Encountering David Hockney and Anders Zorn at the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco During this season, it seems to me that it is essential, absolutely essential to celebrate time alone. Day-dreaming, reading, walking along San Francisco Bay or the Seine, wandering, taking a beloved dog for an adventure, exploring, or gazing at clouds or doing yoga or singing, writing poetry, are perfect. For me this often means heading during the week, end of the day, to one of the great museums of San Francisco. Or if I’m in Paris, it’s the Louvre. In London, Tate Britain. In New York, the Met. Somewhere quiet, hidden, to hang out with an artist’s thoughts and visions, and disappear from the world. Two compelling and antithetical new exhibits—at the de Young Museum and at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor—make this private journey especially enticing. David Hockney "Yosemite II, October 5th 2011" iPad Drawing printed on six sheets of paper (71 3/4 x 35 3/4" each), mounted on six sheets of Dibond 143 1/2 x 107 1/4" overall At the de Young, there’s a vivid and ultra-current overview of David Hockney’s work. It’s boisterous—but there are new portraits, oils barely dry, that demand attention. David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition, is on view at the de Young Museum through January 20, 2014. It marks the return to California of the influential and best-known British artist of his generation. Anders Zorn Caique Oarsman, 1886 Watercolor, 35.5 x 50.5cm. Zornmuseet, Mora Over at the less-visited Legion museum, there’s the wonderfully dreamy collection of Anders Zorn paintings. Zorn, you say? Scandinavian. Impressionist. A dreamer. His paintings of the exquisite Swedish summer, the Baltic landscape, and fleshy nudes that must have set Ingmar Berman thinking. Come with me—and be inspired to secretly step into a museum in your town, your city. The world outside will stop—as you gather your thoughts and disappear from the hullabaloo of the season. David Hockney "Self Portrait with Charlie" 2005 oil on canvas 72 x 36" The new de Young show, curated by Gregory Evans, a survey of works from 2002 to the present, displays David Hockney’s mastery of different media, including his most recent foray into charcoal, as well as work on iPads, iPhones, digital video, and his first sustained engagement with watercolor. It includes portraits painted as recently as October 2013, when the exhibition was being mounted. Designed exclusively for the de Young, the exhibition will not appear elsewhere. About ten years ago, with Taschen, I published ‘California Interiors’. I worked closely with Angelika Taschen on the project. My favorite part of the book are the endpapers, which feature a vivid David Hockney painting of a blonde man, Gregory Evans, now the curator of this new exhibit, standing on the edge of a terrace in Malibu Canyon, and gazing down at a man swimming underwater in the turquoise pool. It’s totally California (dream) and was very Hockney of that period. Love it. — DDS David Hockney "Bridlington Rooftops, October, November, December" 2005 oil on canvas 48 x 60" David Hockney "Woldgate Woods, 30 March - 21 April " 2006 Oil On 6 Canvases (36 X 48" Each) 72 x 144" overall David Hockney "Woldgate Woods, 26, 27 & 30 July 2006" Oil on 6 Canvases (36 X 48" Each) 72 x 144" overall David Hockney "Bigger Trees Nearer Warter, Winter 2008" Oil on 9 canvases (36 x 48" each) 108 x 144" overall David Hockney "More Felled Trees on Woldgate" 2008 Oil on 2 canvases (60 x 48" each) 60 x 96" overall Hockney FactsDavid Hockney was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in the north of England, in 1937. Exhibition Catalogue The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition, published by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Published on the occasion of this major exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, it is produced in collaboration with the artist’s studio, and includes recent work and rare in-progress photographs. David Hockney "Self Portrait with Red Braces" 2003 watercolor on paper 24 x 18 1/8" David Hockney "A Bigger Matelot Kevin Druez 2" 2009 Inkjet printed computer drawing on paper, mounted on Dibond 63 7/8 x 42 