The de Young is one of two museums functioning under the administration of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. It is the central museum of the city of San Francisco. Founded in 1895 in Golden Gate Park on the site of the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition as the Memorial Museum, it was later renamed in honor of newspaper publisher M. H. de Young, who was instrumental in its founding and development. The museum was badly damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and was subsequently demolished. A new, state-of-the-art building designed by the noted Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron opened on the same site in October of 2005 with tribal and ancient art as a major focus.
The incomparable Marcia and John Friede Collection of New Guinea art is the centerpiece of the new museum. More than 400 spectacular objects from this vast island are beautifully installed. Works include a monumental male figure from the Biwat culture that has been radiocarbon dated to the early eleventh century; a towering Sepik hook formerly in the collection of Surrealist artist Roberto Matta; a rare Torres Strait mortuary mask made of turtle shell and cassowary feathers; and a dramatic middle Sepik dance costume with attached clan masks. The Oceanic gallery also features spectacular woodcarvings from Polynesia and Micronesia, including a monumental figure from Nukuoro. Indonesia’s Outer Islands are highlighted with masterpieces from the Kuhn Collection.
A large gallery dedicated to African art represents more than eighty cultural and ethnic groups and celebrates the striking cultural richness and diversity of this remarkable art form. Highlights include one of the oldest known Dogon wood sculptures in existence (AD 1200), a nail figure from the Kongo collected at the turn of the twentieth century by the ethnographer R. Visser, a menacing seven-headed bush spirit from the Ijo people of Nigeria, and a splendid metallic textile reminiscent of traditional Kente cloth by contemporary artist El Anatsui.
The Native American galleries contain extraordinary examples of the arts of the Americas (Maya, Teotihuacan, Gulf Coast and Central Mexico, Central America, Andean) which were intended for the glorification of gods or kings. Works from Mesoamerican and Andean cultures date from 2000 BC through mid-sixteenth century AD and include the largest and most important group of Teotihuacan wall murals outside of Mexico, which were bequeathed to the museum by Harald Wagner. A remarkable Late Classic Maya Stela of a regalia-laden queen dating to AD 761 is prominently displayed at the entrance to the gallery. Its acquisition was made possible by the late Phyllis Wattis, who was a major donor for all parts of the AOA collection. A monumental Olmec stone head presides over a gallery displaying exquisite West Mexico ceramics from the Lewis K. Land Collection. Elegant Maya ceramics from the Gail and Alec Merriam Collection are also featured in a special gallery.