De Young Museum Sprang Into Summer With ‘Bouquets to Art’

Floral designers showed off their artistic talents in the annual summer exhibit "Bouquets to Art" at the de Young Museum. (de Young Museum)

SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco welcomed summer with a burst of vibrant colors and a fragrant scent that led right to the door of the city’s premier museum, the de Young. Spring flora is still blooming but summer flowers are beginning to show off their vibrant colors, all against the backdrop of the world-famous Golden Gate Park.

The change of the seasons was ushered in with thousands of exotic plants and flowers, in masterful designs, to show off one of the de Young’s most popular shows, “Bouquets to Art,” now on its 39th year. Nearly 1 million people have enjoyed the show this year.

Beautiful floral arrangements enhanced the viewing of the de Young Museum's art collection during their "Bouquets to Art" annual exhibit. (de Young Museum)

The de Young once presented only spring shows, but the museum has now celebrated the summer season four times. For around five days each June, the de Young is transformed into a venue for one of the country’s most unique floral shows. Over 100 floral designers—professional, amateur, and garden clubs—create arrangements with flowers and plant material to complement in line, form, color, and texture their assigned works of art from the museum’s collection.

This year, many of the galleries were flooded with natural light, an ideal setting for the brilliant hues displayed in the crop of floral creations. The entryway was a challenge for the floral designers, setting off the opening night gala. Gowns worn for the gala were encouraged to display exotic blossoms for the occasion, and several others were on display at the entrance created by talented textile and floral designers.

Floral designers showed off their artistic talents in the annual summer exhibit "Bouquets to Art" at the de Young Museum. (de Young Museum)

The floral designers were allowed to select five pieces from the museum’s permanent collection of fine art, limited editions ranging from traditional to modern paintings, and sculptures. Based on the art hanging in the museum, based on their design concept, and their seniority, the designers were assigned one work of art to develop their design. These selections were made eight weeks prior to the show, giving the designers time to contemplate the carefully chosen materials.

The Show

The time to assemble the classic floral creations was considered down to the minute. To ensure the organic materials could withstand the warm lights and throngs of viewers daily, the museum was kept at a cooler temperature during the exhibit, but it still required constant vigilance to keep the delicate works fresh. The de Young also took steps to protect the museum’s works of art from any outside infestations from the live plant material.

Floral artists worked closely to give a sense of the line, color, and shape of a work of art. (de Young Museum)

Throughout the week, several of the famed floral designers gave lectures and provided demonstrations of floral design. The designs shown were smaller this year, in part, due to the rise in floral costs and loss of suppliers during the pandemic.

This year, the museum added a trunk show for visitors to purchase exotic bouquets to take home.

The de Young is the designated museum in the San Francisco area for many of the special exhibitions that travel to museums representing fine art, textiles, and sculptures, along with its sister museum, the Legion of Honor.