Lecture: Galka Scheyer: Patron Saint of Modernism in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1925–1933

Susan Landauer, Independent Art Historian and Curator
September 16, 2017

In early 20th-century San Francisco, the introduction and assimilation of European modernist art sparked widespread excitement and controversy. When Galka Scheyer arrived in 1925, she was immediately embraced by San Francisco’s fledgling avant-garde. Through her energetic lecture circuit and her position as European representative of the Oakland Art Gallery, she also introduced German Expressionism, Dadaism and Constructivism, virtually unknown in California. Landauer explores the pioneering efforts of Galka Scheyer to educate the city’s wary public and largely conservative art community about the Blue Four.


Presented in conjunction with the exhibition, Maven of Modernism: Galka Scheyer in California.