Dorothea Lange, One Nation Indivisible, 1942. © The Dorothea Lange Collection, the Oakland Museum of California, City of Oakland. Gift of Paul S. Taylor.

Dorothea Lange Through her Goddaughter’s Eyes

Berkeley,
Since I wanted to learn more about Dorothea Lange, Berkeley resident Elizabeth Partridge, Lange’s goddaughter and the granddaughter of photographer Imogen Cunningham, graciously agreed to meet with me. Since Partridge’s father, Rondal, had been Lange’s assistant, Partridge grew up as  ...
Roz Chast, The Birth of Venus, 2014.

Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs

San Francisco,
Don't feel embarrassed if you suddenly burst out laughing while viewing the Contemporary Jewish Museum's exhaustive--but not exhausting--show of Roz Chast's work. There will be plenty of other viewers doing the same thing. Chast, for the  ...
Richard Diebenkorn, Seated Figure with Hat, 1967; oil on canvas; National Gallery of Art, Washington,D.C.,

Matisse/Diebenkorn

San Francisco,
“Matisse always surprises me…. It’s the restraint coupled with the sensuousness that’s so utterly exceptional.” Richard Diebenkorn The distinguished artistic career of the prominent postwar California painter Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993) began with his unique style of abstract expressionism (ca.1946–1956),  ...
Edward Hopper.

America after the Fall

London,
The big draw in the Royal Academy's new show on American painting during the 1930s is the iconic painting "American Gothic" by Grant Wood. The stern-looking father and daughter pair - actually posed by Wood's sister Nan and his dentist,  ...
Claude Monet, La Grenouillère, 1869. Oil on canvas,.

Monet: The Early Years

San Francisco,
“Monet: The Early Years” is visually gorgeous and academically significant. Presenting Monet’s work from the early phase of his career (1858-1872) starting when Monet was 18 years old and ending when he turned 32, the show traces the development  ...
Red Pots in the Garden 2000. Private collection, courtesy Guggenheim Asher Associates

David Hockney: 60 years of work

London,
In the year of the artist’s 80th birthday, Tate Britain presents a survey of almost 60 years of David Hockney’s work in the first major retrospective for nearly 30 years and already the gallery’s fastest-selling exhibition. David Hockney  ...
Diane Arbus. Woman with white gloves and a pocket book, N.Y.C. 1956.

diane arbus: in the beginning

San Francisco,
SF MOMA’s remarkable new exhibit of early works by the brilliant photographer, Diane Arbus (1923-1971) contains about taken by the artist in New York City between 1956 and 1962. Imaginatively installed in six galleries on the third  ...
Frank Stella,

Frank Stella: A Retrospective

San Francisco,
I’ve appreciated and admired Frank Stella’s abstract art for many years, but the de Young Museum’s exciting retrospective enriched my understanding of Stella as an artist and a man. A smaller continuation of an exhibition  ...