Floor 4: 4th Floor City Gallery (exiting Flavin)
Overview
Gallery Wayfinding
You are in the 4th Floor City Gallery. This is a wide, short gallery that spans the entire length of the main galleries behind you with three large windows on the front wall that look out to the rows of high-rise buildings in downtown San Francisco. You’ve entered the wide rectangular gallery at the back right corner. This gallery contains a history of the Fisher Collection, one sculpture by Alexander Calder, one sculpture by Duane Hanson, five sculptures by John Chamberlain, a touch object and media about Chamberlain.
Immediately to your right is a sculpture by Duane Hanson. On your left, the back wall prominently features a history of the Fisher Collection. This includes two videos about the Fisher family and how they started this collection. There is also a touchscreen device in the center and quotes from the Fisher family on the wall.
Continuing left down the hallway, on the back wall is the entrance to the Andy Warhol Gallery. Past that entrance, on the back wall, is a sculpture by John Chamberlain and a touch object. This touch object has an additional QR code with a guided tactile description. Past the touch object is the artist panel and video about Chamberlain. To access the audio, use the handheld listening device attached to the panel.
Across from the touch object, on the front wall, are two sculptures by Chamberlain and a staircase to the 5th floor. At the far-left end of the gallery on the back wall is an entrance to the Cy Twombly Gallery and a staircase to the 3rd Floor.
To get to the 3rd or 5th floor, continue left down through the entire gallery. At the end of the 4th Floor City Gallery, turn left. The 4th floor tactile map will be on your left and elevators will be on your right.
Label
1. Early lives in SF
Photo caption: Don Fisher (1928–2009) and Doris Fisher (née Feigenbaum, b. 1931) came from longtime San Francisco families, knew each other since childhood, and married in 1953.
Accompanying images: Don and Doris from 1969 and 1996
2.1969 Gap is founded
"I’ve been a visual person, and I naturally got into art. Then I got into the clothing business, which is also visual, which I look at as an artist.”
—Don Fisher
Doris and Don cofounded Gap in 1969. Doris came up with the name, shorthand for “the generation gap.” Considered pioneers in “specialty retailing,” their first store sold only men’s Levi’s and records.
Accompanying image: The first Gap store
3. The Problem of Empty Walls
“We started collecting prints, which is really the best way to start collecting, because you really had good artists and good visual pieces at very low prices.”
—Don Fisher
As Gap expanded, the Fishers faced a practical problem: filling empty wall space in their growing offices. A friend suggested they decorate with prints, and they found that employees responded enthusiastically to the creative workspace.
Accompanying image: The early Gap office
4. 1976: Gap Goes Public
Photo caption: When Gap became a publicly traded company in 1976, the Fishers had the capital to begin their collecting journey in earnest.
Accompanying image: Gap IPO, "Nerts" at Gap HQ
5. Their Collecting Methodology
“The [artists] that we have liked, we’ve bought over the years in real depth.”
—Don Fisher
They only bought artworks they both agreed on. When they traveled on Gap business, they made a point to visit museums, galleries, and artists’ studios to teach themselves about the art that was being made at the time.
Accompanying image: Art installed at Gap offices
6. Calder Sculpture
“I love looking at what we have. I like to put it together. I do that all myself. We don’t have a curator. Doris and I picked out everything that we own.”
—Don Fisher
Untitled, Alexander Calder
Though much of the art at Gap was in common spaces, Don Fisher kept a good number of artworks in his office. This small early Alexander Calder wood carving lived on his desk. He delighted in quizzing visitors on who made it; reportedly, only two people ever guessed correctly.
ca. 1928
Cocobolo wood
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1999
Visual Description
A small wood sculpture depicts a reclining human figure carved in a simplified, blocky style. The figure lies lengthwise from left to right, with both knees raised prominently at the far left, forming two rounded, vertical leg shapes that dominate that side. An arm extends across the torso, creating an oval negative space under the upper arm near the center, while the forearms and hands gather low at the front, holding or bracing against a small rectangular block-like form. The head sits to the upper right, slightly bowed and turned to the right, with facial features minimally indicated beneath a smooth, cap-like mass of hair or a hat-like shape. The body is built from broad, swelling volumes—torso, hips, and thighs—with flat planes and chisel facets, leaving visible tool marks and crosshatched cuts across the surface. The wood’s finish is deep brown with near-black areas and reddish undertones, emphasizing grain, knots, and carved texture; highlights skim across rounded edges while darker recesses collect in creases around the arms, neck, and between the bent legs.
