Paley’s Taste for Modernism Coming to de Young

A selection of major works from The William S. Paley Collection at The Museum of Modern Art, New York will soon be on view at the de Young in San Francisco.  The William S. Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism  is particularly rich in the works of Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse, with significant works by Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, Georges Roualt, and Andre Derain. Among the pieces offered are Gauguin’s The Seed of the Areoi (1892) from the artist’s first visit to Tahiti, Degas’ large-scale pastel and charcoal Two Dancers (1905), Picasso’s celebrated monumental painting, Boy Leading a Horse (1905–1906), Derain’s vibrant Fauve paintingBridge over the Riou (1906), and Matisse’s Odalisque with a Tambourine (1925–26). Paley was founder and force at Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). His art patronage, showcased during parties held in his palatial 20-room apartment on Fifth Avenue, projected an aura of cultural sophistication comparable to that cultivated by New York’s social elite.