The museum originated with the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, a monumental exhibition of technological innovation and artwork. Once the exposition closed, Michael H. de Young, the exposition’s director general, encouraged the park commissioners and San Francisco residents to maintain the Fine Arts Building as a public museum. On March 23, 1895, the newly founded museum opened and exhibited painting, sculpture, and decorative arts; historical objects from across the globe; and a natural history collection.

The de Young Museum is located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. An entire wing of the museum is dedicated to a permanent collection of Oceanic Art. The bulk of this is from The Jolika Collection of New Guinea Art, a stunning collection of over 400 pieces of native Papua New Guinea art donated by Marcia and John Friede. Ownership of the collection came under dispute in the middle of 2008, as both relatives of the Friedes and Sothebys contended that the collection had been used as collateral on loans, but this appears to have been settled. The family were paid using other funds and to pay off the Friedes’ debt to Sothebys, 29 of the nearly 400 or so pieces on display at the museum were sold by the auction house. However, most of the artifacts still remain at the de Young Museum today.