7. 2001: Gap San Francisco Headquarters Galleries
When Gap built its new San Francisco headquarters at 2 Folsom Street (completed in 2001), it included exhibition space with entire galleries devoted to specific artists. This in-depth presentation style became a signature of the Fisher Collection.
Accompanying images: Gap graphic design examples, Gap staff working surrounded by art
8. Influence on Gap’s Creative Culture
"It’s very satisfying for both of us to exhibit our collection in a place where many people can enjoy the works or learn something from them. We’re lucky to have the ability to buy such great art, and very proud to be able to share it.”
—Doris Fisher
The art was central to Gap’s creative culture. Claes Oldenburg’s monumental _Geometric Apple Core _(1991) stood at the cafeteria entrance, where it became such a landmark that employees would say, “Let’s meet at the apple core,” which they affectionately nicknamed the Gapple.
Accompanying images: Oldenburg’s Geometric Apple Core at Gap HQ, invitation to a staff party celebrating the “Gapple”
9. Building Relationships with Artists and Curators
“[Collecting art] fills your life. No question about it. And certainly, getting to know the artists has done a lot. The friendships we’ve had with the various artists are terrific.”
—Doris Fisher
As the Fishers’ collection grew, so did the network of artists and curators with whom they developed deep personal relationships. This book was created for Doris and Don’s fiftieth wedding anniversary in 2003. Each page features a message from a different artist in the collection, many handwritten and reflective of that artist’s signature style.
Accompanied by Anniversary book under vitrine with digital scans of each page on a tablet
10. SFMOMA Connections
“A lot of the artists whom we’ve come to know are the result of our involvement with SFMOMA.”
—Doris Fisher
Doris’s college roommate started the SFMOMA Collectors' Forum, which Doris joined in the late 1970s. Don joined the Board in the early 1980s and started the museum’s first Accessions Committee later that decade. Don was involved in the museum’s first expansion in 1995, participating in the search for a site and an architect for what became the Mario Botta–designed building at 151 Third Street.
Accompanying images: the SFMOMA 1995 opening
11. Ellsworth Kelly
“I can’t think of any other artist that we talk to like we talk to Ellsworth [Kelly]. I talk to him every week on the phone.”
—Doris Fisher
Accompanying image: Doris and Don Fisher with Ellsworth Kelly in the artist's studio
12. Agnes Martin
“One of my favorite pieces, of course, is _Night Sea _[by Agnes Martin].”
—Doris Fisher
Doris learned fascinating technical details when she visited Martin’s austere home studio in Taos, New Mexico, which deepened her appreciation for the artist and her work.
Accompanying images: Agnes Martin with Chuck Close's _Agnes _(1998)
13. Richard Serra – Charlie Brown Commission
Richard Serra created a massive site-specific sculpture for Gap HQ. Installed by crane the day after Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz died, the work was titled Charlie Brown and is a permanent fixture.
Accompanying images: The Fisher family with Richard Serra
14. Richter – Two Candles_ _
“Perhaps more than any other work, Two Candles has come to symbolize for us our parents’ deep commitment to art and to each other.”
— Joint statement by John, Bill, and Bob Fisher, sons of Don and Doris
The Fishers were so deeply attached to Gerhard Richter’s _Zwei Kerzen _(Two Candles, 1982) that each summer, Don would take the painting off the wall of their home in San Francisco, and transport it in the back of the family station wagon to their summer home in Atherton, CA.
