The Sonata

Bouquets to Art is the annual floral exhibition hosted by the San Francisco Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museums. Florists, designers and garden clubs are invited to use their considerable imaginations to invent floral interpretations of specific works in the DeYoung Museum's permanent collection, and the floral displays are presented in juxtaposition to the works that inspired them. I have managed to miss this spring tradition for its entire thirty years, and I thought today would be no exception. We were at the museum for another exhibit entirely. But surprise--I got my dates mixed up, and suddenly, thrillingly, we were in huge crowds of milling garden ladies, checking out this fantastic floral homage. Here, Fleur de Vie Exotic Floral Designs has created a violin from succulents and lilies to echo the instrument in the painting The Sonata, by Irving Ramsey Wiles. Other entries ranged from more traditional bouquets to wildly complex structures studded with blossoms, but each piece riffs on a particular artwork, echoing color, line, subject, texture or theme. I found it fascinating to learn that all the materials have to be fumigated before being allowed into the museum, and the flowers cannot be misted, due to their proximity to the paintings. Did I manage to say how excited I was to finally be able to visit this very short-lived exhibit?