San Francisco: The Contemporary Jewish Museum; things to do

San Francisco

The Contemporary Jewish Museum

Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker

This show tells the story of how one Jewish family fought for the return of an extraordinary artwork collection looted by the Nazis during the WW II. A vast collection of masterpieces owned by Jacques Goudstikker, a preeminent Jewish art dealer in Amsterdam, were almost lost forever to the Nazi practice of looting cultural properties during World War II. But in 2006, after years of working with a team of art historians and legal experts, Goudstikker¹s family successfully reclaimed 200 of his paintings from the Dutch government--one of the largest such claims ever resolved. This show at The Contemporary Jewish Museum features nearly 45 pieces, including “Winter Landscape with Skaters” by Jan van Goyen and “Still Life with Flowers in a Vase” by Hieronymus Galle, as well as original documents and photographs, and explores the historic restitution of the artworks to the rightful heir. This is the only West Coast venue for the exhibition and will be its final showing. Runs through March 29, 2011.

Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H. A. Rey 

The lives and work of the creators of the famous monkey are explored through almost 80 original drawings and ephemera (journals, hand made cards, photographs, and more). Details of their lives emerge—the years spent in Rio de Janeiro where H. A. Rey had a pair of marmosets as pets and wore a large broad-brimmed hat; as the Nazis arrived, their flight from Paris on bicycles that Rey built of parts; another narrow escape from Europe thanks in large part to their drawings—that show up often in the couple's famous stories. Runs through March 13, 2011.

more about the Contemporary Jewish Museum, including the deli restaurant (scroll down).



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