"Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes from Art" at Legion of Honor | March 22 - August 17, 2025

“I believe very much in the tradition that art comes from art and nothing else” —Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud (1920–2021) became famous for his colorful paintings of American confections and buffets. He was also a self-described art “thief,” who openly drew ideas from and reinterpreted old and new European and American artworks. An influential teacher at Sacramento Junior College and the University of California, Davis, Thiebaud never stopped learning. He believed that art history is a continuum that connects artists of the past, present, and future. Highlighting work from across the beloved artist’s six-decade career, this exhibition features Thiebaud’s inventive reinterpretations and direct copies of famous artworks, as well as objects from his personal art collection that inspired him. Approximately 65 quintessential works by Thiebaud — including paintings of people (alone and together); still lives of cakes, tabletops, and other ordinary objects; cityscapes featuring soaring buildings; and mountain landscapes — offer an in-depth exploration of one of the most important and overlooked aspects of his creative practice: his passionate engagement with art history.

"Isaac Julien: I Dream a World" at de Young museum | April 12 - July 13, 2025

Over the last 25 years, pioneering artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien (b. 1960, London) has created immersive, multichannel video installations. Celebrated for his poetic visual narratives, Julien explores power, politics, and personal experience through the lens of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Featuring 10 major video installations made between 1999 and 2022, alongside select early single-channel films including his iconic Looking for Langston (1989), this exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of Julien’s work in a museum setting and his first retrospective in the United States. The works’ themes range from global migration to the collection and appropriation of African artists and art by Western museums to the celebration of cultural figures who overcame racial oppression. Shot across Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, and Asia, Julien’s works untangle the complex web of post-colonial conditions that has shaped the lives of individuals and societies across the globe.

Julien’s Ten Thousand Waves (2010) will be on view in Wilsey Court — one of the de Young’s free public spaces.

"We have a History" by Leilah Babirye at de Young museum through October 26, 2025

This exhibition, the artist’s first solo museum show in the United States, highlights the connection between past and present that is at the heart of our Contemporary African Art program.

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm at the de Young museum through July 6, 2025

Featuring more than 250 personal photographs by Paul McCartney, along with video clips and archival materials, this exhibition offers a behind-the-scenes look at the meteoric rise of the world’s most celebrated band. The images capture the period from December 1963 through February 1964 and the band’s journey to superstardom, from local venues in Liverpool to The Ed Sullivan Show and worldwide acclaim.

Images:

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Legion of Honor and de Young museum

Installation view of Leilah Babirye: We Have a History at the de Young, San Francisco, 2024. Photograph by Gary Sexton

Installation view of Isaac Julien: I Dream a World at the de Young museum, San Francisco, 2025. 

Installation view of Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm at the de Young museum, San Francisco, 2025.

Installation view of Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes from Art at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 2025.