7/8" David Hockney "A Bigger Message" 2010 Oil on 30 canvases (36 x 48" each) 180 x 288" overall David Hockney "Yosemite I, October 16th 2011" iPad Drawing printed on six sheets of paper (71 3/4 x 42 3/4" each), mounted on six sheets of Dibond 143 1/2 x 128 1/4" overall David Hockney "Four Views of Montcalm Terrace" 2003 Watercolor on four sheets of paper (17 1/8 x 24" each) 34 1/4 x 48" overall Multi-Media: The Audio Guide The Antenna International audio tour has been written and recorded to guide visitors through the largest show ever at the de Young. The tour features a blend of newly written content and interviews with the exhibition curator. Newly written audio content throughout the tour explores Hockney’s ability to switch media, from traditional painting to movie-making and digital works made on his iPad, with many in-depth discussions closely based on conversations with the artist himself on his creative process and approach to technique. Interviews with deputy director Richard Benefield include observations about Hockney’s newest and recent work. As Hockney continued working on a new portrait series right up until the opening of the show, an audio stop was written and recorded within weeks of the public seeing the artworks for the first time. The tour also features music by composers that especially resonate with Hockney. “Hockney’s innovative mix of traditional techniques and experimentation with digital media made writing this tour especially exciting. I paid special attention to his process with digital creations so that the tour particularly resonates with contemporary visitors,” commented Frances Homan Jue, the tour’s writer. David Hockney "Self Portrait, 17 December" 2012 Charcoal on paper 30 1/4 x 22 5/8" David Hockney "Woldgate, 6-7 February, from 'The Arrival of Spring in 2013 (twenty thirteen)'" Charcoal on paper 22 5/8 x 30 1/4" David Hockney "Margaret Hockney, 14 February" 2013 Charcoal on paper 30 1/4 x 22 5/8" David Hockney "Woldgate, 16 & 26 March, from 'The Arrival of Spring in 2013 (twenty thirteen)'" Charcoal on paper 22 5/8 x 30 1/4" And in counterpoint at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor: The lyricism and romanticism of the Scandinavian painter, Anders Zorn Anders Zorn Summer Vacation, 1886 Watercolor 29 7⁄8 x 22 1⁄16 in. (76 x 56 cm) I first encountered the impressionist paintings of Anders Zorn in the National Museum in Stockholm some time ago. Although he worked in Paris in the early twentieth century, and is one of the heroic painters of Scandinavian light and the romantic past, his idyllic confections never seem to have traveled much beyond Denmark and Sweden. Anders Zorn Self-Portrait in Red, 1915 Oil on canvas, 47 ¼ x 35 7/16 in. (120 x 90 cm) Zorn paints light—in particular, summer light in the Archipelago, which lingers on, bright and sunny, until almost midnight. He paints water, sky, islands, portraits, family, gardens, with lyricism and purity. Anders Zorn Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice, 1894 Oil on canvas 35 13⁄16 x 26 in. (91 x 66 cm) Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston Anders Zorn Self-Portrait with Model, 1896 Oil on canvas, 46 1/16 x 37 in. (117 x 94 cm) Nationalmuseum, Stockholm Anders Zorn Midsummer Dance, 1897 Oil on canvas, 55 1/8 x 38 9/16 in. (140 x 98 cm) Nationalmuseum, Stockholm Anders Zorn Coquelin Cadet, 1889 Oil on canvas, 45 7/8 x 32 1/8 in. (116.5 x 81.5 cm) Nationalmuseum, Stockholm Anders Zorn, Omnibus, 1891–1892 (pl. 45) Oil on canvas, 39 1/8 x 26 in. (99.5 x 66 cm) Nationalmuseum, Stockholm Anders Zorn The Little Brewery, 1890 Oil on canvas, 18 ¾ x 30 11/16 in. (47.5 x 78 cm) Nationalmuseum, Stockholm Anders Zorn Self-Portrait, 1882 Watercolor, 9 7/16 x 6 5/16 in. (24 x 16 cm) Nationalmuseum, Stockholm Anders Zorn: Sweden’s Master Painter: Through February 2, 2014 The exhibit brings together one hundred of the artist’s oil paintings, watercolors, etchings, and sculptures. Anders Zorn (Swedish, 1860–1920) was one of the world’s most famous living artists at the turn of the twentieth century, known for his subtle painting and printmaking techniques. Although he was a hugely successful portrait painter in the U.S.