A place of longing San Francisco: The Federal art hall in Bonn draws a portrait of California’s Pacific metropolis. However, for many that followed until today, the reputation of San Francisco, proved to be the dreams as foams.
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“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
Harold John Brothers: “Russian Hill, San Francisco”, 1945
The exhibition “California Dreams” paints a portrait of San Francisco from the founding of the town at the end of the 18th century. Century up to the present time. Since it exists, the city was a symbol of hope – from the days of the California gold rush about the Hippie movement, up to today’s High-Tech industry in Silicon Valley. Our gallery shows examples of some of the exhibits.
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“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
C. C. Nahl and A. Wenderoth: “gold miners in the Sierras”, 1851/1852
In the Wake of the California gold rush that began in 1848, the population grew in San Francisco in less than two years from 1,000 to 25,000 inhabitants. After the March revolution of 1848 many Germans to California, had fled, including Charles Christian Nahl and August Wenderoth. Your money the two graves earned with the Painting of portraits of the first gold.
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“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
Liu Hung: “Resident Alien”, In 1988
Chinese-Americans are often exposed to prejudices – the fact the artist Liu Hung makes this work carefully. Since the days of the gold rush Chinese immigrants come to California – the “Chinatown” in San Francisco, the oldest in North America. Even the happiness was invented biscuit, on the Liu Hung here in her self-assigned Pseudonym alludes to.
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“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
Robert Schwartz: “The shape of lots road”, 1997
18. April 1906 a powerful earthquake shook the city. It is considered to be one of the worst natural disasters in the USA, about 3000 people were killed. The politically inspired paintings by Robert Schwartz plays with the metaphor of the year, hundreds of quake to the social upheavals at the time of the emergence of the Californian gay scene in the 1960s.
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“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
Gilbert Baker: “Rainbow Flag”, 1978
The rainbow flag is an international Symbol of the LGBTQ movement and is regarded as a symbol of acceptance and tolerance. Designed by the American artist and activist Gilbert Baker in Bonn specimen he has sewn in 1978 itself.
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“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
The Outfit of Steve Jobs, 1980s
A of pants held in a classic Levi’s straps Jeans, a white Versace shirt: The Federal art and exhibition hall also presents clothes to the Apple founder, Steve Jobs. The pants is one of the famous, patented “501 Levi’s” of the blue Jeans inventor Levi Strauss. Jobs as a symbol for technical Evolution and Strauss as a Prime example of industrial success meet here.
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“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
Harold John Brothers: “Russian Hill, San Francisco”, 1945
The exhibition “California Dreams” paints a portrait of San Francisco from the founding of the town at the end of the 18th century. Century up to the present time. Since it exists, the city was a symbol of hope – from the days of the California gold rush about the Hippie movement, up to today’s High-Tech industry in Silicon Valley. Our gallery shows examples of some of the exhibits.
-
“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
C. C. Nahl and A. Wenderoth: “gold miners in the Sierras”, 1851/1852
In the Wake of the California gold rush that began in 1848, the population grew in San Francisco in less than two years from 1,000 to 25,000 inhabitants. After the March revolution of 1848 many Germans to California, had fled, including Charles Christian Nahl and August Wenderoth. Your money the two graves earned with the Painting of portraits of the first gold.
-
“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
Liu Hung: “Resident Alien”, In 1988
Chinese-Americans are often exposed to prejudices – the fact the artist Liu Hung makes this work carefully. Since the days of the gold rush Chinese immigrants come to California – the “Chinatown” in San Francisco, the oldest in North America. Even the happiness was invented biscuit, on the Liu Hung here in her self-assigned Pseudonym alludes to.
-
“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
Robert Schwartz: “The shape of lots road”, 1997
18. April 1906 a powerful earthquake shook the city. It is considered to be one of the worst natural disasters in the USA, about 3000 people were killed. The politically inspired paintings by Robert Schwartz plays with the metaphor of the year, hundreds of quake to the social upheavals at the time of the emergence of the Californian gay scene in the 1960s.
-
“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
Gilbert Baker: “Rainbow Flag”, 1978
The rainbow flag is an international Symbol of the LGBTQ movement and is regarded as a symbol of acceptance and tolerance. Designed by the American artist and activist Gilbert Baker in Bonn specimen he has sewn in 1978 itself.
