Is there anything more enjoyable than losing yourself in a museum? Modern art fascinates me. Some pieces I’d love to surround myself with and others seem too weird or strange for such intimacy. Still, it’s fun to consider each, and since this wasn’t my first time at the MOMA, to reconsider them, and for a rare few, step back and consider them yet again.

Walking through Yerba Buena Park on the warm December day of my visit, I was tempted to sit on the grass, relax and simply appreciate the exterior of the MOMA winking at me from across 3rd street. Maybe save the indoor exploration for a rainy or cold day. The building is a San Francisco landmark. The structure provides a fitting setting for art, especially modern art.

The SFMOMA was the first West Coast museum devoted to modern and contemporary art. Step inside to be mesmerized by the soaring atrium with its cylindrical turret and oculus skylight. Let the magnificent staircase entice you up from the ground floor to four levels of skylit galleries.

I was fortunate enough to catch the Francesca Woodman retrospective, the first in the United States in more than two decades. For a woman whose life ended at twenty-two when she jumped from the loft of an apartment building, Woodman left a significant body of photography. Many of the photographs (mostly black and whites and sepia tones) are of the artist herself and there was a somberness I felt while examining them and wondering what thoughts inspired her work and what demons drove her death.

Self-portrait talking to Vince, Providence Rhode Island (1975-78) 

On the second floor I visited old friends. 

Pablo Picasso’s oil on canvas, Les femmes d’Alger

La Conversation (The Conversation) Henri Matisse, oil on canvas, The Conversation.

Indian Girl with Coral Necklace Diego Rivera, oil on canvas, Indian Girl with Coral Necklace.

The Flower Carrier [formerly The Flower Vendor])  Diego Rivera, oil on tempura on masonite, The Flower Carrier.

©2007 Banco de México Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo Museums Trust; used with permission Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera, oil on canvas, Frieda Kahlo.067) 

I studied some paintings and sculptures that were interesting, but would never go with the décor of my living room. 

Neri, Manuel - Mary and Julia - Bay Area Figurative Movement - Sculpture - Portrait - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - San Francisco, CA, USA

Before leaving I indulged in a unique shopping experience. The MOMA’s selection of glassware, books, jewelry, decorative pieces, and curiosities make it hard to resist filling a shopping bag, and it was the Christmas season after all. Exercising restraint I walked away with nothing more than a book for my grandson.

The SFMOMA offers a wide spectrum of special events, many free with admission, so if you are planning a trip, check the website for the upcoming calendar. If it’s a spur of the moment visit (and those can be the best kind), stop at the information desk and ask about the day’s events and the schedule of docent-led public tours. If you prefer, a self-guided audio tour is an option.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is located at 151 Third Street (between Mission and Howard).

Hours:
Monday - Tuesday    11:00 am - 5:45 pm.
Wednesday    Closed
Thursday    11:00 am - 8:45 pm.
Friday - Sunday    11:00 am - 5:45 pm.
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

For additional information visit the website at sfmoma.org.

Julie Albrecht Royce, Travel Adventures Editor, is the author of Traveling Michigan's Sunset Coast and Traveling Michigan's Thumb, both published by Thunder Bay Press. She writes a monthly column for Wandering Educators.

Building photos courtesy and copyright of Julie Royce. Art photos courtesy of SF MOMA.