San Francisco, January 2011––John
E. Buchanan, Jr., the director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
announces a diverse roster of upcoming exhibitions in 2011 at the de Young and
Legion of Honor. Dates are subject to
change. For access to the most current schedule
of exhibitions, please consult the FAMSF website www.famsf.org.
Major Exhibitions at the de
Young
Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient
Mexico
February 19–May 8,
2011
de
Young
Considered the
“mother culture” of Mesoamerica and recognized as America’s
oldest civilization, the people known today as the Olmec developed an iconic and
sophisticated artistic style as early as the second millennium BC. The Olmec are best known for the creation of colossal
heads carved from giant boulders that have fascinated the public and
archaeologists alike since they were discovered in the mid-19th century. The monumental heads remain among ancient America’s
most awe-inspiring and beautiful masterpieces today.
Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico, featuring
over 100 objects drawn primarily from Mexican national collections with
additional loans from over 25 museums, is presented at the de Young Museum. Included in the exhibition are colossal heads,
large-scale thrones, and monumental stelae in addition to precious small-scale
vessels, figures, adornments, and masks. Olmec brings together for the first time new finds and monuments
that have never been seen by American audiences and reveals new scholarship on
Olmec culture and artifacts.
Click
here for
images.
Balenciaga and
Spain
March 26–July 4,
2011
de
Young
Balenciaga and Spain examines the
profound and enduring influence of Spain on the work of haute couture master
Cristóbal Balenciaga. The impact of Spanish culture,
history, and traditions is explored through the recurring themes in
Balenciaga’s oeuvre and organized in the exhibition in six sections:
Spanish Art, Regional Dress, The Spanish Court, Religious Life and Ceremony, the
Bullfight, and Dance. Hamish Bowles, the European editor at large for Vogue will serve as guest curator.
Objects are drawn from museum and private collections in France, Spain
and the United States, including the FAMSF
collection.
Click here
for
images.
Picasso from Musée National Picasso,
Paris
June 11–September 25,
2011
de
Young
The de Young hosts
an extraordinary exhibition of more than 100 masterpieces by Spanish artist
Pablo Picasso from the permanent collection of Paris’ world-renowned Musée
National Picasso. The once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, made possible only because
of the temporary closure of the Musée Picasso until 2012 for extensive
renovations, comprises paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints drawn from
every phase of the artist’s career. The works
on view demonstrate the wide range of artistic styles and forms that the artist
mastered, including: La Celestine (1904), from the
artist’s Blue Period; Two Brothers (1906), from the Rose
Period; Expressionist studies for Les Demoiselles
d’Avignon (1907); the Cubist Man with a Guitar (1911),
the Neoclassical Portrait of Olga (1917), the artist’s
wife; the proto-Surrealist Two Women Running on a Beach (1922);
Portrait of Dora Maar (1937), the artist’s
lover and famed French artist; six Surrealist bronze heads of the artist’s
mistress, Marie-Therese Walter; the Head of a Bull (1942)
fabricated from a bicycle seat and handlebars; the bronze Goat
(1950); the six life-size bronze Bathers (1956); and the late
self-portrait, The Matador
(1970).
Click here
for an
images.
African American Art from the Deep South
(working title)
Fall
2011
de Young
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, drawing
upon the extensive holdings of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta,
Georgia, present African American Art from the Deep South,
comprised of approximately 200 paintings, sculptures, mixed media assemblages,
quilts, and drawings, as well as a full-scale re-creation of an artist’s
art-filled yard. The extraordinary artists whose works are represented in
this exhibition, including Mary Lee Bendolph, Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, Joe
Minter, Purvis Young and the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, have diverse
personal biographies, as well as varying degrees of education, art-related
knowledge, and intentions for their artworks. However, they are
representative of a generation of African Americans whose life experiences and
artworks were shaped by the historical legacy of slavery and sharecropping, the
institutions and strictures of “Jim Crow” racism, and the promise
and fulfillment of the modern civil rights movement.
Click here
for an
image.
In the Galleries at the de
Young
Developed and Undeveloped: Photographic
Landscapes
October 9, 2010–March 20,
2011
de
Young
At once powerful
and vulnerable, the natural environment is alternately portrayed as an object of
adoration and a victim of civilization in Developed and Undeveloped:
Photographic Landscapes. The exhibition features a diverse selection
of over 35 photographs of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. From the
pristine western views of Ansel Adams to the scarred quarries of Edward
Burtynsky, the exhibition presents a variety of approaches to framing the
landscape, with scenes of unspoiled wilderness contrasted with sites bearing
evidence of human intervention. In the 19th century photographers played a
decisive role in preservationist movements, and their descendants continue to
shed light on the precarious condition of the planet. Drawn from the
collections of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, the Paul Sack Trust,
and Charles and Diane Frankel, the exhibition also includes works by Mathew
Brady, Carleton Watkins, Robert Adams, Shi Guorui, and Michael
Light.
