Best Art Galleries in San Francisco

By <a href="#author-bio">Stuart Bak</a>
By Stuart Bak
Published: July 18, 2024
The de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

San Francisco is something of a treasure trove for art lovers. At one end of the spectrum are the dozens of small independent galleries scattered around the city while, at the other, you've got the big guns, in this case the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), one of the largest modern and contemporary art museums on the planet. There’s plenty around the city for everyone, from excitable toddlers to easily bored teens to seen-it-all-before museum mavens. Join us as we explore some of the best art galleries in San Francisco.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

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It would be remiss not to kick this list off with the daddy of them all. And let’s get this straight: SFMOMA is huge. We’re talking 170,000 square feet and seven stories huge, so it’s a good idea to plan your must-sees before you get here. And what a collection you have to choose from. There are commissioned murals from Bay Area artists as well as crucial pieces from household names that read like a who’s who of modern and contemporary art. Think Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper, Gerhard Richter, Frida Kahlo, Willem de Kooning, Henri Matisse and Paul Klee and you’ve barely scratched the surface. Don’t miss the rooftop sculpture garden and accompanying views of the Downtown skyline, and make time to visit the living wall, a vast dense forest of lush foliage. As a piece of art it is simply stunning, and provides different sensory experiences depending on the season. It is also, naturally, the largest living wall of its kind in the world.

Cartoon Art Museum

Located in Fisherman’s Wharf, the Cartoon Art Museum (CAM) celebrates all things comic-related, displaying comic strips, political cartoons, anime, graphic novels and more from its fine collection of over 7,000 pieces. Pop by to catch one of the regularly rotating exhibitions – the eclectic range of past themes include Wonder Woman, Popeye, Garfield and Disney Villains, as well as explorations of wartime comics and controversial political cartoons, and celebrations of the work of influential 20th-century illustrators including Edward Gorey and Charles M. Schulz. There are tables where kids (and adults) can create their own comic art, and the gift shop is sure to make all your Batman/Hellboy/Calvin and Hobbes dreams come true.

Asian Art Museum

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The Asian Art Museum boasts one of the largest and most important collections of Asian art in the world and can be found in one of the beautiful Beaux Arts buildings in the San Francisco Civic Center. Here’s where you can see Chinese Jades from the Neolithic period, Persian ceramics, Korean paintings, Cambodia bronzes, Samurai armor, Hindu deities and much more. Around 2,000 pieces from the museum’s 18,000-strong collection are on display at any given time, with the bulk of these originating from China, including ritual bronzes, lacquerware and decorative ceramics, some of which date from over 6,000 years ago. Don’t miss the incredibly well-preserved bronze Buddha statue, dated 338.

De Young Museum

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You don’t really need an excuse to visit Golden Gate Park, with its 10 lakes, picture-perfect Dutch windmill, smattering of world-class museums and acres of formal gardens. But, if you did, the de Young Museum is as good a reason as any. The building has taken many forms since it opened on this site at the end of the 19th Century. Its latest – complete with dramatic copper facade – is something of a work of art in itself; likewise the views from its 144-foot Hamon Observation Tower. Step inside, where an extensive collection of American paintings, sculptures and decorative arts spanning the last five centuries is supported by smaller collections from Africa, the Americas and Oceania. Must-see highlights include George Caleb Bingham’s Renaissance-style 1846 masterpiece Boatmen on the Missouri, Albert Bierstadt’s pastoral Sacramento riverbank scene California Spring and the absorbing installation of wire sculptures by celebrated modernist Ruth Asawa in the tower lobby. It’s easily one of the best art galleries in San Francisco.

