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Exhibition

Approaching American Abstraction

Ongoing

Floor 4

Tickets
Entry to this exhibition is included with general admission.

This exhibition of selected American artists explores the diverse approaches to abstraction developed since 1950, from the forceful brushwork of Lee Krasner to the enigmatic wood forms of Martin Puryear and the luminescent landscapes of Richard Mayhew. The variety of materials and techniques included in this presentation testifies to abstraction’s enduring potential as a form of artistic expression.

Approaching American Abstraction is the result of an innovative partnership established in 2009 between the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection and the San Francisco Museum of Museum Art. The galleries showcase the shared strengths and complementary nature of our holdings through presentations that blend artworks from the Fishers with pieces from the museum’s collection and occasionally other lenders.

Exhibition Preview

Square canvas composed of fourteen solid-colored vertical bands ranging the color spectrum
Overlapping, semi-transparent, radiating lines of colorful paint
Forest green canvas painted with scrawling, dripping, white loops
Artwork image, Brice Marden, The Sisters
Square blue field covered with a grid of thin white lines
Richard Mayhew, Overture, 2001; gift of the Pamela J. Joyner and Alfred J. Giuffrida Collection; © Richard Mayhew

Ellsworth Kelly, Spectrum I, 1953; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and promised gift of Helen and Charles Schwab; © Ellsworth Kelly; photo: Ben Blackwell

Morris Louis, Untitled, 1959–60; the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Estate of Morris Louis; photo: Katherine Du Tiel

Cy Twombly, Note I, from the series III Notes from Salalah, 2005–7; the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Cy Twombly Foundation; photo: Ian Reeves

Brice Marden, The Sisters, 1991–93; the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Brice Marden / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

Agnes Martin, Night Sea, 1963; the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Estate of Agnes Martin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Elizabeth Murray, Things to Come, 1988; the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Estate of Elizabeth Murray / Artists Rights Society (ARS)

Also at SFMOMA

2022 SECA Art Award Exhibition
Afterimages: Echoes of the 1960s from the Fisher and SFMOMA Collections
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