While the big news in local museum circles is the Tut extravaganza at the DeYoung, Bay Crossings readers are encouraged to check out three other, less-heralded exhibitions recently installed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and the Asian Art Museum.
By Paul Duclos
Published: July, 2009
While the big news in local museum circles is the Tut extravaganza at the DeYoung, Bay Crossings readers are encouraged to check out three other, less-heralded exhibitions recently installed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and the Asian Art Museum.
With the 50th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Robert Frank’s The Americans, SFMOMA celebrates one of this nation’s premier photographers with “Looking In.” Containing more than 80 memorable images, the show represents a body of work that changed photojournalism forever with its innovative techniques. More importantly, though, is how it altered the view many Americans had of their country at a pivotal time in its history. Frank chronicled the early 1960s in a series of harsh and often disturbing shots that capture the racism and class struggles of the Civil Rights era. And it’s not just African-Americans who seem to be suffering; the poor white enclaves of the south and northeast figure prominently in the show as well. The snapshots tell a powerful and compelling story, and one that is not easily digested in one short walk through the gallery.
For a much more tranquil stroll at the SFMOMA, check out “Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities.” This show, organized by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, operates on the premise that the two artists shared a vision of America that could best be expressed through landscape.
Painter O’Keefe, an early feminist and free spirit, uses bold imagery and bright colors in a cold and muscular manner. Adams is far cooler, however, using his medium for high-contrast narratives. Nature for both of them is powerful and often starkly malevolent.
Linking these two disparate artists was the legendary photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who was O’Keefe’s romantic partner and Adams’ mentor. The influence he had upon both of them can be evaluated by the framing techniques shared in several works on display here.
The “natural affinities” of O’Keefe’s “Bear Lake, New Mexico” (1930) and Adams’ “Giant Sequoias, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park” (1954), is indisputable, and credit should be given to the show’s curator for highlighting the works’ commonalities.
“Lords of the Samurai,” at the Asian Art Museum, is more “Tut-like” in that it brings a romantic and highly misunderstood epoch to life. But don’t expect the crush of crowds to descend upon this understated and spare exhibit—its subtle beauty and charm can be taken in at leisure. That does not mean, however, that the artifacts and artwork have any less impact.
The samurai culture was unique in that it celebrated the art of war, along with an equal appreciation of fashion, horsemanship and poetry. Those lacking the ability of master calligraphy, for example, would have a hard time fitting in no matter how well they handled a sword. And how important was the proper conducting of a tea ceremony? For samurai, it meant as much as one’s performance on the battlefield. Premodern Japan is brought to us from the exhibition originating in Tokyo’s Eisei-Bunko Museum. Fans of Miyamoto Musashi will gain a new appreciation of this master swordsman not wholly contained in his wonderful “A Book of Five Rings.”
