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  • Eleni Kyriacou

THE SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (SFMOMA)

The highlight of my short stay in San Francisco was my visit to the SFMOMA. The museum has recently been refurbished and extended from a 5 floor museum to 7. The architecture of the museum is contemporary as one would imagine. The design plays on the concept of transparency and the illusion of falling!! From fully glazed ‘walls’ overlooking stair cases to mesh and glazed floored bridges that make you frightened to look down!


SFMOMA - Calder

The collection is a jaw-dropper and certainly falls by no means short of the renowned collections of New York. It boasts all the star names in modern art history. I think the artist that stood out for me the most in this particular collection was Roy Lichtenstein. I think this museum has the best pieces by Lichtenstein I have ever seen. There was one in particular that I fell in love with.


Henri Matisse

Matisse


Brancusi

Brancusi


There was also a room of works on paper by Paul Klee that were just delicious. I have always liked Paul Klee but wasn’t very familiar with his drawing and print work. I love his experimentation in cross-hatching as a draughtsman. I found this inspiring. There was also a ‘face of a girl’ piece that was gorgeous (below).



Paul Klee

Paul Klee

Paul Klee

Paul Klee

Paul Klee

The collection also boasts almost an entire floor of Gerard Richter, a very pretty Matisse, a super Brancusi, an ingenious Anthony Gormley, a stunning Max Ernst, an incredibly powerful Rothko and many, many more.

Max Ernst

Max Ernst

Roy Lichtenstein

The Lichtenstein I fell in love with. This piece is comprised of a series of vertical canvases. See detail below.

Roy Lichtenstein

Detail of above work

Roy Lichtenstein

Detail of another Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein

Detail of another Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein

Detail of another Lichtenstein

Andy Warhol

Warhol by Warhol ;)

SFMOMA Collections

SFMOMA Collections

Layered glazed artwork with words - piece varies greatly from different angles

SFMOMA Collections

SFMOMA Collections

I liked the ambiguity in this piece as one could be left guessing if the screens were transparent glass or mirrors. I liked that.

SFMOMA

SFMOMA Collections

SFMOMA Collections

Super work on paper: Leaves are both painting and collage

Alexander Calder

Great Shadows - Calder

Alexander Calder

Elegant Calder

SFMOMA Collections

The museum also houses a vast photography collection.

SFMOMA Collections

A nocturnal photograph of a garden with 'illuminating' flowers!

Anthony Gormley

Anthony Gormley: From certain angles this work is an abstract bush and from others the figure manifests itself. Very clever.

SFMOMA Collections

SFMOMA Collections

Detail of the work above - Avant Garde Impressionism!!

SFMOMA Collections

Op art

SFMOMA Collections

Detail of the work above: The effect of 'crumpled paper' achieved simply by varying the size of black dots!

SFMOMA Collections

SFMOMA Collections

SFMOMA Collections

A very photogenic piece!

SFMOMA Collections

SFMOMA Collections

Detail of works on paper above: Silk and ink!

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