Rupert Garcia: The Magnolia Editions Project
1991–2011
February 19–July 17,
2011
de
Young
The exhibition
includes approximately 25 prints made by renowned Bay Area artist, Rupert
Garcia, at the presses of Magnolia Editions, Oakland.
Garcia is an artist committed to creating artwork not only as a means of
achieving aesthetic ends, but also as a viable way of addressing social and
political concerns. Through his bold silkscreens and layered pastels and
paintings, Garcia catalyzes discussion and debate in a broad audience about the
pressing issues that have faced the late 20th and early 21st centuries. His
recent editions elaborate on his political concerns as well as addressing his
interest in challenging notions of folk and high art.
For over two decades Magnolia has worked closely with artists to produce
and publish fine art projects, including unique and editioned works on paper,
artist books, and public art.
Bouquets to
Art
March 14–19,
2011
de
Young
For five days,
March 15–19, the 27th annual Bouquets to Art features 150
floral exhibits displayed among the de Young’s permanent collection. The
Fine Arts Museums’ largest fundraiser features floral demonstrations,
seated lunches and teas and a benefit drawing of luxury prizes. This year, Bouquets to Art, sponsored by the San Francisco Auxiliary of the
Fine Arts Museums, celebrates the much anticipated exhibition Balenciaga and Spain. This groundbreaking exhibition will be on view at the de Young Museum shortly after the close of Bouquets to Art. Visit the event website at www.bouquetstoart.org
for additional
information.
Marco Breuer: Line of
Sight
April 2–September 4, 2011
de Young
Marco Breuer is one of the most innovative contemporary artists
working in photography today. He is well known for
using an extensive range of processes to extract abstract and visually
compelling images from photographic materials. Line of Sight comprises a selection of photographs made by Breuer
and placed in dialogue with objects from the de Young’s permanent
collection. Selected and installed by the artist in
a compressed time period of twenty-four hours, Breuer sets up a dynamic exchange
between the works of art, the collecting practices of the institution, and the
viewing habits of museum visitors. This
single-gallery exhibition is part of the Collection Connections program of
Cultural Encounters.
Young at Art
Festival
May 10–May 15,
2011
de
Young
The Fine Arts
Museums of San Francisco and the Visual and Performing Arts Office of the San
Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) proudly unveil Young at
Art, the annual celebration of student creativity in visual, literary, media
and performing arts hosted by the de Young. The festival celebrates the
creativity of all San Francisco students with exhibits and performances at the
de Young and the Concourse Bandshell in Golden Gate Park.
For more information, go to www.youngatartsf.com.
Highlights from the Caroline and H. McCoy Jones Kilim
Collection
(working title)
Fall 2011
de Young
A significant collection of great kilims gifted to
the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco by Caroline McCoy-Jones in 1989 is
showcased in an exhibition of 20 of the finest examples. Presented fittingly in
the Caroline and H. McCoy Jones Galleries at the de Young, the pre-19th century
Anatolian kilims include a variety of design types, regional styles, as well as
superb examples of technical and structural features.
Major Exhibitions at the Legion of
Honor
Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de
Borchgrave
February 5–June 5,
2011
Legion of
Honor
Belgian artist
Isabelle de Borchgrave is a painter by training, but textile and costume are her
muses. Working in collaboration with leading costume historians and young
fashion designers, de Borchgrave crafts a world of splendor from the simplest
rag paper. Painting and manipulating the paper, she forms trompe l’oeil
masterpieces of elaborate dresses inspired by rich depictions in early European
painting or by iconic costumes in museum collections around the world. The Legion of Honor is the first American museum to
dedicate an entire exhibition to the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave, although
her creations have been widely displayed in Europe. Pulp Fashion
draws on several themes and presents quintessential examples in the history of
costume—from Renaissance finery of the Medici family and gowns worn by
Elizabeth I and Marie-Antoinette to the creations of the grand couturiers
Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, Christian Dior, and Coco Chanel. Special attention
is given to the creations and studio of Mariano Fortuny, the eccentric
early-20th-century artist who is both a major source of inspiration to de
Borchgrave and a kindred spirit.
Click here
for
images.
