Summer of Art

Art aficionados will enjoy visiting San Francisco this summer. Three major exhibitions open in June and a museum moves to a new home.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is hosting a major retrospective of the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. The exhibit opens on June 14 and runs through September 28. Large crowds are expected, so the museum is issuing timed entry tickets. Tickets may be purchased in advance through the museum's website or at the door. While tickets may be available on the day you visit the museum, it is recommended that you purchase them in advance. There is no extra charge to see the Kahlo exhibit; however, there is a $3 service charge to buy tickets online.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco is sponsoring major exhibitions at both the Legion of Honor and the de Young Museums. From June 14 to September 28, the de Young is hosting an exhibition of the glasswork of Dale Chihuly. A $5 surcharge will be included in the price of your ticket to the de Young to enable you to visit the Chihuly exhibition. The museum recommends purchasing your tickets in advance to avoid long lines and to ensure you get into the show.

The Legion of Honor Museum is hosting "Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond" from June 21 through September 21. A surcharge is also included in the price of these tickets and advance purchase of tickets is recommended.

The Contemporary Jewish Museum moves into its new home in the Jessie Street Power Plant on June 8. The power plant was designed by local architect, Willis Polk, in 1907 and renovated and enlarged by architect Daniel Libskind to accommodate the museum. The new structure incorporates the facade of the power plant and a large blue cubic extension. The museum is open Friday - Tuesday from 11:00 to 5:30. It is closed on Wednesday and open from 1:00 - 8:00 on Thursday.

Art lovers will have a busy summer in San Francisco. Make sure you purchase tickets in advance so you get to see the shows you are interested in.

Frank Lloyd Wright on Maiden Lane

Maiden Lane is an alley running between Kearny and Stockton Streets, just east of Union Square. Prior to the 1906 earthquake and fire, the alley was known as Morton Street and was one of the city's red light districts. Men would stroll the alley and select a companion from among the women sitting in their windows.

After the fire, the red light district moved to other parts of town and Morton Street became Maiden Lane. Today it is home to a number of fashionable stores, including Xanadu Gallery at 140 Maiden Lane. Take a good look at the front of the store and you will notice the absence of one feature that most shops have -- a picture window. Only Frank Lloyd Wright would design a street-level store without a window for the store to showcase its wares.

This building was constructed in 1948 and housed the V.C. Morris Gift Shop. Inside, you will see a spiral walkway up to the second floor. Wright was designing the Guggenheim Museum in New York at the same time and he is thought to have used the Morris Gift Shop as a test for the ramp he included in the Guggenheim. You can see the outside of the Xanadu Gallery at any time. To see the inside, visit the gallery Tuesday through Saturday between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. You will also get to see an excellent collection of folk art.

If you would like to take a private San Francisco tour that focuses on some of San Francisco's unique architecture, please call me at (866) 326-4237 (toll free) or e-mail me by clicking here.

Dim Sum and Murals

One of my favorite places for dim sum is Yank Sing. If you are not familiar with these delicious dumplings, include a dim sum lunch in your next visit to San Francisco. Dim Sim were originally served only to Chinese royalty. When the emperor moved south to Canton (Guandong) in the 13th century, dim sum went with him. Eventually, Canton became famous as the best place in China for dim sum.

Yang Sing is consistently rated as one of the best dim sum places in San Francisco. There are two locations, but I prefer the restaurant in Rincon Center at 101 Spear Street. This shopping arcade and office was built in 1939 in classic art deco style and served as the Rincon Annex Post Office. Today the building has been expanded and modernized. However, the beautiful murals depicting California's history remain. Russian immigrant artist, Anton Refregier, started painting in 1941 but suspended work during World War II. In 1946, Refregier began painting again and completed the murals in 1948.

Another unique feature is the "Rain Column" in the central atrium, just outside Yank Sing's entrance. This floor-to-ceiling water sculpture features 55 gallons of water falling 85 feet every minute.

Stop by Rincon Center on your next visit to see the murals and to east some of the best dim sum outside of China. If you would like to visit Rincon Center as part of a private tour of San Francisco, call me at (866) 326-4237 (toll free) or e-mail me by clicking here.

Visit the Newly Restored Grounds Surrounding the Palace of Fine Arts

The Palace of Fine Arts was the art museum in the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. This world's fair commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal, but also showed the world that San Francisco had recovered from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

The Palace was the only building from the Fair that was allowed to stay in its original location after the fair closed. However, like all the buildings, the Palace was built with little more than chicken wire and plaster. So by the 1950s the Palace was in need of a major restoration. To save the Palace, the original was torn down and a replica was built of concrete. The replica opened in 1967.

