2015. The year that was in art.

http://www.examiner.com/article/2015-the-year-that-was-art?CID=examiner_alerts_article

The FAMSF and Guidekick partner to create a mobile app guide to SF

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) has announced their partnership with Guidekick, a start up company that creates pocket sized, mobile app guides. Their first San Francisco based project will be to create a guide to Golden Gate Park, which will include nearly 150 points of interest, The de Young Museum is included as well as the California Academy of Sciences, the Japanese Tea Garden and the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

 Cliff House

 Sutro Baths

The 3-D images look like what you would expect - very sterile but the wealth of history and other info makes this worth a $1.99 download from i Tunes. As it is, people are fixated on their cell phones so they might as well get some real info while they are obsessing at the tiny screen.

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-famsf-and-guidekick-partner-to-create-a-moblie-guide-to-sf

'Houghton Hall; Portrait of an English Country House' at the Legion of Honor

Have you ever dreamed of living in a sumptuous English country estate, being served tea by a liveried footman, going to grand balls and sleeping in 4-poster beds, covered with rare Chinese silk? The current exhibit at the Legion of Honor, "Houghton Hall; Portrait of an English Country House" should satisfy even the most avid lover of Downtown Abbey and of a particular kind of very upper class, very elite English life style.

Houghton Hall brings to San Francisco a wonderful array of objects from one of Britain’s great country houses, and reflects the history of this magnificent estate across nearly 300 years, from the 18th century to the present day. The show features more than 100 pieces from the estate, including old-master paintings from their once-lost collection, Sèvres porcelain, and pieces from the eighteenth-century interiors and furniture designed by William Kent.

More at: http://www.examiner.com/article/houghton-hall-portrait-of-an-english-country-house-opens-at-the-legion

"Phantoms of Asia' at the Asian Art Museum

The new show at the Asian Art Museum is at the top my my Memorial Day Weekend picks but the rest of the shows around the bay ain't half bad either. The "Cult of Beauty," the V&A's tribute to Victorian arts and crafts is still at the Legion while the de Young features several shows, including one showcasing the cutting edge prints of Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg. There is art from Nigeria at the Cantor and SFMOMA is hosting the first of many tributes to the Golden Gate Bridge which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

The red lotus that was just installed in the Civic Center Plaza is the outside symbol of an exciting, exhausting and bold exhibit inside the Asian Art Museum, now located inside the revamped  Beaux Arts building that formerly housed the old San Francisco Public Library.

http://www.examiner.com/article/take-an-art-break-this-memorial-day-weekend

Looking back at the year in art

"God created the Maharajas to provide a spectacle to humanity” wrote Rudyard Kipling, and the Asian did justice to his observation in their next big show, "Maharaja, Splendors of Indian's Royal Courts. There wasn’t an object in the show that wasn't embellished, inlaid with gems and gold, looped with sapphires and diamonds or outlined with pearls.The gaudy display was a reminder that today's 1% aren't alone in ignoring the misery outside their  mansions. 

The FAMSF gave us a feast of European art - from Pissarro to the splendors of the old masters to the subtle skill of 17th century Dutch painting in the Von Otterloo collection. 

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/masterworks-from-the-dutch-golden-age-at-the-legion-of-honor

Pissarro is probably the least well know of the impressionists and the show displayed his humanistic look at family, friends and the working people of the day as well as his political radicalism.

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/pissarro-s-people-at-the-legion

The behemoth blockbuster of the year was the two-museum tribute to the Stein family. Most of us know of Gertrude, the contrary, cantankerous and sometimes charming women who is notorious for saying 'There is no there, there" when referring to Oakland. Using a wealthy of archival material, the show brought to life her and Alice and a multitude of the famous and infamous of the Parisian avant-guard for decades.

 Right across the road, at SFMOMA was an eloquent tribute to the family as art collectors. Seldom have so few bought so much art with so little money. It's difficult to say which is more amazing - the low prices paid for now priceless paintings by Cezanne, Picasso and Matisse or the Steins' (particularly Sarah Stein's) courageous support of art that was then new, provocative and revolutionary.

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/masterworks-from-the-dutch-golden-age-at-the-legion-of-honor

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/the-steins-collect-matisse-picasso-the-parisian-avant-garde-review

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/seeing-gertrude-stein-five-stories-at-the-contemporary-jewish-museum-review

Across the bay, the Berkeley Art Museum hosted two unique shows, the first West Coast exhibit of the work of Karl Schwitters and "Create," a show of art made by artists with disabilities.

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/kurt-schwitters-color-and-collage-at-the-berkeley-art-museum-review

"Create" highlighted the extraordinary contributions of three of the foremost centers for artists with disabilities, all located in the Bay Area: Creativity Explored (San Francisco), Creative Growth Art Center (Oakland), and NIAD Art Center (Richmond, CA).

As I said at the time, "It's really a shame to call them "artists with disabilities" because they are artists first, and mentally challenged second. Yet, to ignore their condition is to make light of the difficulties they face.

Thanks to the lack of a safety net, the disabled roam our streets, beg on the sidewalks, mutter to themselves, are messy, dirty, frightening. They challenge us to define what it is to be human. They test the limits of what we can do, can afford to do, have the will to do. Unfortunately, they can't always communicate how extraordinary they can be, with help, with encouragement, with love and a support system."

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/create-at-the-berkeley-art-museum-review

The MoAD brought us a rare look at original works by Romare Bearden, the vibrant quilts of the Siddis, part of the African diaspora in India and "Textural Rhythms," swing, jazz and be-bop in fabric and thread,

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/soulful-stitching-patchwork-quilts-by-africans-siddis-india-at-the-moaf

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/textural-rhythms-at-the-museum-of-the-african-diaspora-review

The CJM brought us the work and tragic life of Charlotte Salomon, considered among the most innovative artists of mid-century Europe whose work defies categorization, and continues to influence artists in unusual ways.

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/cjm-presents-charlotte-salomon-life-or-theatre-review

In the galleries: Hosfelt bought up a rare look at works by Jay De Feo. Next year, a major traveling retrospective of Jay DeFeo's work, organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, will be presented at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the autumn of 2012.

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/jay-defeo-at-hosfelt-gallery

These are a few of my favorite things from the rich offerings from my favorite city by the bay. But none of this would be possible without the people behind the scenes at the museums. I want to give a shout of thanks to the following: Jill, Robin Wander, Cheryl McCain and Peter Cavagnaro at the Berkeley Art Museum, Libby Garrison and Robyn Wise at SFMOMA. If I left out your name, accept my apologies.