Dutch and Flemish Art Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van
Otterloo
Collection
(working
title)
July 9–October 2,
2011
Legion of
Honor
One of the finest
collections of 17th-century Dutch Old Masters belongs not to a museum, but to
Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, who have been called “the most important
collectors you’ve never heard of.” Masterworks from this collection
are constantly sought after for American and international exhibitions. Now for
the first time the Van Otterloos’ marvelous Dutch Golden Age paintings are
showcased together in an exhibition, debuting in the Netherlands at the
Mauritshuis (the Royal Picture Gallery in The Hague) and then coming to America
and the Legion of Honor. The selection of paintings includes premier examples of
quintessentially Dutch subjects—from portraits and still lifes to
landscapes and charming scenes of everyday life. Collectively these works
chronicle a 17th-century Holland that served as a model for early American
society and culture. Consummate examples of the craft of painting, the works in
the Van Otterloo collection are extraordinary in their beauty and in excellent
condition. Famous artists such as Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Hendrick Avercamp
are featured, as are genre specialists Frans van Mieris and Gerrit Dou, whose
magical Dog at Rest is so typically Dutch in its quiet intense
study of a small dog curled up
asleep.
Pissarro’s
People
Fall 2011
Legion of
Honor
Camille Pissarro
had a unique and lifelong interest in the human figure. From his earliest years
in the Caribbean and Venezuela until his death in Paris in 1903, Pissarro drew,
painted, and made prints featuring human subjects from every walk of life, and
outnumbering the figural works of his colleagues Monet and Sisley. Pissarro’s People celebrates the painter’s humanism in
all its aspects and brings together over 100 works of art including some 50
paintings and numerous works on paper made over the course of Pissarro’s
entire career. Highlights include portraits of the
artist’s friends and family as well as notable genre scenes set in the
fields and marketplaces of rural France.
Pissarro’s paintings of townspeople, peasants, and farm workers
stress their individuality rather than their mythic qualities, which so
preoccupied Millet, his predecessor in the agricultural figural tradition. The cast of characters represented reflects
Pissarro’s equally unique engagement in contemporary political, social,
and economic issues, and reconsiders Pissarro’s people within a rich
contextual
setting.
Click here
for an
image.
In the Galleries at the Legion of
Honor
Arthur Szyk:
Miniature Paintings and Modern
Illuminations
December 4, 2010–March 27,
2011
Legion of
Honor
Arthur Szyk
(American, b. Poland, 1894–1951) is best remembered for his diverse work
as an artist and illustrator, from pochoir illustrations for
traditional Jewish and Polish folktales and religious texts to watercolor
designs for political cartoons that were regularly featured on the cover of
Collier’s magazine throughout the 1930s and 40s. Szyk’s
Polish and Jewish heritage remained central, and his attention to detail
betrayed considerable historical research into his craft.
His work recalls the intricate illumination present in medieval
manuscripts, Near-Eastern miniature paintings, and traditional Polish and Jewish
folk arts. Arthur Szyk: Miniature
Paintings and Modern Illuminations is a presentation of approximately 70
drawings and illustrations.
Click here
for
images.
Marvelous Menagerie: A Roman
Mosaic
April 23–July 24,
2011
Legion of
Honor
First unearthed in
1996 during construction on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway in Lod (ancient
Lydda), Israel, this large and extraordinarily detailed mosaic floor has only
recently been carefully removed from its site and conserved. Found in a
large villa believed to belong to a wealthy Roman, the excellently preserved
mosaic floor dates to about AD 300. Two rectangular end panels flank a
large square medallion. The medallion and one of the end panels contain
depictions of delightful animals and exotic beasts. The remaining panel
portrays a fabulous marine scene filled with a profusion of fish and Roman
merchant ships. This glorious mosaic is in America for a limited
time before it is returned to Israel where it will become the focus of an
archaeological center in Lod. The Fine Arts Museums is one of only four museums
to display this
treasure.
The Mourners: Tomb Sculptures from the Court of
Burgundy
August 21, 2011–January 1,
2012
Legion of
Honor
The Mourners: Tomb Sculpture from the Court of
Burgundy, consists of 39 sculptures from the
tomb of John the Fearless (1342–1404), the second duke of Burgundy. His
elaborate tomb, once housed at a monastery on the outskirts of Dijon, is now one
of the centerpieces of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. The exhibition draws
almost entirely from the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, which,
with the Dallas Museum of Art, is organizing the
exhibition.
Details to come: The Magna Carta
at the Legion of Honor, Spring
2011
