Museums

Painting of the Day: Rodin's "Thinker" in front of The Palace of the Legion of Honor.

Click here to bid on this painting.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit the Palace of the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco. The show on view was a collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings belonging to Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo. They are the most important collectors you’ve never heard of, so they say.

The exhibit was fascinating. The selection of paintings included premier examples of quintessentially Dutch subjects—from portraits and still lifes to landscapes and charming scenes of everyday life. Collectively the works chronicled a 17th-century Holland that served as a model for early American society and culture.

The detail in the paintings was insane. For example, on a still life of a glass vase with tulips, you could see a reflection of a window on the vase. In that reflection you could actually see what was outside the window.  My eyes are crossing just thinking about it.

We saw this beautiful painting of a sleeping dog by Gerrit Dou (1613-1675). Again, the detail was amazing. Especially when you realize the painting is only 6” x 8”. See the flea above his right ear? JK.