2012) comes toward the end of the exhibition in the form of an album of pen and ink drawings entitled Turpitudes sociales (“social turpitude,” or disgraces).

Title page

Turpitudes sociales, 1889–1890. Thirty pen and brown ink over graphite drawings on paper pasted in an album. Album: 12 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. (31 x 24 cm). Collection of Jean Bonna, Geneva. Photo by Patrick Goetelen, Geneva, courtesy of Jean Bonna.

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A Tour with Trevor

Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” With this in mind, we recently toured the de Young with a precocious eight-year-old named Trevor to learn what we could about the experience of the museum and its art from a child’s perspective. Needless to say, we learned a lot.

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Art of the Radical Left (Coast)

Throughout art history, politics have inspired, informed and incited the cultural production of artists throughout the world. In today’s context of social and political unrest, the subject seems particularly relevant. Two major exhibitions in San Francisco and New York currently bookend the country with the art and politics of the radical left. In both Pissarro’s People (on view at the Legion of Honor through January 22, 2012) and Diego Rivera: Murals for the Museum of Modern Art (on view at the Museum of Modern Art through May 14, 2012), the political beliefs of the artists are placed front and center.

Pissarro Harvest

Camille Pissarro. The Harvest, 1882. Tempera on canvas. 27 11/16 x 49 9/16 in. The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, donated by the heirs of Mr. Kojiro Matsukata, P.1984-3

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FRAME|WORK: "Two Women and a Child" by Diego Rivera

FRAME|WORK is a weekly blog series that highlights an artwork in the Museums' permanent collections. Tomorrow is the 125th anniversary of Diego Rivera’s birth, so this week we feature his iconic Two Women and a Child, which is currently on display at the de Young.

Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886–1957). Two Women and a Child, 1926. Oil on canvas. Gift of Albert M. Bender to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. 1926.122. © 2011 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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Whatever Happened to Friday Nights?

Last week marked the close of Friday Nights at the de Young's season seven. We sat down with public programs director Renee Baldocchi to reflect on the past successes of Friday Nights at the de Young and to learn about what’s in store for the future, including upcoming programming for The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.

 © Adrian Arias

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Will Work for Art: Ashley Stropes Brown

"Will Work for Art" takes you behind the scenes to meet the people who make the Fine Arts Museums work. This week we take into the glamorous world of the Museums' development department with Ashley Stropes Brown, the manager of membership and development events. Originally from Laguna Niguel, California, Ashley has been with the Museums for a little over five years.

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A Holiday Wish List

Are you still searching for the perfect gifts and best deals? Well, look no further! This week is cyber shopping week at the Fine Arts Museums' online store. Shop an array of unique and artful items exclusive to the Museums' online store, where you'll receive 15% off all regular price merchandise and 20% off our entire stock of holiday cards and calendars through Sunday, December 4!

There is a lot to choose from, so we've gathered together the top 5 gift ideas suggested by our knowledgeable Museum Stores staff. There's sure to be something to please everyone on your holiday list.

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FRAME|WORK: An Ancient Egyptian Relief from the Tomb of Mentuemhet

FRAME|WORK is a weekly blog series that highlights an artwork in the Museums' permanent collections. This week, with the holiday shopping frenzy upon us, we feature a depiction of ancient Egyptian gift giving in the Relief from the Tomb of Mentuemhet, currently on view at the Legion of Honor.

Relief from the Tomb of Mentuemhet, ca. 660 BC. Egypt, Thebes. Limestone with polychrome. Museum purchase, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum. 51.4.2

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