Origins
The West Coast of the United States was first a theme illustrated by artists, before becoming the crucible of pictorial schools. We could even speak of the mythology of the American West. On the one hand, the romantic landscapes it inspires are part of the young America's quest for identity. On the other, the conquest of the West was revisited by painters such as George Catlin (1796-1872), who set out to create an Indian museum. A portraitist of the American bourgeoisie, in 1828 he decided to concentrate on Native American civilizations. Over the course of several expeditions, he documented the daily lives of these peoples. His abundantly detailed genre scenes depict clothing, weapons, body paint and customs in the vast landscapes of the Far West. This quasi-ethnological documentary work was continued by other painters and photographers trained in Europe. San Francisco's De Young Museum boasts the most comprehensive collection of American art of its kind, spanning the 17th century to the present day. Located in the heart of Golden Gate Park, this renowned museum encompasses art from every continent. More than 27,000 works make up a national treasure trove that is a must-see in more ways than one. Its photography department traces the history of photography in America and Europe.
Photography
Photography is one of the arts in which Northern California has excelled. Particular mention should be made of two San Francisco-born artists: Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams. Dorothea Lange is a photojournalist best known for her images of the Great Depression following the crash of 1929. Ansel Adams, on the other hand, devoted his entire career to defending nature in his native region. His tool of persuasion: photography. He showcased the majestic beauty of Yosemite Park in particular, but also of the Pacific coast and Big Sur. In 1945, he founded the photography department of the San Francisco Art Institute, the region's first program dedicated to photographic art. Today, you can visit the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite and take part in a photography session.
Wall art
The most influential of the muralists, Mexican painter Diego Rivera visited the San Francisco area in November 1930 with his wife Frida Kahlo, at the request of architect Timothy Pflueger. He painted his first two murals at the Stock Exchange Tower (now The City Club of San Francisco) and at the San Francisco Art Institute. His energy combined with the allegory of the Bay largely intrigued and inspired the local artist community, even after his departure. Four years later, it was his disciples who painted the murals on the Coit Tower. Some twenty local artists, led by Victor Arnautoff and José Moya del Pino, responded to government commissions as part of the Work Projects Administration (WPA). Other examples include the frescoes painted by Lucien Labaudt in 1936 for the Beach Chalet Brewery in Golden Gate Park. The Rincon Center is home to frescoes by Russian immigrant Anton Refregier, depicting the history of California.
In 2021, a project to sell Rivera's work from the San Francisco Art Institute, The making of a fresco showing the building of a city (1931), takes shape. Estimated at over $40 million, the sale would save the institution from ruin caused by the pandemic. The art community was up in arms, demonstrating the extent to which the work was an integral part of San Francisco. The story ends with the sale of the art school, including the fresco that will continue to be exhibited there, to Steve Jobs' widow.
In other Rivera news, his gigantic 23-meter-long fresco Pan American Unity, painted in 1939 on panels (and therefore transportable), has temporarily left City College of San Francisco in 2021, while a new space is created to house it. After a stay at SFMoMa, the work was returned to the school in 2023.
Bay Area Figurative Movement
The "San Francisco Bay Figurative Movement", also known as the San Francisco School, was active in the 1950s-1960s. It was initiated after the Second World War by artists who proposed a figurative alternative to the then-dominant abstract expressionism. Their approach was supported by institutions such as the San Francisco Art Institute. Three generations of artists can be distinguished. The First Generation includes abstract painters David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, Wayne Thiebaud and James Weeks. By the end of the 1940s, abstract art was being produced by many visual artists. However, the idea of completely abandoning the subject of their work did not convince them. In 1950, the Californian David Park surprised us with his painting Kids on Bikes, revealing his subjects while remaining abstract. Two other generations followed: the Bridge Generation (Henrietta Berk, Paul Wonner, Nathan Oliveira, among others) and the Second Generation, which brought together students from the first generation.
After completing his studies in Mexico, Richard Diebenkorn once again became one of the movement's leaders in 1955. A painter of abstract expressionism, he gradually abandoned abstraction for figurative art. One of his best-known works is his Ocean Park series of paintings, begun in 1967 and completed in 1988, which made him internationally famous. Born in Portland, Oregon, in 1922, and deceased at the age of 70 in 1993, he remains an icon and symbol of the Bay Area Figurative School.
