The Legion of Honor has two exhibitions up this week, and a third opens on November 21. Between that date and April 4, all three run together, and the timed-entry ticket for Azzedine Alaïa: Sculpting Fashion also covers Miró: Proof Against All, Eternal Paris: Photographing the City of Light and every permanent collection gallery on the day you visit. For neighbors in Sea Cliff, a few blocks from Lincoln Park, the season splits in two. There are four more Saturdays before Alaïa opens, and they are the low-commitment, mostly free version of the museum. After that come about 19 weeks when one ticket opens the whole building.
Three shows, three closing dates
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco set these exhibitions on schedules that only partly overlap, and the closing dates matter more than the openings.
| Exhibition | Run | Where it sits | What gets you in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miró: Proof Against All | July 25, 2026 to July 25, 2027 | Reva and David Logan Gallery of Illustrated Books | General admission ticket |
| Eternal Paris: Photographing the City of Light | September 5, 2026 to April 4, 2027 | Nearly 50 photographs from the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts | Ticket link leads to general admission |
| Azzedine Alaïa: Sculpting Fashion | November 21, 2026 to April 11, 2027 | Lower-level special exhibition galleries and select first-floor European art galleries | Its own timed-entry ticket |
Miró runs well into next summer, so there is no rush. À toute épreuve, the 1958 artist book behind the show, came out of the exchange between the poet Paul Éluard and Joan Miró, and it rewards a slow look on a quiet afternoon. Eternal Paris has the firm deadline. It closes April 4, a week before Alaïa does, and it looks at how photographers of the 19th and early 20th centuries used the camera to shape the Paris most of us picture today.
From November 21 to April 4, a single Alaïa ticket covers everything on view.
The Saturday version, before November 21
On ordinary weekends the Legion opens Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm and closes Mondays. General admission is $25 for adults, $22 for seniors and $10 for students. Youth 17 and under and members get in free. On Saturdays the price changes for anyone from the nine Bay Area counties. Under the museum's free and reduced admission policy, residents of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties get free general admission every Saturday. The museum suggests booking ahead online, and you can verify residency at the door with a driver's license or a postmarked envelope. The Saturday ticket page also lists a limit of four per household and first-come, first-served entry.
That free pass covers the permanent collection galleries, and full special exhibition pricing still applies. Before booking, check the ticket page to see which shows a free Saturday ticket includes that week.
The best reason to go on Saturday comes at the end of the day. Every Saturday at 4 pm the museum holds a free organ concert on the Spreckels Organ. It's free for Bay Area residents, no separate concert ticket is needed, and seating is limited and first-come, first-served. Since the building closes at 5:15, the concert fills the last hour of a free afternoon. Two Saturday programs remain this month, both played by principal organist Jonathan Dimmock:
- Saturday, October 24, "Wild Woods and Distant Shores": Paul Halley's "Outer Hebrides," William Byrd's "The Woods so Wild," Herbert Howells's "Master Tallis's Testament," César Franck's "Chorale in A minor" and William Walton's "Crown Imperial."
- Saturday, October 31, "Phantoms, Heroes, and other Apparitions": Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565," Messiaen's "Apparition de l'Église Éternelle," a John Williams "Star Wars Medley" arranged by Dimmock, Franck's "Pièce Héroïque" and Gigout's "Toccata in B minor."
The Halloween program needs no explanation. On October 31, the Bach toccata on a pipe organ in a museum gallery at 4 pm is a fitting close to the day.
Two more free options don't depend on Saturday. General admission is free to everyone on the first Tuesday of every month, which this season means November 3 and December 1. Every day at 4:30 pm, the Legion opens its permanent collection free to anyone, with no ticket required. Both cover the permanent galleries only, and special exhibition prices still apply. The 4:30 opening leaves 45 minutes before closing. That is enough for one gallery and a short walk outside.
What changes on November 21
Azzedine Alaïa: Sculpting Fashion is the first major US retrospective of the Tunisian-born, Paris-based couturier. According to the museum, it brings together 80 garments, including designs worn by Tina Turner, Grace Jones and Rihanna. The ticket page notes that Alaïa trained as a sculptor before he turned to fashion, made each garment himself from pattern to fitting, and showed collections only when he felt they were ready, outside the usual fashion calendar. The show also includes pieces from his personal collection by Cristóbal Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli and Madeleine Vionnet.
The layout is what makes the show suit the Legion. It fills the lower-level special exhibition galleries and also moves into select first-floor European art galleries, where Alaïa's designs stand alongside works from the permanent collection. A sculptor's approach to fabric, set among the museum's European holdings, is something a separate fashion venue couldn't offer.
The show is timed for entry, and its ticket covers Alaïa, Miró, Eternal Paris and every permanent collection gallery on the day of your visit. The San Francisco Chronicle's exhibition listing gives admission as $10 to $25. Set that against the $25 adult general admission ticket already needed for Miró, and the Alaïa ticket is the obvious choice once the fashion show opens. If you plan one paid visit this season, make it between November 21 and April 4.
Opening day has its own program. At 1 pm on Saturday, November 21, A Conversation on Azzedine Alaïa brings together fashion journalist Cathy Horyn, Olivier Saillard, director of the Foundation Azzedine Alaïa, and curator Laura L. Camerlengo. Since November 21 is a Saturday, opening day also falls on a free general admission day and an organ concert afternoon. That could make it the museum's busiest day of the season, so book the timed ticket early.
The Lincoln Park calendar through December
Most of these dates sit at the Legion. A few are on the trails around it, run by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
- Saturday, October 24, 4 pm. "Wild Woods and Distant Shores" at the Spreckels Organ.
- Saturday, October 31, 4 pm. "Phantoms, Heroes, and other Apparitions."
- Tuesday, November 3. Free general admission for everyone, permanent collection galleries.
- Saturday, November 7, 11 am. Arte en español en la Legión de Honor presents "El Reino Animal" in galleries 7, 14 and 15, free.
- Tuesday, November 10, 4 to 5:30 pm. Lost Cemetery of Lincoln Park, a Parks Conservancy member walk with historian and retired ranger John Martini. It is at capacity, and the Conservancy offers a waitlist contact.
- Thursday, November 12, 10 am to 1 pm. Golden Gate Historic Landscaping and Maintenance at Lands End. The work can include trail maintenance, vegetation removal, native planting and beach cleanup.
- Saturday, November 14, 1 pm. A Closer Look: The Mysteries of a 17th-Century Carved Limewood Panel, a talk on the museum's Grinling Gibbons panel and the conservation research behind it.
- Saturday, November 21. Alaïa opens, with the conversation at 1 pm.
- Tuesday, December 1. Free general admission for everyone, permanent collection galleries.
- Tuesday, December 8. An Elegant Evening in the Court of Honor 2026, the museum's black-tie holiday fundraiser.
- Thursday, December 10, 10 am to 1 pm. A second Lands End stewardship morning with the Parks Conservancy.
If you drive in from the Sea Cliff side, the National Park Service posted an alert on September 6 about construction at China Beach. It warns of lane, parking and access impacts on Sea Cliff Avenue through fall and winter 2026. Check the Golden Gate National Recreation Area conditions page before a Saturday afternoon visit.
Eternal Paris closes April 4, 2027, so a single Alaïa ticket covers all three exhibitions on any visit up to that date.
For many neighbors in Sea Cliff and nearby, the Legion of Honor is part of the case for living where they do. If you're thinking about what your home means to you over the next few seasons, Nob Hill Compass is glad to talk it through. Request a Confidential Consultation whenever the timing feels right.