-
“California Dreams” – San Francisco in the Federal art hall in Bonn
The Outfit of Steve Jobs, 1980s
A of pants held in a classic Levi’s straps Jeans, a white Versace shirt: The Federal art and exhibition hall also presents clothes to the Apple founder, Steve Jobs. The pants is one of the famous, patented “501 Levi’s” of the blue Jeans inventor Levi Strauss. Jobs as a symbol for technical Evolution and Strauss as a Prime example of industrial success meet here.
From the indigenous headdress of crow and magpie feathers up to the Jeans of Apple founder, Steve Jobs, everything is there, what is the dream worlds of San Francisco to give away. Over 400 years of city history, the Show spans from the Spanish conquerors at the end of the 18th century. Century up to the digital conquerors the now. “No other city was in its history, so much place for people from all over the world,” says curator Sylvia Kasprycki. “At the same time an important impetus in the whole world went from here.”
The exhibition sends visitors on a multi-media cultural and historical journey of discovery. A Wealth of historical original objects, garnished with old as well as contemporary works of art, illustrating the history of the West coast city. Programmatically hangs at the very beginning of the painting “Westward Ho” (1986) by the American painter Ed Ruscha. A hard on the Wind sailing a three-master, appears all of a sudden out of the brown fog riser into the Unknown. For children, it has hoisted up a mobile model of the Cable Cars, the historic cable tram in the exhibition.
New start after the earthquake
Chronologically, the exhibition begins in the base with the beginnings of the city as a Spanish military. Is the subject of the brutal displacement of the native people. The waves of immigration, including German immigrants, and the gold rush from the 1850’s to let the city grow by leaps and bounds. The fatal earthquake of 18. April, 1906, the power of hundreds of thousands of people homeless, forcing the city to make a fresh start.
A Symbol of Gay liberation: The rainbow flag has sewn inventor Gilbert Baker in 1978 by hand
Famous San Francisco after the Second world war, as the stronghold of the Hippie and the Gay and lesbian movement. Their world-wide sign of recognition, the rainbow flag, is a Highlight of the Bonn exhibition. Inventor Gilbert Baker has sewn in 1978 itself.
A German invented the Blue Jeans
From the beginning, San Francisco was regarded as tolerant and liberal, vanishing point – “generous even than the Puritan-Protestant spirit embossed New York”, as the Director of a Museum emphasizes Pure wolf. Also for this reason, German Jews settled here preferred. One of them is the Franke Levi Strauss (1829-1902), the inventor of the Blue Jeans, but never wore, because she was clothing for workers. The Federal art and exhibition hall shows an early copy.
Also issued a Levi’s 501 of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs. In the 1980s, a technological Revolution was from the Silicon Valley in San Francisco, which changed with the development of computers and Smartphones in the daily lives of people around the globe. At all times San Francisco people from all over the world – different cultures clashed or merged. Around 1900, a quarter of the population was German-speaking. “San Francisco in addition to New York, becoming the second major immigrant port,” says Co-curator Henriette Pleiger.
Crooked pavement, moving story – the streets of San Francisco in the image “Potrero Houses – Pennsylvania Avenue” by Robert Bechtle (1988)
Immigrants from Europe and Asia, shaped the image of the city. “This cultural diversity must not obscure the ethnic and social hierarchies”, warns curator Sylvia Kasprycki. “The dreams of the one were all too often at the expense of the other!” So in 1850, four-fifths of the city were already in possession of less than five percent of its white population. The Chinese, long as cheap labour is welcome, were increasingly perceived as a threat. “Chinatown was created as a reaction to exclusion by the white population,” explains the Museum. “As a survival strategy the Chinese made their neighborhood into a tourist attraction.”
Dreams at the expense of other
The exhibition is not excluding such a Chapter. The leading position of the city in environmental and climate protection reasons on bad experiences in the past, says Pleiger: “The San Francisco Bay is contaminated today with mercury, because they dissolved during the gold rush, with mercury of Gold.” Another shadow side of the dream city is the wide-spread homelessness because of the enormously high Rents and house prices.
Just a few days ago, the city Council of San Francisco has declared the American gun lobby organization of the NRA to be a domestic terrorist organization. With this provocative decision, the West coast metropolis got the world’s attention, once again. Bonn’s Museum boss wolf sends a great compliment across the Pacific: “San Francisco remains a very brave town.”
San-Francisco-paintings by Tom E. Lewis (CA. 1936)
The exhibition “California Dreams – San Francisco: a portrait” in the Federal art hall in Bonn will take up to 12. January, 2020.