Only in California

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dscf4966FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/8, 1/210 sec, ISO200)

To visit a Museum? On a sunny day? No Way! They are too precious. I would do that only in California.

Like on our first day in San Francisco when we visited the de Young museum located in the Golden Gate park. What a great place!

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With new museums I always experience the same thing: I’m more impressed with the architecture of the building than with the exhibits but I think the reason is simple. The number of great paintings and old masters is limited and they already fill the National Gallery, the Louvre or the likes. So is the package more important than what’s in there? Like with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. I can’t remember a single exhibit but I remember that I was disappointed because I expected more. Not a museum but otherwise the same thing: The Taj Mahal that looks like the most exquisite palace or temple is nothing but a giant tomb.

It’s not that bad with the de Young museum. It’s exhibitions are definitely worth a visit but I’m still more impressed by the architecture and the perspectives you get in some of the rooms. It is all about scale and open space. Unlike the old museums in Europe that are packed with paintings here the art has room to breathe. It’s a great experience.

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In one of the biggest rooms at the end of the museum there even is a painting from an Austrian artist: Gottfried Helnwein. Like many great artists his work is controversial but impressive and it made me happy to see that he got the room here that he deserves. I should have included some people in the room but to give you an idea. His painting (the one on the left) is 2 meters high and 3 meters wide.

A great museum and a great start into our vacation after Presidio and the Japanese garden.

PS: As always in museums I almost exclusively shot with my Fuji XF 14/2.8 R. Still the most important lens in my collection.

dscf5071FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO1600)