Museum members could show up this morning at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art an hour before the building opened to the public, so as to view without the otherwise unavoidable crowds the big & very popular exhibition primarily of Matisse and Picasso paintings, all of which in early days were bought by Gertrude Stein and/or her relatives. It was fantastic, having an hour of peace in those large quiet galleries, viewing the work without obstructions. But I want to go back and see it again before I say any more about The Steins Collect. The show closes on September 6, and the 9:00 a.m. opening for members will be in effect on Saturdays and Sundays until that date.
At the top of the building on the fifth floor a series of galleries are generally devoted to rotating displays of new acquisitions. And I was delighted today to discover there a recent large painting by the German neo-realist Thomas Eggerer. Just last month I wrote here about a pair of one-man shows devoted to his work in Cologne and Berlin. So of course I am glad to see the Museum endorsing my taste.
It seems clear to me that the reunited Germany is the exciting & crucial place to paint Right Now, just as New York was half a century ago or Paris was a whole century ago.
