San Francisco’s Fine Arts Museums

The de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor Museum are two fine arts museums in San Francisco. With the purchase of one general admission ticket, you will have entry to both museums for one day. With so much art to see, I spent the better part of one day exploring these two incredible museums in San Francisco! Read on to learn more about the amazing art you can see and the logistics of getting tickets, parking, etc. so that you too can explore two inspiring fine art museums in SF. 

It is recommended to get your ticket to the museums online at famsf.org ahead of time. I had no trouble booking mine the day-of, but with special offers on various days and other events, it can get busy. There are a number of different discounts or free admission offers available. These offers apply to the permanent collection. If you want to see something in the special exhibits you will still need to purchase a full price ticket. Two popular free admission programs are free Saturdays for Bay Area residents (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties) and free admission for all on the first Tuesday of every month! You would still get a ticket for this online, but there would be no cost associated with it. Again, there are LOTS of reduced or free admission programs so I absolutely recommend checking out their site for the full list. 

de Young Museum

The first museum I visited was the de Young Museum located at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. You can park on the roads in the park for free (Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Blue Heron Lake Drive, Fulton Street, or the numbered avenues) or there is paid parking in the Music Concourse Garage that is $5.25 per hour during the week and $6.25 on the weekend. The museum also recommends using public transport which does drop off a short walking distance from the de Young museum entrance. 

Copper facade of the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park

The entrance to the museum is in the middle of the long side of the building where you will walk through an arched opening and then a courtyard to find the entrance doors. You can stop at the front desk if you haven’t purchased a ticket already, to check with the information desk for answers to any questions, or to grab your headset for any audio tours you purchased in addition to your ticket. Otherwise you can continue on and your ticket will be checked at the various entrances to the exhibits. You will be given a sticker to wear denoting whether you have access to the special exhibitions or not. Once you get your sticker, you are free to roam around and enjoy the art! 

There are a number of collections including modern and contemporary art; art of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania;  and costume and textiles. There are also special exhibition galleries which is where I started my visit to see “Fashioning San Francisco: A century of Style”. I was very excited to see this exhibit as it prompted my visit to the museum. I opted to add on the audio tour and was glad I did! There were also docents located throughout the exhibit describing the pieces and providing historical information! From the exhibit, docents, and audio tour, I learned so much during my visit and really enjoyed seeing the pieces in person. 

Special exhibition "Fashioning San Francisco: A century of Style"

After viewing the incredible fashion, I headed over to meet up for a docent tour of a collection called “American Beauty” which included paintings by American artists including Georgia O’Keeffe, George Bellows, and Childe Hassam. The docent provided great information and led the small group in conversations about the art. It was fun to be a part of. 

Childe Hassam's "On the Porch", Georgia O'Keeffe collection, and George Bellows "In Virginia"

From there, I walked around to check out the art of Africa and Oceania and down to the main level to check out the modern art including more Georgia O'Keeffe and an incredible photorealist piece of palm trees by Robert Bechtle that caught my eye. 

Georgia O'Keeffe's "Petunias" and Robert Bechtle's"Four Palm Trees"

Before you leave, check out the Hamon Observation Tower. Take the elevators found on the right side of the welcome desk as you enter the museum. Depending on the level of fog, you can see some really cool views of the city. The day I visited was fairly foggy but it was still worth it as I was able to look out over Golden Gate Park and the city.

View of Golden Gate Park from Hamon Observation Tower

As I walked out, I a saw a couple quotes on the glass doors. Being a sucker for quotes I stopped to read them. One was a quote of Faith Ringgold that read:

You can't sit around and wait for somebody to say who you are. You need to write it and paint it and do it.

Legion of Honor

After spending a few hours at the de Young Museum, I headed over to the Legion of Honor. It is a short 15 minute drive between the two. I found parking on the side road, El Camino Del Mar, but there is also a small parking lot across from the museum entrance. 

Legion of Honor Museum

The minute you walk past the large water fountain and through the lawn with symmetrical statues on either side to the grand columned entrance, you will feel transported to Paris! If that's not enough, there is also a Louvre styled glass pyramid in the courtyard entrance to complete the Perisian experience! 

Entrance to the Legion of Honor with Louvre styled glass pyramid

Here there were collections that included statues; 17th to 19th century European art; Medieval, Renaissance, Mannerist, Baroque and Rococo art; porcelains; and what I was most excited about - impressionism and post-impressionism. The impressionist artists included Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, among others. If you are craving a trip to Paris but don’t want to fly across the Atlantic, I absolutely recommend visiting this museum!

Claude Monet's "Water Lilies", "The Grand Canal, Venice", and "The Gorge at Varengeville"

I had a great day doing a solo tour of both the de Young and Legion of Honor Museums. I hope you are inspired to make a trip there whether you are a local going for your first or fiftieth time or you are visiting San Francisco and looking for something to do on your vacation! The next art museum to visit in San Francisco is San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - SFMOMA! 

Helpful to Know: 

• Recommended to book your ticket online in advance. One general admission ticket is good for both the de Young and Legion of Honor. I booked mine the morning of with no problem but availability varies. 

• Both museums are open from 9:30AM to 5:15PM daily except for Mondays when they are closed.