The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco present Modernism from the National Gallery of Art: The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection, an exhibition of 46 paintings and sculptures by many of the leading figures in postwar American art.
By Paul Duclos
Published: July, 2014
Among the featured paintings will be Stella’s Flin Flon IV (1969), Jasper Johns’ Perilous Night (1982) and Roy Lichtenstein’s Painting with Statue of Liberty (1983). A centerpiece of the exhibition will be Barnett Newman’s The Stations of the Cross: Lema Sabachthani (1958–1966), a cycle of 15 paintings which will be presented in a dedicated room and experienced as the artist intended—as a single work in an intimate, contemplative space. A film of Newman discussing this work will be screened in the media room near the Herbst Exhibition Galleries.
“The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s longstanding relationship with the National Gallery of Art has enabled numerous works from the nation’s capital to be shown in our city,” said Colin B. Bailey, director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “Over the course of 50 years, Robert and the late Jane Meyerhoff assembled an unparalleled collection, and this marks the first time that a significant portion of it has been displayed outside the Baltimore-Washington area.”
In the late 1950s, the Baltimore-based real estate developer and philanthropist Robert E. Meyerhoff and his wife, Jane Meyerhoff, began collecting works by artists who rose to prominence in the wake of World War II. Over time, the Meyerhoffs also focused on the generation of artists who followed the abstract expressionists—Johns, Kelly, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg and Stella—all of whom became close friends of the couple.
By the 1990s, the Meyerhoff Collection had expanded to include the rising cohort of artists who sought to reinvigorate the practice of painting in the postmodern era, such as Eric Fischl, Nancy Graves, Brice Marden, David Salle and Terry Winters. Seen together, the works in this exhibition allow visitors to explore deeply the visual and intellectual concerns that have defined American art since the middle of the 20th century.
Victoria Colella, a remarkable artist, cultural guide and author, has just released the third edition of her engaging book, The Sausalito Wooden Boat Tour. Now available in limited edition, it contains nearly 100 pages of color photos and illustrative works done in Colella’s own studio.
While this slender volume serves as a splendid guide to this quirky harbor community, it also contains substantial scholarship and information missing from more sober historical accounts.
“After leading tours on the Sausalito waterfront for 10 years, I’ve developed a unique perspective,” Colella writes. “Wooden boats and historic vessels lead the way with an expanded overview of Sausalito’s nautical history and wooden boat heritage. More attention is given to the historic houseboat communities, the master mariners boats and highlights of downtown Sausalito. There is an updated directory of Sausalito marine services, better maps and finally the history of the Sausalito waterfront in song, ‘The Sausalito Sea Chanty.’”
The cover of the book is a mural Colella painted for Clipper Yacht Harbor illustrating traditions of the sea being handed down from one generation to the next. It depicts tug captain Harold Sommers showing the ropes to his grandson, Andy. Sommers was also famous for his restoration of The Wanderbird.
Colella also writes with great animation about the Trident Restaurant, which many remember as a watering hole for the counterculture in the 1970s. Janis Joplin had her own table here, and when she wasn’t tossing back Southern Comfort, she enjoyed the house specialty: the Tequila Sunrise.
Here’s the recipe, as recalled by a former bartender:
Paul Duclos is the author of Flags of Convenience. Signed copies are on sale at the Bay Crossings store located in the center of the Historic San Francisco Ferry Building.