Accompanying image: Don and Doris with Zwei Kerzen
15. Legendary Collection
“We want to give back to the city we love by sharing the art that means so much to us.”
—Don and Doris Fisher
The Fishers sought ways to make the collection more public while keeping it intact and based in San Francisco. They even explored building their own museum. Ultimately, they reached an agreement with SFMOMA, the institution with which they had the deepest and longest-standing ties.
Accompanying images: press clippings featuring the Fishers, Doris with a Henry Moore
16. September 2009: The SFMOMA Partnership
In September 2009, the family established a landmark partnership with SFMOMA. The collection, held by the Fisher Art Foundation for public benefit, is at the museum on a hundred-year loan, renewable for an additional twenty-five-year period.
Accompanying image: SFMOMA groundbreaking, opening celebration
17. 2016 onward: The Expanded SFMOMA
The Fishers’ transformative support of SFMOMA enabled a major expansion, designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta. The expansion doubled exhibition space and included on-site staff workspaces. This ensures that the collection will continue to inspire and educate future generations in the heart of San Francisco. This reimagined presentation marks the anniversary of that expansion, which opened on May 14, 2016.
Accompanying images: families and diverse visitors enjoying the Collection at SFMOMA
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Transcript
Don Fisher:
I'm much more of a visual person than I am a hearing person. I started out after school as a building contractor, building homes and so forth, and architecture, I think, is art. There are a lot of things that are, in fact. I've had a big question that I've asked the people of San Francisco MOMA, please describe what art is. I think it's very difficult. There's all kinds of things. Anything that's done creatively by people that is visual, I think is art. Maybe there's more than just that. It's—if you invent things, it's art. But I've been a visual person and I naturally got into art and then got into the clothing business, which is also visual; what I look at as an artist's creativity is creating some of our clothes, or maybe all of our clothes.
The point that I got involved in art was when I could afford to buy it, and I couldn't afford to buy anything before that. Well, the art basically started in the early 70s, and I started the Gap in 1969. When we started collecting, it was with Doris's really good friend, Peggy Walker. She was sort of an art advisor, and because she was Doris's best friend, she'd help us pick things out and figure some artists that we thought we should get involved with. And that's how we started.
We started collecting prints, which is really the best way to start collecting, because you really had good artists and good visual pieces at very low prices compared to buying the real art. As our financial assets grew, we started buying more, and as I look back right now, I should have bought more. But I think we bought pretty wisely, and we bought in depth. The artists that we liked, we really did—didn't buy artists that we didn't like—and it was easy to like certain artists. And the ones that we have liked, we've bought over the years in real depth.
Once we started buying, you know, people get affected by the idea of the game—purchasing and looking around—and we got to know dealers. Whenever we went to New York, we'd spend time going to the dealers, and we'd go to the museums. Over time, you start understanding what an artist is all about. You go to enough retrospectives of Sam Francis or Lichtenstein, you know what you like; you know the things that you think are the best.
I don't think you could put the collection together that we have today, because, number one, the art isn't available. It's not as much just being able to pay for it—which in itself is staggering today, what's happened to the art prices—but the art itself, the really good art, is not available. It's either in museums' hands, or in private collectors that aren't selling it.
John Caldwell got us interested in a number of the artists that we've been collecting—Sigmar Polke to Richter. Those are the two that really come to mind. We have an enormous Richter collection, and we have several Polkes, but not to the same extent. The Bay Area is probably as good as any other area in the United States, as far as collectors are concerned. I do believe that museums have to have broader thinking than they do today to be relevant. I think an ideal museum would be a museum with a good permanent collection and with the ability and open-mindedness to have shows that are of real interest to a bigger constituency. To some extent, I think museums are elitist, and I don't think they should be, because—again—what's art, and who are we to define what art is to the population, or people's own mind of what art is? They should have the right to make their own decisions.
Label
"I think of my art materials not as junk but as garbage. Manure, actually; it goes from being the waste material of one being to the life-source of another."
