It was easily accessible by BART. And is located in the SF Civic Center which has great outdoor space to wander around as well.
The museum is quite large and features a mix of historical artifacts from all over Asia -- with larger focus of China, Japan and Korea -- and also contemporary art exhibits.
I did plan my visit especially to see Murakami: Monsterized!
The exhibit was BIG -- including a lot of new work he created in 2023. A very kid-friendly exhibition. This is a well curated show, with a "Find the monsters" hunt for kids. And near the entrance, they have an interactive area called The Monster Lab where kids can draw their own monsters -- including lots of seating so it's great for tired chaperones too.
The overall museum is well kept and has lots of interesting facts throughout. There's a large gift shop (with a big section dedicated to the Monsterized exhibit) on the main floor. Also on the main floor is a dining hall as well featuring bentos with Asian-flavours, and an outdoor patio.
It's easier for me to appreciate Asian Art because it's part of my cultural heritage. The artwork seems comfortable and easy to like.
I recommended the Asian Art Museum to my friends and they had never heard of it. So we all went off to visit the museum and it's been about 20 years since I've been there myself.
Everyone did get into it, although not quite the way, I expected. The artwork seem to generate lots of questions, and it was one of the most chatty visits I've ever had to a museum.
I suspect the audio tour would have answered a lot of those questions, but it was way more fun for us to talk to each other.
You get a tour of China, Japan, Korea, and India. Representation from other nations was limited but there's enough artwork from those countries to keep you busy for about 3-4 hours.
The interesting thing about the museum was some of the people watching. There was just a remarkable selection of fashionable folks on parade. Speculation ranged from people dress up to visit museums to they dress like this everyday.
Sadly, the gift shop failed to tempt any of us. I think we've all been to too many and have purchased our lifetime quota of items with cute expressions.
I would recommend this museum. If you've never seen Asian art then one of those art books might help you decide if you want to go. It always helps to have some context.
Wow it's been over a decade since my first (and only other) visit, so I'd forgotten how large the museum is! The Takashi Murakami exhibit drew me here initially, but I'm glad we had some extra time to see other exhibits. Definitely budget some time for those if you can, especially since it was free with our ticket purchase. We didn't know they closed at 5pm on Saturdays and also underestimated just how many things there were to see! We were catching glimpses of everything as we were being ushered out lol. The jade room was a highlight!
Great weekend activity, and definitely recommend the Murakami exhibit! It's a lot to take in and can overwhelm the eyes if you're really dissecting each piece, but a good mix of his older and newer works. And there's also a fun room for photos if you want a nice photo opp.
A beautiful beaux-arts building that houses tens of thousands of Asian art in its permanent collection. This space is part of an oasis in the middle of a city surrounded by encroaching despair and homelessness.
Tahashi Murakami: Unfamilar People - Swelling of Monsterized Human Ego. An artist with a an international influence on pop culture has his first San Francisco solo exhibition.
You might be familiar with his motif of smiling flowers. They are multicolored, bold, bright, upbeat. His inspiration for them coming from his frustration at developing his own style of Nihonga, they have become a recognizable pop culture icon. As carefree and innocent as they appear, Murakami says they represent thr trauma and collective dark emotions Japanese still experience from the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.
His series of Unfamiliar People series are his takes on "monsterous" themes of over-consumerism and the failings of human dignity. What looks buoyant and larger than life are his look at our darker manifestations. You might not recognize the people as they are under their surface.
I found my favorite. A collection of plastic F.R.I.E.N.D.s from a film, "Jellyfish Eyes". Little purple Juliana T. is my next Yelp friend!
