de Young Museum displays Post-Impressionist art

By Joanne Santomauro

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."

Stated by Vincent Van Gogh himself, this proverb proves true at the de Young Museum's current exhibit: "Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond." Displaying pieces from the Musée d'Orsay in France, the exhibit features masterpieces from various post-impressionist artists like Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Henri de Toulousse.

The de Young Museum, located in the heart of Golden Gate Park, was reopened in 2005, after 1989's devastating earthquake destroyed most of the building. Now, it is one of San Francisco's most visited museums and is the only museum in North America to host this exhibition.

Sophomore Bridget Walsh, a fine arts student, had trouble finding words to describe the exhibit.

"It was overwhelming, but in a good way. It was amazing to see such a small place with so much expression," said Walsh.

On one rainy Sunday, hundreds of visitors flocked to the exhibit's opening to bear witness to these famous post-impressionist works of the 19th century. In fact, due to such high attendance rates, museum guests are encouraged to purchase tickets for the exhibition online, in advance.

Tickets are priced at $20 for adults, $16 for college students with ID, $17 for seniors and $10 for youth.

To accompany each visitor on their walk through the exhibit, the de Young offers audio tours that consist of a personal audio player and headphones. The narrative audio tracks are paired with numbers posted next to each painting, so that every visitor can experience each work to their own liking.

Paintings are grouped by style and artist. The exhibit is arranged around various rooms that wind through the museum, concluding with the Van Gogh paintings, the most popular section. This exhibit attracts a wide range of visitors, from art students and the elderly to curious five-year olds accompanying their parents.

The first room displays a handful of well-known impressionist paintings, like Monet's "Storm off the Belle-Ile Coast." This painting was framed next to Monet's other paintings of nature, like "La Meule." Other featured impressionist paintings include Renoir's "The Bathers," a portrait of women bathing in a garden. "The Bathers" is said to be emblematic of the pleasure Renoir found in painting during his later years. Also featured was Renoir's "A Dance in the Country."

As one progresses counter-clockwise around the exhibit, one will make way into a room filled with Paul Signac's pointillist paintings, which illustrate scenes by the seaside using short brush strokes of bright pigment. Pointillism depends on the eye and mind of the viewer to process small color spots into various tones. The exhibit features paintings like "Port of Saint-Tropez" and "Women at the Well."

Further into the exhibit, visitors encounter pieces by Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gaugin and other post-impressionist painters. Paintings like "Large Still Life" by Picasso, "Seascape with Cow" and "Yellow Haystacks" by Gaguin, and "Still Life" by Cézanne display vivid, distinctive brush strokes-a style that emerged after the creation of many of Édouard Manet's famous impressionist works.

The final artist featured in the exhibit is the most anticipated: Vincent van Gogh. The exhibit features "Starry Night Over the Rhone," "Portrait of Eugene Boch", "Encampment of Gypsies with Caravans," "L'Arlesienne: Madame Ginoux with Gloves and Umbrella," "The Dance Hall in Arles," "The Bedroom," and "Self-Portrait." The room featuring Van Gogh's works was the most crowded of the exhibit. Murmurs of artistic critique and amazement went through the crowd.

"The best part of the visit was looking at all the paintings that I'd usually never be able to see," said Walsh. "I do wish that there had been less people at the exhibit. When I had originally imagined this visit, I saw me, a room, and Van Gogh's paintings. This is not what I expected at all."

The exhibit opened on Sept. 25 and will continue until Jan. 18. For tickets, visit http://deyoung.famsf.org/orsay.

Contact Joanne at jsantomauro@scu.edu or at (408) 551-1918.