My Visit to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)

This year I visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) for the first time ever, and since its remodeling and expansion and later reopening in May of 2016. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast with a collection comprised of both modern and contemporary art. This concept is evident in the way that most of the collection seems to flow together without any areas that seem to stand apart from other eras. 

The overall collection at SFMOMA consists of Architecture + Design, Media Arts, Painting + Sculpture, and Photography. I must say that the photographic works on display seemed expansive, with a variety of subjects and periods photographed in black & white, and SFMOMA has an entire floor that is utilized as a space for photographic works, which is also known as the Pritzker Center for Photography.

Max Beckman, Woman at Her Toilette with Red and White Lillies, 1938

According to Fodors, SFMOMA is considered to be an example of such a forward-thinking city like San Francisco. The museum functions as both a center for education as well as an art space and public space. The recent expansion was led by the architectural firm Snøhetta, which is based out of Norway. This expansion increased the exhibition space by approximately three times with a significant increase to the museum’s unticketed areas of its lower floors. The expansion of the gallery spaces allows SFMOMA to have more of its collection on display at once.

Though it may not appear to be, the SFMOMA is said to be fifty percent larger than the fairly new Getty Center in Los Angeles, and still larger than the impressive De Young Museum of San Francisco. According to the museum’s website it has ten floors, but only about seven of those floors are used as exhibition and public space. 

I can think back and remember following the publicity from San Francisco news websites, and based on the images of the tall white façade, I wondered if the museum would actually consist of that many floors. It was great to actually visit and see that SFMOMA lived up to the publicity. The museum’s white façade that faces east is inspired by the bay area’s water and fog. The façade is described as resembling a glacier, which are actually responsible for producing the fog.

The current aim of SFMOMA is to be a welcoming institution for people who do not have much background knowledge of art, and also, be a destination for art enthusiasts and fanatics. When I entered the museum I found the main staircase to be reminiscent of earlier pavilions and shopping malls with its spacious design and wooden banisters. 

Johannes Brus, Blue Horse on Capital, 1995

Some areas, such as those near the staircases, seem a bit tentative as you walk through them, and as you do, you enter one particular area on the museum’s upper floors that houses a number of sculptures including works by Alexander Calder that are rather interesting to study and look at.

I was surprised at the expansive collection of modern and contemporary art on display at SFMOMA. Unlike some contemporary art museums this collection is consistently vibrant due to the collection’s variety of Pop art and newer contemporary materials. Works by James Rosenquist are somewhat unique to the SFMOMA collection since they differ from ones I’ve seen in publication, and the spiders by Louise Bourgeois are not bright and colorful like the common works of 60s Pop art, but they are somewhat modulated in a way that makes them a unique and singular focus. The exhibition space for Bourgeois’ work is incorporated into the museum’s remodel style that allows more daylight into the building.

Halfway up

I was particularly impressed and fascinated by the exquisite works of Constantin Brancusi and Max Beckman when I first strolled the galleries. Later, works by James Rosenquist, Alexander Calder, Johannes Brus, Louise Bourgeois, Agnes Martin, and several others in this vast collection.

Anselm Kiefer seemed to be a popular figure among some of my academic peers. In an adjacent gallery there are several large-scale works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and several others of Pop and contemporary art genres. The collection at SFMOMA consists of many prized works and don’t seem like odd items with name notoriety, and overall the museum was a pleasure to visit.