It’s March and San Francisco Fine Art Museum de Young just held the 30th annual exhibition Bouquets to Art. For those who haven’t read my reports in the previous two years, this is an event “when gifted floral designers bring their imaginative interpretations to works in the de Young’s permanent collection.”
While choosing a perfume to wear I thought that it should be something floral – to fit the occasion – but not one of the flowers that might be used in compositions – not to upstage the bouquets. I chose Tom Ford‘s Champaca Absolute. Well… Last year I noticed that many compositions started wilting on the second day of the show. This year many florists chose more resilient flowers for their arrangements: there were many orchids, Flamingo flowers and Bird of Paradise. So even though I haven’t spotted any Champaca there were much more tropical plants and less roses, tulips and irises.
Since it was my third exhibition I especially enjoyed seeing new takes on the same paintings compositions for which I liked (or not) in the previous years. Instead of sending you to view the previous posts I’ll just let you see them all together grouped by each piece of art (though you still might scroll through 2012 and 2013 posts if you want more pictures).
It was a great exhibition. My vSO and I enjoyed it immensely and I already think about the next year event. And how was Champaca Absolute? I got too excited by the chance to wear perfume not in the office environment and applied it too … enthusiastically. So by the time I got home from the exhibition it was just right.
This is one of my favorite bouquets this year:
Would you guess with which of the paintings from the previous years it should be paired?
Images: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
Hi Undina!
I’m glad to hear that you were also having some good time when I was having fun with perfumes at Esxence in Milan! :)
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Well, your experience definitely beats mine: for one, you had more days of yours ;) But mine was much less expensive – both in the short and long runs ;)
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Thanks for reporting on this great exhibition again this year. It’s such a lovely idea.
My guess is Winter’s Festival.
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I’ll do it again next year – or at least I plan to. It’s a very nice event, I wish those flowers could survive for longer.
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I had been thinking about getting out my decant of Champaca Absolute after a long hiatus, and you have just pushed me that bit closer! Great standard of arrangements again – it’s the shapes as much as the colours that are pleasing to the eye. I would go with Winter’s Festival or Woman in the White Dress. ;)
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Ford’s older perfumes are very potent and after anemic perfumes/application I mostly use for the office I went a little overboard – so you’re warned. But other than that – a very pleasant perfume, in my opinion.
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That is such a great idea.. I’m blown away by the beauty of the bouquets and the way they correspond with the paintings. Stunning! I guess it’s Winter Festival too.
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I’m glad I have readers to share these with: it’s such an enormous work, these bouquets are so beautiful and so short-lived that I want to extend it by bringing these pictures, even from previous years.
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What a great idea! Thanks for the wonderful pictures!
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Any time!.. I mean, come back next year :)
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Undina, I’m also going to guess “Winter Festival” as being the match to your favorite bouquet this year. And I can see why it’s your favorite – it’s very painterly in its style (and impressive in what can be accomplished with a white on white on white color scheme). It has a haunting, misty quality about it too.
Thanks for sharing!
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Suzanne, you got it right! That’s exactly how I felt. And the painting is impressive because of the mirror situation: many colors are used to convey the white of winter.
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Each year when you show these I think I should go to the local council and see if they’ll do the same idea. It’s so good.
Portia xx
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It is! I hope one day to read your report about an art-flower exhibition in your part of the world.
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I was thinking the same. Of the many museums of London there must be one that could organise this. I will investigate and shamelessly send requests.
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That white flower arrangement is just stunning! No wonder it was one of your favourite :)
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I’m glad you liked it too :)
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I’d never heard of this exhibit, and it’s a wonder that other museums haven’t tried to do something similar. It seems like a great way to bring attention to the permanent collection. The Chihuly arrangements in orange and blue are particularly striking.
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Some people were actually checking out the art itself. Since we go there every year with these exhibition it’s even more noticeable when there is something new in the permanent collection or if anything has been removed. So I agree that it’s a good way of attracting attention to smaller museums.
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I agree with everyone; I always enjoy this post, and experiencing the exhibit virtually is better than not seeing it at all. That last bouquet is so beautiful. But, I think this year’s “Church Rainy Season in the Tropics” is stunning, and I like the figural ones too. It’s a shame the TF wasn’t a complete hit, it sounds like. I have been the victim of overapplication before, and it is never fun.
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I’m not sure if it’s clear on that picture (unfortunately, it’s either a slide show or a possibility to show a bigger size), but it’s a crystal hanging in the middle of that composition for the Rainy Season.
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I am going with Winter Festival as well, although that choice just seems too obvious. In any case, I love your Bouquets of Art posts. Did you become a member of the museum because of this or were you already a member for other reasons and was pleasantly surprised by the annual show?
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I think it was Picasso exhibition that gave us an idea that it was a good investment: if we pay for the membership we go there much more often then we would have otherwise.
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