Highlights from Impressionism/Post-Impressionism from the Musee D'Orsay at the DeYoung

Our recent trip to the museum was indeed strange. I had planned ahead and bought evening tickets to the mega-blockbuster impressionism show at the DeYoung, so it'd be less crowded. But we had time to kill yesterday, so we got there early, and I checked in at Will Call for my tickets, only to see a sign saying that the museum was closing at 6pm !! They told us that they had a conflict with another "event" and "didn't you get a phone call"? No, I didn't get a phone call, and besides, don't ALL web ordering databases collect email addresses? pfffshh!

Anyway, we were just glad that we happened to show up early, by mere chance. And after the utterly crowded 3:00pm tour of the show, we headed to Park Chow for some good comfort food. It was almost seven when we headed back toward our car on the other side of the DeYoung, and - it was a ghost town! No "event" in sight.

Well, aside from the bizarre and off-putting experience, here are my highlights:


Paul Gauguin, Seascape With Cow (at the edge of a cliff), 1888


Edgar Degas, Dancers Climbing The Stairs, 1186


Maurice Denis, Homage to Cézanne, 1900


Emile Bernard, Madeleine in the Bois d'Amour, or Portrait of my Sister, 1888


Maurice Denis, Cavalry (Climbing to the Cavalry), 1889


Felix Vallotton, The Ball, or Corner Of The Park with Child Playing With A Ball, 1899

***************

I should mention that there are four paintings by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec which are stunning of course, and easy to spend time looking at because on the opposing walls are the Van Goghs, ie, the crowd-pleasers, the main attraction. At least fifty people at a time crowded around about five Van Gogh paintings, while the other side of the room is empty. I've never seen such a grotesque spectacle!

But, why did the curators of this exhibit choose to put the Van Goghs all in one place? Did they even consider the bottleneck that it would cause, him being pretty much the biggest household name in art, let alone impressionist painting? Sheesh. While I'm at it, I'd like to openly criticize the Legion and DeYoung for their utter addiction to fashion and fashion-related exhibits. At least two per year it seems!