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Asian Art Museum Review
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Asian Art Museum
Museums / Galleries, Civic Center
Fodor's Review:
Expecting a building full of Buddhas and jade? Well, yeah, you can find plenty of those here. Happily, though, you don't have to be a connoisseur of Asian art to appreciate a visit to this splendidly renovated museum, whose monumental exterior conceals a light, open, and welcoming space. The fraction of the museum's items on display (about 2,500 pieces from a 15,000-plus-piece collection) is laid out thematically and by region, making it easy to follow developments.
Begin on the third floor, where highlights of Buddhist art in Southeast Asia and early China include a large, jewel-encrusted, exquisitely painted 19th-century Burmese Buddha and clothed rod puppets from Java. On the second floor you can find later Chinese works, as well as pieces from Korea and Japan. Look for a cobalt tiger jauntily smoking a pipe on a whimsical Korean jar and delicate Japanese tea implements. The ground floor displays rotating exhibits, including contemporary and traveling shows. If you'd like to attend one of the twice-monthly tea ceremonies and tastings at the Japanese Teahouse, call ahead, since preregistration is required.
Member Reviews & Ratings:
Asian Sensation
Posted by LG from San Francisco on 1/6/06
I visited the AAM in SF several times when it inhabited a far smaller space in Golden Gate Park, and the new digs in the old SF Public Library are indeed spectacular. In the old space, only about 4% of the collection was actually on exhibit, due to the small space, and now almost 80% of the collection is on permanent display. (I wish the contextual guides were better, but I know far more Asian history than most visitors, and perhaps that does me a disservice, since I expect more detail.) The cafe is a great little place, perfect for lunch, interesting food, and always well-prepared. Try out one of their teas; tea is served in cast-iron teapots that are worth 100x the cost of the tea. A very welcome change from most Civic Center lunch fare.
INFO
- Address: 200 Larkin St., between McAllister and Fulton Sts., Civic Center, San Francisco, CA
- Phone: 415/581-3500
- Web site
- Cost: $12, free 1st Tues. of month; $5 Thurs. 5-9; tea ceremony $20, includes museum
- Open: Tues., Wed., and Fri.-Sun. 10-5, Thurs. 10-9
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