Now the replica is in need of restoration. Recently the exterior of the dome was fixed. For the past year, extensive renovation of the lagoon and surrounding grounds was undertaken.

A few days ago, the chain link fence around the grounds came down. The end result is beautiful. No longer do you risk having the walkway crumble beneath your feet as you stroll around the lagoon, which looks great. Instead of green scum on the surface, their are birds swimming in clear water. Recently I saw migrating ducks taking a break in the lagoon.

Now is the perfect time to visit the Palace. Take a relaxing stroll around the colonnade and lagoon. Enjoy a picnic lunch on the lawn. The Palace sits along Lyon Street between Francisco Street and Marina Boulevard in the Marina District.

If you want to include a visit to the Palace of Fine Arts in a San Francisco private tour, please call me at (866) 326-4237 (toll free) or e-mail me by clicking here.

Diego Rivera Murals in San Francisco

The great Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera, painted his first commissioned mural outside of Mexico in San Francisco starting in 1930. "Allegory of California" was completed in 1931 and is located in The City Club of San Francisco, 155 Sansome Street, 10th Floor. The mural is usually open to the public from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, if there are no events scheduled. The Mexican Museum offers excellent docent-led tours of the mural from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month.

Shortly after completing "Allegory of California," Rivera began work on "The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of A City." This mural is located in the Diego Rivera Gallery of the San Francisco Art Institute, 800 Chestnut Street (between Leavenworth and Jones). The most accessible of the three Rivera murals in San Francisco; the gallery is open daily from 8:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. and is located just two blocks from the bottom of the "Crookedest Street in the World" (Lombard Street).

Perhaps the most impressive of the three murals painted by Rivera is "Pan American Unity." This mural is "about the unity of the North and the South on this continent," according to Rivera. Originally painted in 1940 at the Golden Gate International Exposition, the mural is now housed in the Diego Rivera Theatre at San Francisco City College. Hours to visit the mural vary from sememster to semester. You can check the mural's website, www.riveramural.com, for current hours. A guided tour of the mural can be arranged by calling (415) 239-3127.

Admission to all three murals is free.

If you would like to take a private San Francisco tour that includes stops at one or more of these murals, please call me at (866) 326-4237 (toll free) or e-mail me by clicking here.

Murals of Balmy Alley

One of my favorite spots to take people when I am doing my More of San Francisco or A Day in the City Tour is Balmy Alley. This small street is the birthplace of San Francisco's contemporary mural movement.

Murals have been a part of Mexican culture since the early twentieth century. In 1971, local muralists began creating beautiful paintings on the fences and garages of Balmy Alley. Many of the murals have political themes. The styles range from very traditional to cartoonish. Today there are an estimated 600 murals throughout San Francisco with many located in the Mission District, home to many of San Francisco's Hispanics.

Balmy Alley runs parallel to Treat and Harrison Streets between 24th and 25th Streets. Precita Eyes Visitors Center at 2981 24th Street is near the alley and has information on San Francisco's murals. They also sponsor mural tours, some of which include walks through Balmy Alley. You may call the center at (415) 285-2287 for more information.

If you visit Balmy Alley, stop in at one of the nearby restaurants for lunch. Roosevelt Tamale Parlor, 2817 24th Street (at Bryant) and St. Francis Fountain, 2801 24th Street (at York) are good bets.

If you would like to take a San Francisco tour that includes visits to Balmy Alley and other mural sites, please call me at (866) 326-4237 or e-mail me by clicking here.

Edward Weston and Tina Modotti at SFMOMA

In March, I wrote about an exhibit of Edward Weston photographs at the Oakland Museum of California. If you missed that exhibit or want to see more pictures by this acclaimed California photographer, I encourage you to visit the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

"Mexico as Muse: Edward Weston and Tina Modotti" runs through January 2 at SFMOMA. Weston and his lover, Tina Modotti, lived together in Mexico from 1923 to 1926. During this time each made wonderful photographs of Mexico and its people.

If you are not familiar with Tina Modotti, she spent some time as an actress in San Francisco but gained more acclaim later as a photographer. She became radicalized in Mexico, joined the Communist Party, and later was deported from the United States for her political beliefs. You can learn more abut this fascinating person by viewing the film, "Tina in Mexico" during your visit. It shows daily at 2:00 p.m. and on Thursdays at 7:00 p.m.

SFMOMA is open Friday through Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. until 5:45 p.m. On Thursday, hours are from 11:00 a.m. until 8:45 p.m. The museum is closed on Wednesdays. SFMOMA is on 3rd Street between Mission and Howard.

Friday Night at the De Young

Looking for something to do on a Friday night? Visit the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. One of the two Fine Arts Museums, the de Young houses art from the United States, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania. (The other Fine Arts Museum, the Legion of Honor, is located in Lincoln Park and is home to collections of European Art.)

