bouquets to art

last week i visited the bouquets to art exhibit at the de young museum, which takes place every spring here in san francisco.  for the exhibit a number of floral designers create floral arrangements inspired by selected pieces in the museum's permanent collection. it's always fun to see the designer's interpretations of the different art pieces and there were many lovely arrangements, as usual, but it was CROWDED, also as usual - it's a very popular event!  photographing the arrangements plus the art proved a little trying with all of the people (and the not-so-good lighting in parts of the museum), but i managed to capture some of my favorites and i thought that it would be fun to share them with you.  here we go...

floral arrangement by: cathy boldt // art by: john singer sargent


floral arrangement by: fantasy florals // art by: andy warhol

floral arrangement by: the fine arts museums of sf flower committee // art: eskimo finger mask for storytelling


floral arrangement by: gail emmons // art by: charles green shaw


floral arrangement by: samantha williams // art by: stickley brothers company


floral design by: flower play // art by: john singer sargent


floral design by: ron morgan // art by: nicolas africano


floral design by: yukiko's floral design studio // art by: chiura obata


 floral design by: twigs and stems // art by: dale chihuly

in addition to the interpretive designs there were some really lovely and imaginative pieces in the lobby and the wilsey court areas of the museum.  here are a few lovelies…

garden party by amy romano vassar


by ornamento


by floreal

AND, for the piece de resistance, this stunning design…


pirouette by water lily pond studio

this large piece was made all the more dramatic because it was suspended from the ceiling in wilsey court in front of the infamous strontium by gerhard richter.  

here are a couple of mind blowing details about the design:

~ materials used included: 1500 apple branches, 1500 roses, 300 anthurium and 120 feet of copper tubing.

~ it was 20 feet in diameter, 15 feet high and weighed 800 pounds!

the exhibit is over because, well, cut flowers don't last forever!  but if you find yourself in the bay area this time next year i highly recommend checking it out.

xo, c