—John Chamberlain, 1979
John Chamberlain
Born 1927, Rochester, Indiana; died 2011, New York
John Chamberlain first sculpted with scrap car parts in 1957, when he took two fenders from a friend's rusting Ford, drove over them, and wrapped them together. He soon embraced automobile sheet metal as his primary material, drawn to its availability and ready-made industrial colors. To create his dynamic sculptures, Chamberlain compressed and shaped the metal, intuitively fitting and balancing individual elements. His poetry studies at Black Mountain College in the mid-1950s informed his collage-like approach. Whether assembling words or crushed metal, he explained, it's "all in the fit." Although his materials carry numerous associations, Chamberlain denied any social commentary in his work.
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Transcript
John Chamberlain:
All my materials come from van tops. I mean, the vans in this country are converted. They cut off the tops; they put in a bubble or something. Well, these van tops are stacked away, and I found them, and I bought a thousand. So what happens is that we clean them up, and we cut them up into strips. And then we paint it.
There was a time when I had maybe five or six people all at one time—or another. Different people would come and go, and paint on here. For instance, I told them they could paint anything they wanted, as long as they painted a cold color on one side and a hot color on the other. It would have to be bright, and then it’d have to be dull. So, after all these panels get painted, they go through things that we have in the compactor, so that they get certain forms, you know? And then they’re laid around—it’s sort of like that’s the process of making a work.
Each part of the panel, when it gets painted and crimped—and maybe cut in a couple of places—ends up laying around on the floor as a part waiting to go into a sculpture. Then that’s when I come in, and I can put this piece somewhere against something else. And for some reason, I’m very good at this: the color fits well, the forms fit well, and somehow you get two pieces making a little larger piece. And this might be just a segment, too—but it’s a good segment, and it has grown.
Objects
8 objects in the order you'll encounter them from this entrance. Select an object to view details.
Artwork Label Text
1994
Acrylic enamel paint, fiberglass, polyester compound, glass eyes, hair, clothing, ladder, and extension cord
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1995
At first glance, this man with plaster-spattered clothes holding a ladder and an extension cord appears to be a museum worker pausing mid-task. In fact, he is a hyperrealistic sculpture finished with real clothing, hair, and tools. From the late 1960s until his passing, Hanson created more than fifty lifelike portrayals of working people and familiar character types, including construction workers, police officers, tourists, and more. Hanson’s sculptures reflect a deep respect for individuals he described as “heroes in society. . .people we take for granted that really hold the fabric of the country together.”
Visual Description
A life-size, hyperrealistic sculpture of a light-skinned white man in paint-spattered work clothes stands on the gallery floor and rests part of his weight on an open wooden A-frame step ladder.
The man has a thick brown mustache, and curly, thinning, light-brown hair that sticks out from under a blue baseball cap worn backward. He appears middle-aged, with some wrinkles and bags under his eyes, and the suggestion of a slight potbelly under his tucked-in shirt. His gaze is turned somewhat downward, and his eyes are vacant and glazed over. He wears a red, plaid, button-up work shirt spattered with white paint, with the top buttons open to reveal the top of his chest and the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms; baggy, faded blue jeans with paint marks; and worn gray Reebok sneakers. His right foot rests on the gallery floor while his left leg is bent.
He props his left foot on the first step of the ladder and his left forearm drapes over a ladder rung. Overall, he is slightly leaned over, as though temporarily resting on the ladder. In his right hand, he holds a bright yellow extension cord that hangs in several loose loops. The ladder is natural wood with visible grain and contains metal hinge hardware at the top. Also visible are several labels—including a yellow safety label reading "caution" in all capital letters on the upper section—and white paint spatters.
The lifelike figure occupies the same space as museum visitors—he and the ladder are set directly on the gallery floor without a platform. A museum stanchion has been set up in front of the sculpture.
