At the de Young Museum, San Francisco

Virtually explore the de Young Museum with Smarthistory as your guide

Some background

videos + essays

Link to the de Young Museum's website

David Gilmour Blythe, <em>Justice</em>
David Gilmour Blythe, Justice

The dubious justice of the anti-immigrant Know-Nothings.

Jess, <em>If All the World Were Paper and All the Water Sink</em>
Jess, If All the World Were Paper and All the Water Sink

From the Manhattan Project to nursery rhymes, a collision of art and science.

Aaron Douglas, <em>Aspiration</em>
Aaron Douglas, Aspiration

Aspiration was one of only two panels to survive the Texas Centennial where it pointed to a future that transcended the racism of the day.

Thornton Dial, <em>Blood and Meat: Survival For The World</em>
Thornton Dial, Blood and Meat: Survival For The World

An unflinching memorial to civil rights martyrs by the contemporary artist Thorton Dial

Wayne Thiebaud, <em>Ponds and Streams</em>
Wayne Thiebaud, Ponds and Streams

Can the commonplace working farmland of California's Sacramento River Valley be a place of of breathtaking beauty?

Thomas Hovenden, The Last Moments of John Brown
Thomas Hovenden, The Last Moments of John Brown

Martyr or murderer? John Brown has polarized political opinion from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement.

Masami Teraoka, <em>American Kabuki</em>
Masami Teraoka, American Kabuki

Teraoka draws on Japan's brilliant history of art and kabuki theatre to creating beauty from heart-rending tragedy.

George Caleb Bingham, <em>Country Politician</em>
George Caleb Bingham, Country Politician

Before T.V. and Twitter, politicians talked to voters face-to-face.