Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco: Institution Main

Comprised of the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, FAMSF is the largest public arts institution in San Francisco, as well as one of the largest art museums in the United States.

The de Young Museum began in 1894, in the Fine Arts Building designed and constructed for the California Midwinter International Exposition, with its newest home, a building designed by the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, having opened in 2005.

The Legion of Honor Museum opened in 1915 in an adapted replica of the Parisian Palais de la Légion d’Honneur, dedicated to the memory of the 3,600 Californian soldiers who died in WWI. Between 1992 and 1995, the Legion underwent major renovations, strengthening it against seismic disturbance and an underground expansion of approximately 35,000 feet.

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A list of ongoing and planned exhibits at the de Young Museum, these are listed chronologically by start date. They also include links to descriptions about each exhibit. The Legion of Honor Museum has a similar page for its own exhibits.

Similar to the Current & Upcoming Exhibits page, this page lists exhibits previously shown at the de Young Museum in in reverse chronological order by end date. The Legion of Honor Museum has a similar page for its own past exhibits.

These after-hour events include live music, dance and theater performances, film screenings, panel discussions, lectures, exhibition tours, and more.

The Multimedia page is comprised of links to pages that further describe and explore some of the collections and works at both the de Young and Legion of Honor museums. These pages include a short video showing the results of work done on Konishi Hirosada's Portrait of the Actor Mimasu Daigoro IV.

Both the de Young and Legion of Honor museums provide images for a variety of purposes, including commercial or scholarly publications. They do charge fees to offset the cost of this service.

A place where people go to look at textiles held by the de Young museum.

Available for study either on an individual or group basis, the Achenbach Foundation provides a collection of over 90,000 works of art on paper. These include prints, drawings, photographs, and artist books. These can be viewed with advance notice at the Legion of Honor Museum. For reservation information, please email achenbach@famsf.org.

Adjoining the Bowles Porcelain Gallery on the lower level of the Legion of Honor Museum, this room houses the museum's collection of ceramics not on display in the Porcelain Gallery. These works include examples of English, French, and German pottery and porcelain, as well as Chinese export wares. There is also a small group of items available to be handled by visitors.