Artwork Label Text
ca. 1928
Cocobolo wood
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1999
Visual Description
A small, cocobolo-wood sculpture—roughly the size of a low, small stool—depicts a reclining human figure carved in a simplified, blocky style.
The figure lies lengthwise from left to right, with both knees raised prominently at the far left, forming two rounded, vertical leg shapes that dominate that side. An arm extends across the torso, creating an oval negative space under the upper arm near the center, while the forearms and hands gather low at the front, holding or bracing against a small, rectangular, block-like form. The head sits to the upper right, slightly bowed and turned to the right, with facial features minimally indicated beneath a smooth, cap-like mass of hair or hat-like shape. The body is built from broad, swelling volumes—torso, hips, and thighs—with flat planes and chiseled facets—leaving visible tool marks and crosshatched cuts across the surface.
The wood's finish is deep brown with near-black areas and reddish undertones, emphasizing grain, knots, and carved texture; highlights skim across rounded edges while darker recesses collect in creases around the arms, neck, and between the bent legs.
Artwork Label Text
1969
Painted and chromium-plated steel
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1995
Here, crushed metal from an old washing machine—which the artist found during a visit to a collector’s home in Chicago—is thoughtfully fitted together to create a form that twists around itself. Although scrap car parts were Chamberlain’s primary material, he sometimes used other discarded consumer items. The title is a word in the Havasupai language (belonging to the Indigenous peoples of the Grand Canyon area) that means “little water,” referring slyly to the material’s former life.
Visual Description
A large, abstract sculpture made of painted and chromium-plated steel forms a compact tangle of folded metal planes and sharp, jutting fins. At five feet tall, six feet wide, and four feet deep, it rises as tall as a short adult, but wider than their outstretched arms.
The work is built from overlapping panels that buckle, crease, and curl inward to create deep cavities and pockets of shadow. Several bright, chromium-plated elements rise from the top and upper areas, their polished surfaces catching highlights and contrasting with the matte, weathered paint elsewhere. Large sections are painted a dark charcoal to black, with scuffs, scratches, and rusty brown streaks along edges and seams; other major panels are painted an aged off-white with marbling and chipped areas exposing darker underlayers and oxidized metal.
The silhouette is irregular and asymmetrical: a heavy, dark mass projects on one side while off-white folds bulge and curl near the base on the other, including a crushed, rounded corner that looks compressed. There are numerous seams, rivet-like points, and torn-looking edges with some thin metal flanges flaring outward, while thicker folded plates stack into a dense core. Reflective chrome accents punctuate the battered black and off-white body. The sculpture rests on a low, white, circular plinth.
Artwork Label Text
1967
Galvanized steel
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1992
Visual Description
Measuring about one foot tall, one foot wide, and one foot deep—about the size of a small subwoofer speaker—this galvanized-steel sculpture is built from a mass of heavily crumpled sheet metal stacked into a squat, irregular block. The surface is a mottled, speckled gray that shifts from pale silver to darker graphite tones where planes tilt into shadow and where the metal is more deeply creased. Large, flattened panels fold over one another; several edges curl outward into lip-like rims, while other sections buckle inward to form angular hollows and compressed cavities.
The two main tiers are an upper cap and a denser lower body. The top portion is a slumped, boxy hood with a broad face and a vertical ridge or seam line, while the lower portion is compacted, with deep pleats and sharp, faceted dents that create triangular and trapezoidal planes. On one side, a narrow flap projects outward, and on multiple sides, there are bent hems and folded corners.
Touch Object Available
There is a physical touch object associated with this artwork.
Skip to Touch ObjectGuided Tactile Description
This is a touch object representing Crissum-Kiss by John Chamberlain, a galvanized-steel sculpture built from a mass of heavily crumpled sheet metal, stacked into a squat, irregular block.
The touch object is about two-thirds the size of the original sculpture. Starting from the peaked top, slowly make your way down the sides, exploring the many folds and crevices. Notice the irregularity in the form, the sharp creases, and softer bends.
