Culture Shenanigans

Over the weekend, Sheeb and I decided a museum trip was in order... It had been a while since we'd exposed ourselves to some honest-to-God culture and we had heard a few people at work talking about the Matisse show at the Legion of Honor, soooo away we went!

We are frugal little city girls so of course we took the bus...

I think this was my (embarrassing) attempt at an artsy pic?

I'll call it... "City Shoes"

What's a bus ride without a selfie or two?

(Answer: Boring)

SF has generally been getting some good weather lately! Although you wouldn't know it from these pics... This part of the city is known for being almost permanently shrouded in shade...

Cool sky, though!

After a long (yet scenic) walk up to the Museum, we were faced with this...

Oh, Legion of Honor, you're quite the stunner!

Before walking inside, we explored the grounds a bit...

(My exploring face)

Ok, in we go!

He's so pensive, that 'Thinker'!

A mini Louvre-esqe pyramid...

SF MoMA is currently closed down for a major three year renovation and in the meantime, their permanent collection is scattered around the city...

We weren't supposed to take any photos, which I found to be just rude, annoying and inhibiting... So I did my best...

Woman with Green Eyes...

I love her! Supposedly she has green eyes because she's crazed from absinthe!

The Joy of Life...

Something I can truly relate to :)

Portrait of Leo and Gertrude Stein's sister-in-law, Sarah Stein...

Sheeb, being all Sheba-y...

An angry looking little bronze man...

Then we went to go check out some of Matisse's works on paper...

In 1940, an author named Henry de Montherlant, posed for a portrait by Matisse and used the sessions to propose a collaboration. Matisse had admired H. de Montherlant's dramatic new version of the Pasiphae myth and chose this story for the project. Pasiphae is a story about the birth of the minotaur... King Minos refuses to sacrifice a handsome white bull to the sea god, Poseidon, so he punishes the king by cursing his daughter, Pasiphae, to fall in love with the bull. Pasiphae mates with the bull and the minotaur is born! The story is about passion, love and feminine beauty. For each scene of the story, Matisse chose his favorite phrase by the author and interpreted it in a black and white linocut...

Right outside the Matisse works on paper was this beautiful crown of laurel leaves! It looked so beautiful in the most elegant and dainty way. Not to mention, it appears to have been perfectly preserved... Stunning!

Quick stop for a "Versailles selfie" and a snap of a GORGEOUS chandelier that will one day have a replica in my home...

We then found ourselves in a large cavernous room that housed a Rodin sculpture gallery...

For anyone who has been around life-sized sculptures, you can probably relate to the temptation to mimic them...

This is my impression of Alanna's first attempt... She just had it all wrong!

This one provided quite the challenge...

Ok, enough goofing around...

We then ventured into a large gallery of various 18th century English and French porcelain..

While I was busy admiring, Alanna gave me a little lesson in Sèvres porcelain...

The green wine cooler below came from the famed Sèvres factory... Sèvres is a little town in France, where the factory set up shop with the financial help of Louis XV - His mistress, the Marquis de Pompadour was a big fan of the porcelain and the factory became a royal factory as a result. Later, Marie Antoinette was also known to love the porcelain and had various vases and tea-ware commissioned for her many different apartments... (She's no ordinary Sheba, she really knows her stuff!)

Quite exquisite little works of art, aren't they?

I'm not sure where these little Rococo -style peeps came from, but I love them! He clearly just complimented her (rear end?) and she's playing hard to get. You go, girl; everyone knows you gotta keep those pesky boys guessing!

Sadly, the flirty little porcelain people marked the end of our day at the museum...

I wish I could tell you what was so funny, but I have no clue... Thankfully, Sheeb was there to capture it, though!

It was such a fun little adventure! And it reminded me of how much I LOVE going to museums and surrounding myself with beautiful art and history! It simply must be done more often. xo