Artistic California

Compiled by museum curator Emma Acker, Artistic California is a collection of visual art, including works from many luminaries, that celebrates Californias landscapes and culture. From the sweeping panoramas of the nineteenth-century American West to works that reflect the concerns of artists living and working in California today, the paintings, drawings, and prints featured here from the permanent collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco convey a multifaceted image of the Golden State. Art made in California forms a core component of the institutions collection and demonstrates the Museums decades-long history of supporting the regions artists. Highlighting the scope and quality of the Museums collection, the works reproduced in Artistic California celebrate the stunning natural beauty, utopian idealism, and positive outlook of a region that has long fueled its residents unceasing quests for technological breakthroughs; social evolution and revolution; and personal, professional, and creative growth. At the same time, the state is also an epicenter for many of Americas gravest challenges, including surging wealth gaps and unhoused populations and the catastrophic impacts of climate change. Art produced in California reveals the vibrancy and diversity of the regions people and places, while also reflecting these complex issues and how our understanding of them has changed over time.