On Friday nights, the de Young stays open until 8:45 p.m. After 5:00 p.m., tickets cost just $5/person. While not all galleries are open, there are special music performances and docent-led talks. In addition, the cafe serves dinner until 8:00 p.m. and cocktails are served at a cash bar in the entry court. I was particularly impressed to see that supervised tables were available for young children to draw while their parents visited the museum.

This past Friday, the special exhibitions, "The Quilts of Gee's Bend" and "Chicano" were open. The latter consists of three related exhibitions: "Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge," "Chicano Now: American Expressions," and Chicano Now: Local Places and Global Encounters."

The de Young should be applauded for extending its hours so more visitors can enjoy some of the museum's works. The de Young is also open from Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Regular tickets cost $10, $7 for seniors, and $6 for youth (13-17) and college students with identification.

Lunch and Art in Bodega Bay

We were heading up the coast the other day and decided to stop for lunch in the coastal village of Bodega Bay. This small town is a good place to embark on a whale watching trip during the late fall or late winter. You also have a pretty good chance of seeing whales from Bodega Head, the nearby spit of land that creates the harbor. If you are a fan of the movie director Alfred Hitchcock, you probably have seen scenes from Bodega Bay and the nearby village of Bodega in "The Birds."

We had visited Bodega Bay quite a few times but had never found a restaurant of any quality. Recently I read about a couple of good places to eat, so we lunched at the Seaweed Cafe. We were not disappointed.

Their Sunday brunch menu contains old favorites like French toast and a Hay ham and cheese sandwich with egg. Both looked terrific. I had an open-faced sandwich of freshly grilled sandwich while my wife enjoyed a special salad with grilled prawns. The dinner menu looks equally interesting with items such as baked butter beans, duck sausage and clams, and duck breast with lentils and dates. The appetizer list includes such Japanese influenced items as uni sake shooter, hijik, burdock & sashimi, and oysters in green jackets.

There is a small, but interesting, wine list featuring Sonoma County wines. The restaurant features brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Dinner is served from Thursday through Sunday. You may make a dinner reservation at the Seaweed by calling (707) 875-2700. The restaurant is located at 1580 Eastshore Road. To find the Seaweed, head north through Bodega Bay on Route 1. After passing through the center of town, the road will turn right and then left. After the left turn, look for Eastshore Road on your left.

When you are done eating, take a look in the gallery next door, Local Color Artist Gallery features Sonoma County artists.

While Bodega is a little far for a day trip from San Francisco, if you want to experience the Northern California coast, let us take you on our Oceanside Vistas or Point Reyes Ramblings Tour. You may book a tour by calling (866) 326-4237 (toll free) or e-mailing by clicking here.

Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower

Continuing with the vista theme from the last posting, I want to encourage visitors and locals to head for the top of Telegraph Hill. Here you will get a great view of the northern edge of San Francisco as well as the Bay from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge. Telegraph Hill is one of the City's 43 hills and is named for the telegraph station that was on the top of the hill in the 19th century.

Atop the hill is Coit Tower, which is named after Lillie Hitchcock Coit. Many people say the tower is a memorial to San Francisco's firefighters, but this is not true. Lillie Coit was a great supporter of San Francisco's fire department. She bequeathed one third of her estate (approximately $100,000) to beautify the city. In response, the city decided to build a firefighter memorial in Washington Square and this observation tower in honor of Lillie.

The tower is open daily from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. One can take an elevator to the top of Coit Tower for an even more spectacular view of the city and bay. On the first floor of the tower are murals painted in 1933 and 1934 that depict Californians at work. When completed the murals were not immediately opened to the public as the city fathers considered them too leftist. They were worried that San Franciscans' morals would be compromised by seeing depictions of known communist Charley Chaplin and communist newspapers. Cooler heads prevailed and, after a six-month delay, the murals were opened to visitors.

Descending the hill by either the Filbert or Greenwich Street steps provides a walk through beautiful gardens maintained by Telegraph Hill residents. Some of the houses you will walk by are only accessible by these steps. Perhaps you will also get a glimpse of the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill during your descent.

Avoid the parking hassles atop Telegraph Hill by letting me take you on a tour of San Francisco. I can drop you at the top of the hill, so you can enjoy the vista, and then meet you at the bottom while you take a walk down either the Filbert of Greenwich steps. If you want to take a private tour of San Francisco, call me at (866) 326-4237 (toll free) or e-mail me by clicking here.

Two Excellent Photography Galleries in Carmel

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to take to two guests to the Monterey Peninsula. As always, the ride along the coast was beautiful.

