Canyonfire: Oakland Museum of California Art CollectionOne of my reasons for wanting to live in Oakland, besides loving the neighborhoods, the bungalow architecture, and Lake Merritt, was the Oakland Museum of California. This is one of the most satisfying museums I know of (similar in feel to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts), one you can see a good chunk of in an afternoon without feeling totally exhausted. The Oakland Museum has three permanent collections: art by California artists or about California, natural history and ecology of California, and California history. All three floors are wonderful. If I had to pick a favorite, I would say the art collection. It is highly eclectic but of incredibly high quality, intrinsic interest, and variety. Here is a selection of pieces more or less in the order I ran into them as I browsed the collection with my friend Dan Norstedt when he visited in January 2002. The Elmer Bischoff paintings were in a special exhibition that has now ended. I fear I didn't take the time to write down names of artists and titles of works with a few exceptions, so I'll have to rectify that situation at a later date. Oh, another attraction of the museum is its incredibly pleasing low-slung, terraced, modernistic concrete design, which lends itself to nondistracting backgrounds and optimal lighting. Rooftop plantings of flowers and foliage plus a top-notch cafeteria add to the experience. Return to Canyonfire Photo Gallery Larry Lynch |