—depicting captains of industry, members of society, and three U.S. Presidents—there has been only one other major American retrospective in the last century examining Zorn’s work. Anders Zorn Castles in the Air, 1885 Watercolor, 14 /16 x 10 ¼ in. (37 x 26 cm) Nationalmuseum, Stockholm Anders Zorn The Bride, 1886 Watercolor, 30 5/16 x 21 7/8 in. (77 x 55.5 cm) Nationalmuseum, Stockholm Anders Zorn Zorn and His Wife, 1890 Etching (A 43), second state 12 1/2 x 8 5⁄16 in. (31.7 x 21.1 cm) Zornmuseet, Mora During the 1880s and 1890s Zorn lived in London and Paris, where he became acquainted with key figures of the Belle Époque, including James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and Auguste Rodin, as well as many of the French Impressionists. He also gained commissions and befriended prominent collectors such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, who would become an important patron. Zorn’s painting, Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice (1894, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston) appears in this exhibition. Anders Zorn River under Old Stone Bridge, 1884 Watercolor, 9 3/16 x 13 7/8 in. (23.3 x 35.2 cm) Zornmuseet, Mora Anders Zorn The Thorn Bush, 1886 Watercolor, 15 5/8 x 21 1/16 in. (39.8 x 53.5 cm)Zornmuseet, Mora Trained at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. In this exhibition, Midsummer Dance (1897, National Museum, Stockholm), has long been considered one of Sweden’s national treasures, and it rarely leaves the country. Anders Zorn In Alhambra Park, 1887 Watercolor, 19 7/8 x 13 7/8 in. (50.5 x 35.3 cm) Zornmuseet, Mora “Zorn’s international success ultimately bears witness to the universal language of his art,” said James A. Ganz, curator of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the coordinator of this project in San Francisco. “This exhibition promises to be a revelation for those yet to discover one of Sweden’s most accomplished and beloved artists.” Exhibition Catalogue The illustrated catalogue explores the life and work of a masterful painter who was born in a small Swedish village and rose to international acclaim. Four authors present a detailed portrait of Zorn’s life and work, his career in the United States, his oeuvre in the context of Nordic art, and his printmaking activity. Also featuring a comprehensive chronology and historical photographs, this book reveals a painter traditional yet modern; cosmopolitan yet indelibly connected to his Swedish homeland. And who better than Joan Didion, in ‘Blue Nights’, her recent memoir about the death of her daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, to remind us of the importance of quiet, reflective, conscious solitude: “Do not whine. Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone.” — Joan Didion Anders Zorn Reveil, boulevard Clichy, 1892 Watercolor 14 3⁄16 x 9 7⁄16 in. (36 x 24 cm) About the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in San Francisco. The de Young is housed in a copper-clad landmark building designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron. It showcases the institution’s significant collections of American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the 17th to the 21st centuries; art from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas; a diverse collection of costumes and textiles; and international contemporary art. The Legion of Honor’s Beaux-Arts style building designed by George Applegarth is located on a bluff overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Its collections span 4,000 years and include European paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts; ancient art from the Mediterranean basin; and the largest collection of works on paper in the American West. Photography: All images courtesy The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Museums: The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, San Francisco: The de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. de Young Museum Herbst Exhibition Galleries, @deyoungmuseum, #abiggerexhibition www.famsf.org David Hockney "The Jugglers" 2012 Eighteen digital videos synchronized and presented on eighteen 55-inch NEC screens to comprise a single artwork (27 x 47 7/8" each) 81 x 287" overall Duration: 22:13