Exploratorium

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The Exploratorium on Pier 15 is an art and science extravaganza, with stacks of ​​interactive galleries focusing on sight, touch, sound, memory and perception. It’s the type of place kids and adults can spend hours exploring together and, with hands-on exhibits galore, it’s ideal for a family day out whether your little darlings are curious toddlers or difficult-to-please teens. The artworks here are not just for looking at; they’re for interacting with. Simulate sandstorms in the Aeolian Landscape exhibit and listen to the eerie singing of the Aeolian Harp when the wind picks up outside. Lose your way on the Fog Bridge and step inside a real mini-tornado. Have a boogie with your animated twin in the Recollections installation and experience Sun Painting, an ever-changing kaleidoscopic work of colorful art made by reflecting and refracting the sun’s rays onto a massive canvas. Seems like a lot, right? But this barely scratches the surface of one of the city's most wide-ranging museums.

Contemporary Jewish Museum

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Located in the SoMa neighborhood, the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) merits a visit to goggle at the building alone. Part former gas and electric substation, part enormous deconstructivist blue steel cube known as the ‘Yud’, it’s really quite something. The Yud’s 36 diamond-shaped windows make for an awe-inspiring space that’s used for a variety of installations and events, and that highly contemporary look nods to the kinds of things you can expect here. There’s no permanent collection; instead, the CJM curates an ever-changing series of captivating exhibitions that explore contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture, history and art. Past exhibitions have focused on the legend of the golem and other Jewish folklore, explored the life and work of Leonard Cohen, and celebrated the art of cartoonist Rube Goldberg. Whatever you do, don’t miss the masterpiece that is the challah French toast with maple syrup at Wise Sons, the museum’s authentic Jewish deli.

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Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Freelance travel writer

Stu caught the travel bug at an early age, thanks to childhood road trips to the south of France squeezed into the back of a Ford Cortina with two brothers and a Sony Walkman. Now a freelance writer living on the Norfolk coast, Stu has produced content for travel giants including Frommer’s, British Airways, Expedia, Mr & Mrs Smith, and now Go City. His most memorable travel experiences include drinking kava with the locals in Fiji and pranging a taxi driver’s car in the Honduran capital.

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Flowers in bloom on a sunny day in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
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San Francisco in July

