SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

08/31/2026

What if “Matisse: A Modern Scandal” got a color analysis? 🎨👀

With colors for every season, there’s a Matisse match for everyone. Think warm Autumn tones, cool Winter hues, and everything in between—from hats and seascapes to portraits and more.

Which one are you? Find your match in the galleries during the final weeks of the exhibition. “Matisse: A Modern Scandal” closing soon!

08/28/2026

Every legendary show has its hits. Here's a preview of some of ours in "RM x SFMOMA" 🩵🤎​
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From a Bay Area sculpture legend to the first Korean modernist RM discovered, "RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me" brings together nearly 200 works spanning the 5th century to today. Swipe through a few names you'll recognize — and a few you're about to meet 📲​
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Georgia O'Keeffe​
Yoo Youngkuk​
Kim Whanki​
Josef Albers​
Roni Horn​
Ruth Asawa​
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"RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me" opens October 3. 💌​
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Georgia O'Keeffe, "Lake George [formerly Reflection Seascape]," 1922; © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York​

Yoo Youngkuk, “Work,” 1982; collection of RM; © Yoo Youngkuk, courtesy Kukje Gallery​

Kim Whanki, “26-I-70 #141,” 1970; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Mrs. Whanki Kim; ©Whanki Foundation · Whanki Museum; photo: Katherine Du Tiel

Josef Albers, "Homage to the Square: Secluded," 1951; © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York ​

Roni Horn, Untitled ("But the boomerang that returns is not the same one I threw.") 2013-2017; collection of RM; © Roni Horn; photo: Ron Amstutz​

Ruth Asawa, "Untitled (S.530, Hanging Two-Lobed, Continuous Form)," 1952-1954; © Estate Ruth Asawa​
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08/27/2026

Matisse-core is more than a color palette.

It’s a way of seeing that continues to shape how artists create art today. Trace the legacy of Henri Matisse’s radical approach to color and form in “Matisse: A Modern Scandal.”

Final weeks to enter your Matisse era.

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1. Henri Matisse, “Open Window, Collioure,” 1905; National Gallery of Art, collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney; © 2026 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
2. André Derain, “Henri Matisse,” 1905; Tate; © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: Tate
3. Henri Manguin, “Jeanne sur le balcon de la Villa Demiere,” 1905; private collection; © 2026 Henri Manguin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: © Fabrice Lepeltier
4. Maurice de Vlaminck, “Woman with a Hat,” 1906; National Gallery of Art, donated by Lolo Sarnoff in memory of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert von Hirsch; © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
5. Hilary Harkness, “Answered Prayers,” 2024; collection of KAWS; © Hilary Harkness; photo: courtesy Hilary Harkness and P·P·O·W, New York
6. Henri Matisse, “La fille aux yeux verts (The Girl with Green Eyes),” 1908; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, bequest of Harriet Lane Levy, 1950; © Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: Ben Blackwell

08/24/2026

She saw Matisse’s potential before many others did 🎨 Read on for the story of Sarah Stein, one of his earliest and most devoted supporters.

Living in Paris when Matisse was sparking controversy with the bold and unconventional paintings that would come to define Fauvism, American art collector Sarah Stein decided that she would only collect works by Matisse. She and her husband Michael built a collection of more than 40 paintings, and their apartment became a destination for anyone eager to see what the artist was doing next.

Matisse once said that Sarah knew his paintings even better than he did. Their friendship grew so close that she was the only person outside Matisse’s immediate family whom he trusted to see his paintings while they were still wet.

Just two weeks left to discover the works that first captivated Sarah Stein and forever changed the course of modern art in “Matisse: A Modern Scandal.”