While in Carmel, I had time to visit two of my favorite photography galleries: Weston Gallery and Photography West. The Weston Gallery usually features photographs by Edward Weston (see my earlier post on the Weston Exhibit in Oakland), Ansel Adams, and other great twentieth century photographers. If I had had an extra $50,000 with me, I could have purchased an original print of Adams' "Moonrise Over Hernandez New Mexico." There are always special exhibits of work by contemporary photographers. The Gallery is located on Sixth Avenue, between Dolores and Lincoln Streets, in Carmel.

Two blocks away is Photography West. When I visited, the Gallery had an exhibit of contemporary women photographers, as well as photos by Brett Weston (Edward's son) and Ansel Adams, Christopher Burkett, and others. On the side of a back room, I noticed an unsigned print of one of Edward Weston's most famous nude photographs of his wife, Charis Wilson. I was told the print was made by Edward's son, Cole, and I could by it for $10,000. Photogray West is located on Dolores Street, between Ocean and Seventh Avenues.

Unfortunately, I left both galleries empty handed. However, I did see some lovely photographs.

If you would like to take a tour from San Francisco to Monterey and Carmel, please call me at (866) 326-4237 or e-mail me by clicking here.

Edward Weston and California Photography

Photographers in California were among the most innovative during the mid-twentieth century. Prior to their ascent, photography was often not taken seriously as an art. Photographs frequently were soft focus images of landscapes and people. The Californians advocated sharp focus and used light in new and innovative ways.

One of the earliest and most important of the California photographers was Edward Weston. Longtime resident of the Monterey Peninsula, his images of Point Lobos, still lifes, and nudes are legendary. The Oakland Museum of California has mounted a small, but nice overview of Weston's work. This exhibit of 58 pictures spans Weston's career from his earliest soft-focus images of the 1920s to his last images taken at Point Lobos. The exhibit also contains a few photos by Weston's colleagues in Group f.64, California photographers who came together under this moniker to promote photo realism.

"Edward Weston:Masterworks from the Collection" runs through June 11, 2006. The Oakland Museum of California is located at 1000 Oak Street near downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt. The museum is one block from the Lake Merritt BART station. Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

After the Ruins

2006 marks the centennial of the great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Throughout the year many events will be held to commemorate the signature event in the City's history. Among the first is "After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006 Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire," an exhibit at the Legion of Honor museum in Lincoln Park.

Photographer Mark Klett selected 48 pictures taken after the 1906 earthquake; many by Arnold Genthe, perhaps the best known photographer in San Francisco in the early 20th century. Klett then identified the spots from which the original photos were taken and rephotographed the sites today. Among my favorites are the vistas from Nob Hill and "Stairs that Lead to Nowhere." The latter is a rare nighttime photograph of the fire.

I recommend listening to Klett's interviews on one of the two computers at the end of the exhibit. He talks about selecting the photos and the challenges in determining the exact locations from which they were taken.

This exhibit runs through June 4. The Legion of Honor is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Admission is free on the first Tuesday of each month.

Take a custom tour of San Francisco and we can visit the Legion of Honor and nearby Sea Cliff. To schedule your private tour, call me at (866) 326-4237 or mail me by clicking here.

New Museums Near Yerba Buena Gardens

Two museums have recently joined the Yerba Buena Gardens neighborhood. The Museum of Craft and Folk Art moved from its long-time space at Fort Mason to 51 Yerba Buena Lane, a walkway that runs from Market to Mission Streets behind the San Francisco Marriott. "Folk Art for the Soul," the opening exhibit at this new locale, features a fine array of items from private collections in the Bay Area. The museum store has been revamped to feature jewelry and other crafts from local artists. The Museum is open Tuesday - Friday from 11 am to 7 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. The Museum is closed on Mondays and major holidays.

The other newcomer to this district is the Museum of the African Diaspora. This new museum showcases art from throughout the African Diaspora. The inaugural exhibits include "Linkages and Themes from the African Diaspora," "Dispersed: African Legacy/New World Reality," and "Made in Africa." This Museum is a part of the new St. Regis Hotel building at 685 Market Street (at Third Street). Hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm; Thursday from 10 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from noon to 5 pm. The Museum is closed on Tuesdays and major holidays.

These two museums join the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Cartoon Art Museum, and California Historical Society in this great arts community. The Mexican museum and Contemporary Jewish Museum are scheduled to move nearby within a few years to create an even more vibrant neighborhood.

Interested in taking a tour of public works of art in San Francisco? Blue Heron can take you on a private, custom tour to see San Francisco's contemporary murals in the Mission District, works by the famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, public buildings with Depression era murals, and sculpture by an array of artists. To arrange your custom public art tour, call me at (866) 326-4237 (toll free) or e-mail me by clicking here.