Museum in the City - Friday Nights at the De Young and the Boticelli to Braque exhibition

Art and alcohol on a Friday night? Oh yeah. It happens at San Francisco's De Young Museum. 

Mijo and I went there on Friday and we were in for a treat. There was a special exhibition called Boticelli to Braque Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland and live music. The best way to spend Friday nights!

Mijo and I didn't have any plans on a Friday evening so we decided to go to the De Young Museum to see their new art exhibit called Boticelli to Braque Masterpieces from National Galleries of Scotland. The museum stays open until 8:30pm on Fridays. I am not sure if this happens every Friday nights, but there were live music, cocktails and some other hands on activities happening that evening.

I missed the Keith Haring exhibition at the De Young the last time but here's a new sculpture by Keith Haring called Three Dancing Figures.

I saw a group of people walking in intricate Period clothing so I decided to take this shot with them in the background.

I saw more people in Period outfit so I started to think that Mijo and I might have missed the memo about going to the museum in costumes. The costumes are indeed very pretty upclose.

Mijo and I got to the museum a little after 4:30pm and we were scheduled to view the Boticelli to Braque exhibit at 5:15pm. We had time to chill out, relax and enjoy the live music. Mijo and I decided to get their featured cocktails. Mijo sampled their Vodka Cucumber cooler which consisted of vodka cucumber, mint, lime juice, and simple syrup. I had their Dark 'N' Stormy which had dark rhum and ginger beer on the rocks.

 

I thought it was cool to enjoy our cocktails at a museum while watching a live foot stomping Scottish music performance called Trio of One Fiddler by Michael Mullen. It is a good combination of music and technology where he uses a machine called looper. He starts with one instrument and then plays it back while adding another layer of instrument into the song. It is quite enjoyable to listen to a single musician and sounding more like an orchestra.

   

The Boticelli to Braque exhibition featured fifty-five paintings from the National Galleries of Scotland. Here are the ones that are either my favorites or compelling.

The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, 1795
Oil on canvas
by Sir Henry Raeburn
  

 

The Ladies Waldegrave, 1780-1781
Oil on canvas
by Sir Joshua Reynolds

 
Venus Rising From the Sea (Venus Anadyomene)
ca. 1520-1525
Oil on canvas
by Tiziano Vecellio (called Titian)

   

An Allegory (Fabula)
ca. 1585-1595
Oil on canvas
by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (called El Greco)

   

Poplars on the Epte, 1891
Oil on canvas
by Claude Monet

   

(left) Guitar, Gas-jet and bottle, 1913
Oil, charcoal, tinted varnish and grit on canvas
by Pablo Picasso

(right) Mother and Child, 1902
Oil on paper laid on canvas
by Pablo Picasso

   

Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1892
Oil on canvas
by John Singer Sargent

The museum is packed on a Friday night. The crowd was upbeat and was a mix of people wearing costumes and people like Mijo and I who look plain in our urban clothing. I feel like my creativity shoots up when I am rubbing elbows with people who appreciate art.

   

The museum store was beautifully decorated as well and featured giant wall posters of the Skating Minister and The Lady Agnew. I tried looking for postcard of these two paintings so I have something to bring home with me from this event but I guess they were sold out.

   

I took a picture of this painting by Geogia O'Keeffe and Vibered it to my sister because she did not know this painting nor Georgia O'Keeffe.

   
Petunias, 1925
Oil on hardboard panel
by Georgia O'Keeffe

Mijo and I also dropped by the African section of the museum to kill time.

   

   

We decided to make our way out of the museum when we chanced upon these bag pipers near the men's room.  They are a local bagpipe band called the Prince Charles Pipe Band.

   

We decided to stay and watch their performances.

   

   

Friday Nights at the De Young Museum is one of a kind! Thanks De Young!

 ~rl