Curators as Game Changers, SF/Arts December 2021/January 2022

 

Curator Furio Rinaldi
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Curator of Drawings and Prints 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donna Anderson Kam
dateline: (08-07) 16:22 PDT Trona, CA (AP)--
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Museum Purchase, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts Endowment Fund,
and the Achenbach Graphic Arts Council, 2020.51
 

Excerpt from article:

SF/ARTS Dec.2021/Jan. 2022
Curators as Game Changers
by Dorthy Reed & Carol Goodman

In May 2020, when Furio joined Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) as Curator of Drawings and Prints, the museum was closed due to Covid, but this time of less activity had a silver-lining in that he had more time to discover the oftentimes hidden treasures of the museum’s 90,000+ holdings of works of art on paper: drawings, prints and artist books. The collection, the largest on the West Coast, spans the 15th through 21st centuries, and is housed within the museum’s Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts.

Raised in Italy with a Ph.D from the University of Rome, Furio’s area of expertise is Italian drawings from the 15th and 16th century, particularly the schools of the Renaissance’s “greats” – Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo.  He considers drawings “the father of art.”  “After all," he says, "painting, sculpture and architecture generally start with drawings.”

Within less than two years, Furio curated "Color into Line: Pastels from the Renaissance to the Present." In the process of setting up the exhibition, two important re-attributions, based on his scholarship, were made. Two key acquisitions were also made: an 18th century pastel landscape by Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun and a 21st century pastel depicting a homeless encampment by Donna Anderson Kam.

Each gallery contains works by male and female artists including three women artists – starting with the 18th century Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera, whose pastel portraits were widely acclaimed. Works by Impressionist artists Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt and Eva Gonzalès are highlights of the exhibition.

Going forward, both the museum and Rinaldi have bold plans to showcase the Achenbach’s collection with an ambitious program of exhibits.