Bernice Bing Mural with Dianne, Pat and Nanette

The OLLI Art Club visited the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco on Saturday 19 November. Nanette collected us at Pat’s condo and drove us there on a beautiful autumn morning.

Jade Money Tree

We were delighted to find a Christmas bazaar on the ground floor with many wonderful textiles from around the world, but the exotic treasures on the third floor captivated us. We delighted at the sight of the rare 3,000 year old Bronze Age Chinese rhino, and I loved this jade “money tree” crafted from intricately carved wafers of jade. I wonder if the wafers themselves were used as currency?

We struggled with the audio app that we downloaded: it was hard to figure out how to use it, and the text was gray on a white background, typical design by young artists who don’t realize that aging eyes lose contrast (which is why you see Emails from your grandparents written in bold). The third floor has art from South Asia, the Persian World and West Asia, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Buddhist art as well as the fabled Chinese jade.

The architectural mash-up of the neoclassical library and the new museum is always a delight. I urged my friends to ascend in the glass elevator and descend on the semi-exterior escalators, then through the almost hidden doors to the magnificent marble stairway in the center of the old library and the stunning, renovated Samsung Hall.

Bronze Age Chinese Rhino

We were able to get the $27 value tickets through Sonoma Library Discover and Go which was a learning experience. The tickets need to be reserved, and the reservation held until a day to two before the actual visit, when it needs to be cancelled or printed. If you print it at the time of reservation, you can’t cancel it and because there are limited number of spaces allocated, you deprive someone of using it if your plans change and you can’t go. Worse, you use up your own allotment of free tickets through the service. Nevertheless, we figured out how to use and it it was great!

Dianne had researched luncheon options and she chose Chao Pescao at 272 McAllister Street, just a few steps from the museum. The decor and food was wonderful! A very successful day.

Dianne and Nanette at Chao Pescao