Artwork Label Text
1967
Galvanized steel
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1992
Artwork Label Text
1961
Painted and chromium-plated steel
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 2007
Besides freestanding sculptures, Chamberlain also produced wall-mounted sculptures, such as this one and the nearby Fiddler’s Foot. In the wall-based works especially, one can see the influence of older abstract painters such as Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning, both of whom Chamberlain befriended in New York in the late 1950s. Commentators of the day often described Chamberlain as having translated the painters’ bold, expressive brushstrokes into three dimensions.
Visual Description
Spanning about eight feet wide and three feet tall, or about the size of a park bench, this sculpture is a long, wall-mounted relief made from compressed car parts—specifically painted and chromium-plated steel—that have been fitted together.
The overall silhouette is horizontally stretched and slightly tapered. The densest, most compacted mass is toward the right end. Portions of this have been painted red. The area towards the left end contains broader, layered folds that have been painted two different shades of blue: one is a sky blue, and the other is a pale cobalt blue. The center of the piece contains some yellow pieces that are similarly creased and layered. Interlocking sheets and bent components create a topography of ridges, dents, and overlapping planes, with glossy highlights from chrome-like surfaces cutting through matte and scuffed paint.
Artwork Label Text
1978
Painted and chromium-plated steel, aluminum, and plastic
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 2006
Visual Description
A wall-mounted sculptural relief roughly three feet tall, four feet wide, and one foot deep—about the size of a low industrial cabinet—made from painted-and-chromium-plated steel, aluminum, car body parts, and plastic spreads outward, with glossy, crumpled panels radiating from a central vertical chrome element.
Dominating the center is a tall, reflective silver section—creased and dented—with holes and fastener points visible; its mirrorlike surface catches highlights and distorted reflections. A bright red, folded sheet of metal projects to the right, flaring into two bent planes; beneath it, a rectangular orange panel juts out, scuffed and scratched with scattered dark marks and scraped areas where the paint has worn thin. On the left side of the sculpture, a large black panel curves forward, heavily dented and creased, splattered with irregular drips and patches of pale gray, blue, and tan paint; a smaller greenish piece overlaps near the bottom left, also scratched and chipped. A strip of shiny chrome trim arcs horizontally across the middle, bridging left and right and adding a linear accent amid the crushed forms.
Artwork Label Text
1983
Painted and chromium-plated steel and marker
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 2004
After a period in the late 1960s exploring other materials—including foam, paper, plexiglass, and aluminum foil—Chamberlain returned to found car parts in the mid-1970s. In later works such as this, he operated at an increasingly large scale and often added color or texture to the metal. Here, he sandblasted a calligraphic pattern into part of the vertical form. The title refers to Ernest Fenollosa (1853–1908), a US scholar of Asian art whose book The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry (1919) influenced Chamberlain’s thinking about language and visual form.
Visual Description
A thick, freestanding pillar made of interlocking crushed car parts—specifically painted and chromium-plated steel—towers over visitors at roughly ten feet tall, or almost the size of two refrigerators stacked vertically.
The structure gathers multiple sheet-like metal planes that buckle, crease, and curl inward, creating a crumpled silhouette that widens at the base and tightens toward the top. Near the top, large and glossy black folds with a chromium sheen bunch together with sharp creases, catching highlights and producing deep, mirror-like shadows. Along one side, a tall, cream-colored panel rises vertically, its surface distressed with smudges, scratches, and linear, calligraphic marks added in marker. Intertwined nearer the center, a green-toned strip runs upward in a curved, blade-like arc. At the midsection, a rounded turquoise form peeks out from behind overlapping panels, adding a color accent amid the angular metal folds. Across another side and adjacent to the green and turquoise forms, a bright yellow sheet curls outward and then back in, covered with dark, branching marker lines.
The pattern continues across creased edges, emphasizing the sculpture's folds. The base consists of bent cream panels that splay and kink outward with scuffed surfaces and dark, seam-like lines, supporting the dense central cluster of black and colored elements.