July sees San Francisco’s tourist season get into full swing, with schools on vacation planet-wide and the city’s fine weather and funky festivals drawing in the crowds from here, there and everywhere. It’s peak season and therefore the priciest time of year to visit, but a trip to San Francisco in July still has much to recommend it. Visiting San Francisco in July Average Temperature: 54–66°F • Average Rainfall: 0 days/mth • Average Sunshine: 10 hours/day Umbrellaphobes, rejoice! July is one of San Francisco’s driest months with an average of, um, zero days’ rainfall, meaning the chances of being poked in the eye by an unruly golf umbrella or – worse still – looking on helplessly as the cable car pulls away with your precious bumbershoot still on board, are close to non-existent. What you can expect is mild weather with plenty of sunshine, tempered by occasional fresh sea winds and a healthy dose of the Bay area’s famous fogs. It’s why the locals often refer to this time of year as ‘no sky July’. But don’t let that put you off! Sure, San Francisco may not be the place to get that perfect California summer tan, but those all-enveloping mists have their own curious charm, and the city’s great parks and museums, abundance of July festivals and all-round party atmosphere more than make up for any minor weather-related downsides. Top tip: the Golden City is deep into tourist season in July, so make sure to book your hotels and Airbnb accommodation well in advance to secure the best rates possible. Things to do in July No trip to San Francisco at any time of year would be complete without setting foot on the world’s most photographed bridge. It’s worth doing this two ways in July. First: choose a clear day to take a walk the Golden Gate’s entire length, starting in the Presidio and finishing with lunch in downtown Sausalito. As you stroll across this rust-red icon (the bridge’s official color is actually ‘international orange’, fact fans) you’ll enjoy sweeping views of the Bay and the rolling waves of the vast Pacific, meaning ace selfie opportunities galore. For a truly otherworldly experience, keep an eye on local forecasts and pay the bridge a second visit when it's shrouded in dense fog. You won’t be able to see much, but ghostly close-up snaps of the bridge’s soaring towers will make you the envy of all your friends. Pro-tip: you can also simulate this experience in the interactive Fog Bridge exhibit at the Exploratorium, a fantastic museum of arts and sciences on the Embarcadero. The bridge’s big green namesake, Golden Gate Park, lies a few miles south, sprawling west from the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood to the sands of Ocean Beach, itself a lovely spot for sunbathing (when not foggy) and surfing – professionals only though, please; the riptides here are notoriously dangerous. Back in the park, there are plenty of activities to keep you occupied for an entire July day. Visit the Japanese Tea Garden for a gentle stroll along paths that meander past koi ponds, bonsai groves and impressive bronze statues. Look out for the impressive five-tiered pagoda and pause for a refreshing jasmine tea and a moment of zen in the pavilion. Golden Gate Park is also home to two of San Francisco’s finest museums. The vast California Academy of the Sciences is home to a huge natural history museum, an aquarium, a rainforest and a planetarium, while the de Young Museum showcases fine art from the US and beyond, all housed in a striking copper-clad building with a 144-foot observation tower boating 360-degree views of the park, as well as downtown San Francisco, the Bay and the Marin headlands. What’s on in July? Fourth of July Fireworks July is a great time to visit San Francisco if you’re into fireworks, great live music and... running. Sounds like a strange combination, but hear us out. First up, those fireworks. Fourth of July is cause for celebration across the States, and San Francisco is no exception. The city puts on two major displays in Fisherman’s Wharf, with the event at Pier 39 being the biggest and best. There’s live music along the waterfront until, at the appointed hour, the spectacular display commences, with hundreds of colorful fireworks set off from a series of barges in the Bay. This event is free, so don’t miss it! Fillmore Jazz Festival One of the biggest free jazz festivals on the west coast, the Fillmore Jazz Festival showcases local and international talent on two main outdoor stages. There’s great street food too, as well as smaller live music events in and around Fillmore’s legendary clubs and theaters. This part of town is synonymous with great jazz music – in its heyday it attracted acts of near-mythical status including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker – so you just know the acts performing at this festival are going to be outstanding. And, like the best jazz, the shows are completely free. Catch a Baseball Game July is a great time to catch the San Francisco Giants in action at the Oracle Park stadium in SoMa, with the Major League Baseball season in full swing. Catch them against the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and, if you’re lucky, their arch rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers. And, if bats and balls don’t float your boat, perhaps a bit of opera will: the stadium also hosts live simulcasts of performances from the famous War Memorial Opera House, throughout summer. The San Francisco Marathon You’ll need to apply well in advance if you want to take part in this one but, if you’re a runner, it’s a great way to see many of the city’s attractions at sunrise while getting some extra miles in. The race starts and ends at the Embarcadero, taking in many of the city’s big attractions, including Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower, the Presidio and the mural-filled Mission district. It even crosses the Golden Gate Bridge (hence the early start to allow the bridge to reopen to regular pedestrians by 9AM). You can also take it down a notch by entering the half marathon or 5 and 10k events, while braver souls limber up for the challenging ultra-marathon: double the distance at a thigh-numbing 52.4 miles. Phew! Save on attractions in San Francisco Save on admission to San Francisco attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Alcatraz Island in San Francisco
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San Francisco in May