This trend was part of a vast movement, dubbed the San Francisco Renaissance, which swept through all fields of creation between 1945 and 1960. Initially felt in poetry and literature, this renaissance took the form of readings held in art galleries, the most famous being the Six Gallery, which launched the Beat Generation. It involved jack-of-all-trades like the poet and painter Harold Martin Silver, known as Jack Micheline (1929-1998). A close friend of street artists and theunderground, he drew to music and transcribed blues and jazz into paint. At the time of his death on a train, his murals were on display at San Francisco's Abandonet Planet Bookstore.
Photorealism
A movement of the 1960s and 1970s still in practice today, the term photorealism was coined by Louis K. Meisel in 1969. Its birth was inspired by the Pop Art and Minimalism movements, both of which originated in New York. Photorealism paintings and sculptures are sometimes referred to as hyper-realism, new realism, sharp-focus realism and super-realism. Today, the practice of this movement is to bring out human details and expressions to convey emotions or even political messages. A fine gallery of paintings and sculptures from this artistic movement is on display at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Photorealism originally emerged as a response to abstract art. That's why the movement is based in California, where abstract art was left behind. One of the reasons for this is the beauty of the landscape and the uniqueness of California, where so many subjects and actions were born. The desire to convey the images as they are, in as real a way as possible, is sought in order to puzzle, make the viewer think, even shock. Ralph Goings and Chuck Close are two of the most renowned artists of this style, and are both exhibited at SFMoMA, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Current street-art
Today, street artists gather in the Mission District. The Latino tradition is palpable in these colorful streets, worthy heirs of the great muralist Diego Rivera. More than 600 murals can be seen everywhere. The two main streets are Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley.
Here, the walls began to be transformed into public canvases around 1985, when artists demonstrated in defense of human rights, which they felt were being violated in Central America. This uprising gave rise to humanist-oriented creations, concentrated around Balmy Alley. Since 1992, the CAMP or Clarion Alley Mural Project has been open to all causes and aesthetic trends. Inclusive, the association is at the origin of exchanges and initiatives involving hundreds of street artists.
Outdoor course
One of the world's leading museums of contemporary art, the sublime San Francisco Museum of Modern Art(SFMoMA) spans all currents (including Frida Kahlo, Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol) right up to the present day. After this whirlwind from room to room, exploring San Francisco is an opportunity to discover a hundred outdoor sculptures.
In the Sculpture Garden at the Recology Center (501 Tunnel Avenue), artists bring abandoned objects back to life as part of the AIR (Art In Residence) program. Artists are invited to draw from the city's recycling center to redefine art in relation to the environment. As early as 1992, Joseph Johnson, director of the waste management center and an artist, fiercely defended this project. Today, the park covers more than a hectare and is home to some forty sculptures.
At the heart of Embarcadero Plaza, the sculpture by Armand Vaillancourt (also a Quebec activist) known as Fontaine Vaillancourt is the subject of controversy. The first time, a few hours before its inauguration in 1971, its creator inscribed in red the claim Québec libre! Later, in front of a large audience, singer Bono climbed it to inscribe "Rock & Roll stops the traffic", to affirm the power of music!
Not far away, Cupid's Span is planted in the lawn of Rincon Park. Cupid's Span is the work of sculptors Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen. With its 18-metre height and red tip, it can be seen from afar.
Lawrence Argent reinterprets the Venus de Milo in the Piazza Angelo (Trinity Place). His Venus emerges from a silver propeller almost 30 meters above the ground.
San Francisco has collected one of the twenty copies of Rodin's The Thinker, installed in front of The Legion of Honor museum. Donated to the city in 1921, the bronze statue of the meditative man was originally commissioned as a portrait of Dante meditating on his poem at the Gates of Hell.
In another register, Master Yoda spreads his wisdom at the heart of a fountain erected in front of the Letterman Digital Arts Center.
The musical Wave Organ, designed by Peter Richards and George Gonzalez in 1986, is activated by the sound of the surf. Its organ pipes arranged around the sculpture translate the movement of the tides into music. At the heart of the bay, in the Marina district, it takes on its full charm at high tide.
The hearts that dot the city of San Francisco are part of a project initiated in 2004. The project resulted in 130 hearts, various sculptures created to benefit the city's hospitals. A dozen are now permanently installed, including Tony Bennett's heart in Union Square, America's Greatest City by The Bay.
