After passing over the Golden Gate Bridge, heading into San Francisco, you should definitely take the first right turn. The meandering trail of Lincoln Boulevard is fantastically picturesque, offering romantic views of the sun-kissed bay and presidio, but the road eventually leads to the jewel in Lincoln Park’s crown, and arguably one of the finest museums in California, the Hall of the Legion of Honor.
Constructed to commemorate the fallen soldiers of WWI, the Legion of Honor was designed to mirror the Legion of Honor in Paris, France, and was initially created at the behest of Alma Spreckels, the wife of sugar magnate Adolph Spreckels. The purpose of the project was always to house art, and the Spreckels family donated a huge, impressive collection of work. The donation includes a series of casts of sculptures by August Rodin, many of which were created in the artist’s lifetime and under his supervision.
In the beautiful, column-lined pavilion of the hall, a cast of Rodin’s most famous work, The Thinker, sits proudly, serving as a herald to the millennia’s worth of truly inspired creativity that silently awaits visitors there. The famous piece was originally created as part of a larger series commissioned for a doorway titled The Gates of Hell, which was inspired by Dante’s Inferno from his Divine Comedy. Several more of Rodin’s sculptures intended for the series are included as well in the middle hall of the museum, in the same room as the impressive Spreckels Organ.
Each wing of the museum’s ground floor is lined with stunning paintings and sculpture from the European tradition. The keen eyes of nobility peer out from centuries-old commissioned works, and whether from the 16th century or the 19th, the evocation of the time, place, and personality of the subjects is clear through the aged pigments. Other subjects are biblical scenes, or austere landscapes including provincial towns or bustling cities of ages past.
The Hall of the Legion of Honor was renovated in the 1990s to ensure safety in the event of an earthquake, and the massive project included a huge expansion of the museum’s basement space and bottom floor. The cafe downstairs is a welcome area to take a break from the intensive art gazing and long bouts of standing. The food is top notch and they have a great selection of drinks, and the shady patio area is a relaxing setting to clear the mind.
The downstairs area includes a small but enthralling collection of ancient artwork, including pieces from ancient Egypt—a personal favorite of my wife and I—and other small pieces from antiquity.
The basement also includes two spaces for traveling exhibits. We were lucky to catch the tail end of two exhibits during the first week of January at the Legion of Honor, both Ancient Luxury and the Roman Silver Treasure from Berthouville and Breguet: Art and Innovation in Watchmaking. The former was my favorite, as it displayed incredible silver relics of the Roman era, and included a short video presentation that informed on the metalsmith techniques that made the rare pieces possible.
Though neither of the exhibits are on show there now, they attested to the world-class collections the Legion of Honor is known for. Currently showing are the exhibits Sublime Beauty: Raphael’s Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn and Pierre Bonnard: Painting Arcadia.
The day of sublime art enjoyment ended with a true treat, a concert on the Spreckels Organ. What makes the organ truly remarkable is the fact that it’s a symphonic organ, which essentially combines several different kinds of pipe organs and also includes percussion, such as timpani drums, bells, and even gongs.
The museum closes just after 5 p.m., so visitors who spent the better part of the day at the Legion of Honor immersed in art from across the ages are forced to go and enjoy the rest of the bustling metropolis of San Francisco. Whether you ride the trolley or troll the pier for some sourdough bread, it could never compare to the hallowed hall of art that overlooks the bay from Lincoln Park.
Arts Editor Joe Payne came for the paintings, but stayed for the organ concert. Reach him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 21-28, 2016.
