Cult of Beauty

The Legion of Honor is my favorite museum in San Francisco. I like it because it is off the beaten path, has beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge, and is never crowded. There is something incredibly calming about Rodin's Thinker greeting you at the entrance. It makes me pause and appreciate all the beauty around me.

Which leads me to the Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde, a current exhibit at the museum which ends on June 17th. This exhibition traces the evolution and creativity of the British Aesthetic Movement and its impact on fashion and the middle-class home. The art includes painting, handmade and manufactured furnishings for the artistic home and highlights the then-fashionable trends in architecture and interior decoration.

I always take my two children (9 and 7 years old) to art museums when there is a new opening. We bring drawing paper and colored pencils and sit on the floor and copy whatever moves us. We all loved Pavonia and her peacock feathers. I'm forever in love with William Morris and his wonderful wallcoverings. I was thrilled to see an original print of the same fabric that now hangs in my home as curtains.

Fredric Leighton, Pavonia, Photo @ Christie's

The Legion of Honor is the only U.S. venue on the world tour.