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Unknown, “Stein family album page [Sarah Stein outfits],” [ca. 1928]; Estate of Daniel M. Stein, courtesy of William J. Ashton; photo: Tenari Tuatagaloa

Henri Matisse, “Sarah Stein,” 1916; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Sarah and Michael Stein Memorial Collection, gift of Elise S. Haas, 1954; © Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: Ben Blackwell

“Sarah Stein and Harriet Lane Levy, San Francisco,” 1900; Estate of Daniel M. Stein; photo: Don Ross

Henri Matisse, “Study of Sarah Stein,” 1916; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Haas, 1962; © Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: Don Ross

08/22/2026

“Jacob Hashimoto: Giant Arc” open now and free to see on Floor 1 in the Roberts Family Gallery! 🤩🤩🤩

08/21/2026

If Henri Matisse had a Starter Pack here are the must-haves. (What would you add?)

🎨 Paint & paintbrushes of course! In the early 1900s, Matisse used unconventional color choices that help define the Fauvist movement, prioritizing emotional expressiveness over naturalistic representation.

🖼️ A photo of Amélie Matisse. Matisse’s wife, muse, and frequent subject, including in “Femme au chapeau” (Woman with a Hat), the painting that helped put Fauvism on the map.

📒 Canvas & sketchbooks. Matisse constantly drew and painted, using sketchbooks to explore ideas that would later find their way onto canvas.

🌊 Mediterranean sunlight. Matisse was captivated by the intense light and color of the Mediterranean, which inspired his increasingly vibrant approach to color.

👒 A career-making hat. “Femme au chapeau” caused an uproar at the 1905 Salon d’Automne that propelled Matisse, who was still a struggling artist at the time, to success.

👓 Matisse’s glasses. For seeing the world differently.

Discover the essentials of Matisse’s artistic revolution. Final weeks to see “Matisse: A Modern Scandal.”

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Carl Van Vechten, Portrait of Henri Matisse, 1933. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-54231]

08/19/2026

💭 Capturing art while art is being created—that’s exactly what André Derain did when he sketched Henri Matisse in 1905, painting his wife Amélie along the water 🖼️ 🌊

See these works in-person and discover how the light of the Mediterranean inspired Matisse to forge a new form of artistic expression in “Matisse: A Modern Scandal.” Closing September 13!

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André Derain, “Matisse peignant Madame Matisse en Japonaise au bord de l’eau” (Matisse Painting Mme Matisse in a Japanese Robe at the Seashore), (1905); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Hermina, Movses, Charles and David Allen Devrishian Fund, 2004

Henri Matisse, “La Japonaise au bord de l’eau” (La Japonaise: Woman beside the Water), (1905); The Museum of Modern Art, New York, purchase and anonymous gift, 1983

08/18/2026

Nearly 75,000 kites are taking shape...

Jacob Hashimoto has taken over the Roberts Family Gallery on Floor 1 with the largest work of his career, "Giant Arc." In just a few days, you'll be able to walk, sit, or lie under this cloud canopy of hand-built kites made of bamboo and Japanese paper ☁️☁️☁️

On opening night, August 20, join curator Joseph Becker for a conversation with the artist, followed by a live sound performance by Nico Georis beneath the work. Details📲: https://bit.ly/4wV0FGb

Jacob Hashimoto uses sculpture, painting and installation to create complex worlds that reference language, natural phenomena, and cosmology, while also remaining deeply rooted in art-historical traditions, notably landscape-based abstraction, Modernism, and handcraft.

Photos: Don Ross

08/17/2026

“You have to find your root [...] and that’s how I started to look at the Korean artists.” —RM

From discovering Korean art to bringing 145 works from his collection to our museum, RM shares the personal journey behind "RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me" with The New York Times.

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RM, of BTS, brings 145 works by Korean artists to SFMOMA this fall. “I know Picasso, I know van Gogh. I don’t know anyone from my country,” he told himself as he began to buy. “You have to find your root.”

08/15/2026

This is your sign to slow down and notice the color 🎨

Take a color walk through "Matisse's Femme au Chapeau: A Modern Scandal" and experience the exhibition through a new perspective. Closing in a few weeks—plan your visit today.