Discovering the Elegance of the Legion of Honor Museum in Lincoln Park
Legion of Honor
The Legion of Honor, San Francisco’s most beautiful museum, displays an impressive collection of 4,000 years of ancient and European art in an unforgettable setting overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
Its collections include Rodin’s Thinker, which sits in the museum’s Court of Honor Built to commemorate Californian soldiers who died in World War I, the Legion of Honor displays a collection of more than 4,000 years of ancient and European art and houses the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts in a neoclassic building overlooking Lincoln Park and the Golden Gate Bridge.
History:
In 1924, the Legion of Honor Museum opened in Lincoln Park. Also known as the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, this fine arts museum, dedicated to the memory of California soldiers who lost their lives in World War I, is a three-quarter scale adaptation of the Palais de la Legion d’Honneur in Paris. The building and its initial collections were funded by sugar baron Adolph Spreckels and his wife, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, the museum’s founder. From 1992 to 1995, the museum underwent a major renovation that included seismic strengthening and the addition of six special exhibition galleries, as well as a glass pyramid skylight. During the renovation, Gold Rush-era remains and artifacts from the former cemetery were discovered still buried below the museum grounds
Did you know?
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- The museum’s collection includes over 124,000 works, among which are European paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts, including a significant number of pieces by Rodin, including the iconic “The Thinker.”
- The Legion of Honor features a unique organ concert series, utilizing its Skinner organ to fill the galleries with music, enhancing the visitor experience.
- Within its walls, the museum also honors the soldiers of the Great War, with the Court of Honor displaying plaques and memorials in their memory.
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HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday 9:30 am-5:15 pm, Fridays (March-November) until 8:45 pm, Closed most Mondays and holidays. General admission tickets start at $15 for adults and discounts are available for seniors and students. Youth ages 17 and under are free. Multilingual tours are available.
Free general admission on the first Tuesday of the month.
Special exhibition tickets are available for an additional price. Prices, hours, and programs are subject to change.
Please visit legionofhonor.org for a detailed listing of current and upcoming special exhibitions, events, and educational offerings.
Lincoln Park
A 100-acre park in the city’s northwestern corner offers superb views of downtown, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Marin Headlands. Its main features are an 18-hole public golf course and the Legion of Honor museum, with its fine collections of European paintings, European decorative arts and sculpture — including a series of masterworks by Auguste Rodin — and the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, the largest repository of works of art on paper in the western United States.
Sculptor George Segal’s moving Holocaust Memorial is in a grove of trees across the street from the Legion of Honor.
Hikers can pick up the California Coastal Trail here and travel west along the steep cliffs of Land’s End, in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, to the ocean; or east to Baker Beach and the Presidio.
Visiting the Legion of Honor Museum offers an unparalleled opportunity to immerse oneself in the splendor of art and history, set against the backdrop of one of San Francisco’s most scenic parks. Whether you’re drawn to the masterpieces of European art, the serene beauty of Lincoln Park, or the museum’s architectural grandeur, the Legion of Honor promises an enriching and memorable experience.
