5 Must-See Art Exhibitions in San Francisco This Summer

San Francisco is known for its artistic take on just about everything. Well, these museums epitomize the vast range of unique creations we have at our fingertips, from impressionism to modernism and everything in between.  Whether you’re a local or just visiting, you cannot miss these must-see art exhibitions in San Francisco this summer!

Asian Art Museum – Gorgeous

Through September 14

Gorgeous
Gorgeous
As Allison Harding, co-curator of Gorgeous, puts it, “This isn’t about what the museum thinks. This is about what you think.” This unique exhibition presents 72 unique artworks drawn from the collections of the Asian Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Some artworks may be beautiful to you; others, bizarre and challenging. Some may be all three. Whatever they are, your reactions to the show will be unique.

Sorokko Gallery – Donald Sultan: A Decade of Paintings and Drawings
Extended through July 31, 2014

Donald Sultan, Red Poppies Dec 3, 2013  Source: artnet.com
Donald Sultan, Red Poppies Dec 3, 2013 Source: artnet.com

Sorokko Gallery is known for curating multidimensional and textured art that seem to come to life as you observe it. San Francisco is very lucky that the Donald Sultan exhibition has been extended to the end of July. Sultan is recognized for elevating the still-life tradition through the deconstruction of his subjects into basic forms and the use of industrial materials. This collection of over 20 original works includes an unveiling of new paintings and classics from the past decade, and marks the first time Sultan has shown in San Francisco in over 20 years. 

Legion of Honor – Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art

Through August 3, 2014

L: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Madame Henriot, ca. 1876. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, gift of the Adele R. Levy Fund, Inc. R: Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit, ca. 1900. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, gift of the Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman  Source:  https://legionofhonor.famsf.org
L: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Madame Henriot, ca. 1876. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, gift of the Adele R. Levy Fund, Inc. R: Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit, ca. 1900. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, gift of the Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman Source: https://legionofhonor.famsf.org

On view at the Legion of Honor through August 3, 2014, Intimate Impressionism showcases approximately 70 Impressionist and Post-Impressionist landscapes, seascapes, still lifes, interiors, and portraits from the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Eugène Boudin and Johan Barthold Jongkind’s plein-air practice inspired artists including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Alfred Sisley.

Caldwell Gallery – Turn on, Tune in, Drop Out Sculpture by David Buckingham

Through August 6

David Buckingham: YOU TALKIN TO ME  Source: jonathanferraragallery.blogspot.com
David Buckingham: YOU TALKIN TO ME Source: jonathanferraragallery.blogspot.com

David Buckingham’s provocative art begins in the California desert where he scours remote landscapes for what he calls “beautiful, battered metal, material that’s had a previous life and the scars to prove it: old tractors, hay balers, cotton pickers, rice threshers, school buses.” Having hauled masses of rainbow-colored steel back to his Los Angeles studio, he cuts, welds, and wrestles the pieces into works often inspired by movies, advertising, and music. 

DeYoung Museum – Modernism From the National Gallery of Art: The Robert & Jane Meyerhoff Collection

Through October 12, 2014

Modernism from the National Gallery of Art: The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection.   Source: SF Enthusiast.com
Modernism from the National Gallery of Art: The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection. Source: SF Enthusiast.com
Modernism from the National Gallery of Art: The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection brings paintings by the great masters of the post-war world to San Francisco. This exhibit features nearly 50 works by Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and Frank Stella, among others.
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