{"id":111129,"date":"2026-09-14T15:43:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=111129"},"modified":"2026-09-14T15:43:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:43:02","slug":"green-wall-at-sf-moma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=111129","title":{"rendered":"green wall at SF MOMA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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David Brenner of Habitat Horticulture’s 30×150′ green wall installed at SF MOMA 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal” is closing September 27, 2026. I visited in July and was thrilled to be immersed in a world where an artistic revolution mattered to artists and nonartists alike. Modern art champions Gertrude and Leo Stein’s early 20th century sitting room was recreated, and the galleries were filled with art work influenced by Matisse’s “ugliest painting<\/a>.” The exhibit chronicles an incredibly exciting pre-WWI cultural moment. It was a bracing, restorative visit even before I found the green wall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Femme au chapeau by Henri Matisse 1905 (SF MOMA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“In 1905, Henri Matisse sent shockwaves through the art world with\u00a0Femme au chapeau\u00a0(Woman with a Hat), a portrait of his wife, Am\u00e9lie, painted in bold color and loose brushstrokes that defied convention. This exhibition traces the painting\u2019s controversial history and explores its lasting impact on modern art<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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included in the Matisse exhibit — View of Agay, Albert Marquet 1905<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wandering around the galleries we discovered an enormous green wall on one of the terraces. Lush, robustly healthy, and filled with plants I wouldn’t think to associate with green walls. There was repetition of Salvia chiapensis, for example, abutilons. And mahonia! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“recycled plastic geotextile, soil, and water”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mahonia eurybracteata, if I’m not mistaken<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Salvia chiapensis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I’ve seen a lot of succulent green walls. Ferns and other shade plants look naturally at home. Phlebodium aureum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I’ve seen similar fern walls on hikes along the Nehalem River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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yes, that’s a fatsia leaf lower left<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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suitably shaggy backdrop for Calder’s sleek stabiles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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looking out at the terrace from inside the museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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the epic scale of the green wall gives it a commanding presence that holds its own amongst the artwork. Supposedly the country’s largest green wall at the time of installation in 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Matisse would’ve loved this<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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As I say the exhibit closes September 27, 2026, but Brenner’s green wall is a permanent installation. If you can go, it makes for a fine afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More soon, AGO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal” is closing September 27, 2026. I visited in July and was thrilled to be immersed in a world where an artistic revolution mattered to artists and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2628,2281,850,550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artists","category-clippings","category-garden-travel","category-journal"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-sUp","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111129"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111271,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111129\/revisions\/111271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}