Salon of Modern Art

The Girl with Green Eyes

Henri Matisse

1908

Oil on canvas

Copyright SFMOMA

I had the pleasure of spending Sunday with my family at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art viewing The Steins Collect. This exhibition, from the collection of three siblings Gertrude, Leo, Michael and his wife Sarah Stein, highlights the avant-garde and modern works of the 20^th century, a time when their initial popularity was low compared to the Realist and Romantic art of the late 19^th century.

Bathers

Paul Cézanne

1898-1900

Oil on canvas

Copyright The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection

Gertrude, Leo and Michael Stein were born in Pennsylvania and moved to California at a young age. Settling in Oakland in 1878, they attended school locally, Michael choosing to stay and run the family business, and Gertrude and Leo eventually went back east for college. In 1903 Gertrude and Leo moved to Paris, later followed by Michael, and their life-long love affair with modern art and literature began.

Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat)

Henri Matisse

1905

Oil on canvas

Copyright SFMOMA

Gertrude and Leo began hosting Saturday night viewing parties at the home they shared at 27 Rue Fleurus, turning it into a modern art salon with acquaintances and friends, including artists Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, stopping by to visit, chat and view their ever-expanding collection. Michael and his wife Sarah also opened their home at 58 rue Madame, for friends and visitors as they too began collecting avant-garde modern works with their keen eyes.

Tea

Henri Matisse

1919

Oil on canvas

Copryright Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Stein's Salon at 27 Rue Fleurus, Paris

source unknown

The exhibition at the SFMOMA gave a thorough overview of their extensive collection, highlighting important pieces and giving interesting historical background information on the family, specific artists, and the feeling of modern art in the 20^th century. As with most exhibitions, the real showstoppers: Picasso, Cezanne, Renoir, Matisse etc. attracted the most attention from visitors, but the museum also included family photographs and letters, sculpture and a number of pieces from Surreal artists that I loved. I also greatly enjoyed the large screen prints hanging on the walls, giving an inside view of what these paintings looking like hanging in Stein’s homes, a far cry from hanging in a museum.