With spring drawing to an end ready to usher in San Francisco’s busy summer season, May is a fine time to visit the Golden City, thanks to its mild climate and the kicking off in earnest of the city’s colorful festival season. If it’s pleasant weather, fewer crowds, and affordable accommodation you’re after, May in the Bay could well be for you. Visiting San Francisco in May Average Temperature: 51–64°F • Average Rainfall: 3 days/mth • Average Sunshine: 10 hours/day Daytime temperatures in May reach average highs in the mid-60s, meaning it's still cool enough to explore the city on foot. So the chances of looking like you’ve just stepped off a treadmill in those essential hilltop selfies are vastly reduced. There’s also little or no need to remember to pack an umbrella. April showers having apparently purged the clouds of their cargo for the foreseeable future, you can expect a mere three days of rain on average in May. Better yet, hotel prices have yet to rise for peak season and it’s another month before the tourist hordes descend, meaning shorter queuing times at the big attractions. What more can we say to convince you to spend May in San Francisco? Read on... Things to do in May Of course no visit to the Golden City would be complete without seeing the bucket-list attractions. The Golden Gate Bridge will be at the top of most itineraries and May is as good a time as any to visit. Better, perhaps, as the summer fogs are yet to roll in and shroud it. Top tip: wrap up warm if you’re planning to stroll out to the middle of the bridge for those picture-perfect Bay views – it can be breezy and teeth-chatteringly chilly up here at the best of times, so stick on your thermals and a fleece. Or two. Bay cruises are another great way to get a different perspective on the famous San Francisco skyline, and May’s clear blue skies will make for some fine photo opportunities. Most cruises will take in the Pier 39 sea lion colony, the historic waterfront, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. You can also just get straight to the notorious island penitentiary, should you so desire, with a cruise and tour of the facility. Those rolling historic landmarks that are San Francisco’s painted wooden cable cars can get really busy, and we mean sardines-in-a-can busy, in summer. You’ll likely still find queues in May, but nothing like during peak season. It’s worth the short wait to travel in style, as the bell rings out and your carriage rattles over the San Francisco hills, affording splendid views of the Bay, loopy Lombard Street and the ultra-luxe hotels in swanky Nob Hill, depending which of the three lines you take. And if the weather gets a little too cool for your liking, duck into any number of world-class museums around the city. Art museums including SFMOMA in the heart of downtown and the striking, copper-clad de Young in Golden Gate Park are among the best in the country. Golden Gate Park is also where you’ll find the California Academy of the Sciences which contains – beneath its living rooftop – a planetarium, an aquarium, a rainforest dome and a huge natural history museum. Embarcadero icon the Exploratorium is the place for interactive art and science exhibits: step into a tornado, get lost in the fog and see the San Francisco skyline modeled from thousands of tiny toothpicks. What’s on in May? Memorial Weekend May sees San Francisco’s festival season crank up a gear as Mother’s Day and Memorial Weekend give locals all the excuse they need to celebrate. Memorial Weekend is the biggie, with a major ceremony at the National Cemetery in the Presidio to honor and remember America’s veterans. Expect a reflective but celebratory tone that includes music, parades, speeches and a 21-gun salute. Down in the trendy Mission district, it’s all kicking off as the two-day Carnaval Festival rolls into town. This riot of color and sound celebrates the arts and traditions of Latin America and the Caribbean through lively street performances, flamboyant costumes and some of the best street food this side of the Mexican border. Beer and cannabis gardens help you stay mellow and there is, of course, a grand parade through the streets. Cinco de Mayo Also held in The Mission (we’re sensing a pattern here), the Cinco de Mayo festival celebrates Mexican and Central American culture and is held annually on – as the name suggests – the 5th of May. Families bring picnics and deckchairs to immerse themselves in the action in and around Valencia Street, where food vendors hawk spicy treats and live bands get the party started with mariachi, salsa, merengue music and more. There are costumed dancers, artists, magicians and street performers galore, and even a petting zoo to keep the kids entertained. Bay to Breakers Bay to Breakers is a 12k fun run that usually takes place on the third Sunday of May. Weaving its way east to west from the Embarcadero to Ocean Beach, it takes in nine of the city’s neighborhoods. Fun-loving San Franciscans have gamely established a tradition for donning fancy dress during the race, which means you can expect to see overgrown chickens, shambling pantomime horses and huge conga-lines in which teams of 13 or more runners tether themselves together for the duration of the race. In other words: it’s great fun. Get involved yourself: it includes many fun sections like Golden Gate Park, where you might even get to spot the resident buffalo. On the other hand, Hayes Street Hill is an absolute beast that rises over 200 feet above sea level and will challenge even the most seasoned runner. If all that sounds a bit much, you can always just find a nice spot on the sidelines and enjoy all of the fun with none of the exertion. Save on attractions in San Francisco Save on admission to San Francisco attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
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Things to Do in San Francisco in Summer

Arguably the best time to visit, San Francisco in summer is full of fun and festivities. From superb museums to street fairs, grab your sunglasses and head on down.
Katie Sagal

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