Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal
May 16–September 27, 2026
Group Exhibition
Curated by Janet Bishop, Maria Castro, Alison Guh.
Image: Installation view of Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal, featuring David Hockney’s Celia with Green Hat, 1984, and Rachel Harrison’s Hoarders, 2012. SFMOMA, San Francisco.
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| Monday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Wednesday | Closed |
| Thursday | 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm |
| Friday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Saturday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Sunday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
Overview
Today’s LOVE LETTER TO ART is SFMOMA’s Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal, organized by Janet Bishop and Maria Castro, with Alison Guh.
Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal explores the history, impact, and enduring legacy of Henri Matisse’s groundbreaking 1905 painting Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat)—a defining work of Fauvism and one of the museum’s most iconic holdings. The exhibition restages the legendary 1905 Salon d’Automne gallery that introduced Fauvism to the world, reuniting works by Matisse, André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Charles Camoin, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, and others. Additional galleries trace the painting’s journey from Paris to San Francisco, its connection to collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein, and its influence on artists from David Hockney to Bay Area Figurative painters Joan Brown, Richard Diebenkorn, and David Park.
So Femme au chapeau was considered a scandal—or, as we used to say in the Bay Area back in the 1990s, scand-a-liss—since Matisse had painted his wife, Amélie, with very intense brushstrokes and bright colors that just weren’t used in portraiture at the time (1905). It was not deemed an appropriate way to depict a woman, let alone the artist’s wife. Oh, clutch my pearls! (And I’m sure they did!)
The Steins are central to the Femme au chapeau story, as siblings Gertrude and Leo Stein were influential collectors and early champions of the avant-garde—and amongst the first to recognize the importance of Matisse’s radical new work. The American expatriates grew up in Oakland before eventually settling in Paris, where Gertrude also became a groundbreaking modernist writer. A lesbian, she shared her life with Alice B. Toklas, a San Francisco native who became her lifelong partner and collaborator. (Toklas may be better known today for the infamous “pot brownie” associated with her 1954 cookbook and later popularized by the 1968 film I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!—although the original recipe was actually for a hashish-and-fruit confection contributed by a friend.)
In this show, I particularly enjoyed the Leo and Gertrude Stein gallery, which features projected digital images of their Paris apartment’s interior, its busy walls displaying Femme au chapeau amongst the many other works in their growing collection. Furnished with couches, the space recreates the experience of sitting in their home, enveloped by art.
I saw Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal twice during its run at SFMOMA, and I haven’t seen the galleries that crowded in years. I liked the show, and I like Matisse—although my favorite artist associated with the Fauves (though not a Fauve himself) is probably Henri Rousseau, who also exhibited at the 1905 Salon d’Automne and may have even inspired the movement’s name. (Matisse and Rousseau fans will find some of their best work at the Barnes Foundation—one of my absolute favorite museums.)
It was also wonderful to see so many women artists represented in the exhibition, including Joan Brown, Mickalene Thomas, Rachel Harrison, and Hilary Harkness—the latter of whom is new to me thanks to the curators and KAWS, who lent Harkness’ fantastic Answered Prayers (2024) to the exhibition. The painting draws on Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas’ world, with references ranging from Hollywood’s golden age to a decapitated Ernest Hemingway and Femme au chapeau itself appearing in the background.
The show made me think about my own hat collection, which maybe I’ll dig out and share at some point. I did make an effort to wear some sort of hair/head ornamentation to the press preview, since why not? People look so drab and serious all the time in the Bay Area (an admission of guilt here too for myself), and it’s kind of depressing. But Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal is definitely not a depressing show at all—it’s so full of life and color and a bit of mischief, which I’m sure the Stein circle would have appreciated. An absolute must-see for Matisse lovers.
Exhibition Preview
Preview Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal. SFMOMA, San Francisco.
Shown here:
1) SFMOMA’s Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal explores the story behind Matisse’s iconic painting and its enduring legacy.
2) The show restages the legendary 1905 Salon d’Automne gallery that introduced Fauvism to the world, reuniting works by Matisse, Derain, de Vlaminck & others.
3) When Matisse unveiled Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat) in 1905, its wild colors and brushstrokes caused a scandal in Paris.
4) It was not considered an appropriate way to depict a woman—let alone the artist’s wife. Oh, clutch my pearls! (And I’m sure they did.)
5) Matisse’s Femme au chapeau (1905)
6) SFMOMA Curator Janet Bishop
7) Gertrude and Leo Stein were early champions of Matisse. The exhibition recreates their art-filled Paris apartment, where you can enjoy the works from the couches, much as the Steins and their guests did.
8) Self-Portrait by Jeanne Hébuterne (Ca. 1917)
9) Cavallo by Marino Marini (1947)
10) The exhibition traces Matisse’s influence through Joan Brown, Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Mickalene Thomas, Hilary Harkness & more.
11) Untitled by Marie Laurencin (n.d.)
12) Answered Prayers by Hilary Harkness(2024)
13) Hoarders by Rachel Harrison (2012)
14) Celia in a Green Hat by David Hockney (1984)
15) Full of life, color & a bit of mischief, Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal is an absolute must-see for Matisse lovers.
The exhibition’s accompanying catalogue by Janet Bishop and Maria Castro can be purchased at the SFMOMA store for $34.95/$31.46 (members) and on Amazon as well.
🗓 Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal is on view until September 27, 2026 at SFMOMA in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena arts district. The exhibition runs alongside several other fantastic shows—see below for more information.
💌 Did you see the show(s) or try any of our recommendations? What did you think? Let us know in the comments (in the Reviews section located on the second tab at the top of the page).
QUICK GUIDE: SFMOMA
- Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal traces the story of one of the museum’s most iconic works and its influence on artists and audiences since its controversial 1905 debut. | Runs May 16, 2026–Sept. 27, 2026.
- Graciela Iturbide: Between Two Worlds is a retrospective spanning more than five decades of the celebrated photographer’s poetic black-and-white images of everyday life, culture, and tradition in Mexico and beyond. | Runs July 11–Nov. 29, 2026.
- Feel the Beat: Dance in Photographs explores the relationship between photography and dance. | Runs May 16, 2026–Feb. 28, 2027
- O. Smith: Artivist brings together Orlando Smith’s politically charged drawings and illustrated journalism, confronting injustice, abuses of power, and the realities of incarceration from inside San Quentin. | Runs July 25, 2026–July 4, 2027
- In Between by Ramekon O’Arwisters transforms everyday objects, textiles, and craft into a space exploring creativity, collaboration, healing, and resilience. | Runs Sept. 3, 2026–May 2027
- Jacob Hashimoto: Giant Arc features nearly 75,000 handmade kites suspended overhead to create an immersive canopy of color and pattern in SFMOMA’s Roberts Family Gallery. (FREE—No Museum Admission Required) | Ongoing
- Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10 features nearly 250 works by 35 artists and marks a complete transformation of the Fisher Collection since it opened to the public as part of SFMOMA’s building expansion in 2016. | Ongoing
- Bay Area Walls: Artist Commissions + Features includes Gene Luen Yang: Bay Area Hoops on Floor 2; Jenifer K Wofford: VMD/Vicki Manalo Draves mural on Floor 3. David Huffman: Portals mural on Floor 5 | Ongoing
- New Work: Raven Chacon combines video, sound, and topographical drawings to explore Diné landscapes, Indigenous histories, and the colonial gaze. | Runs Oct. 24, 2026–Nov. 7, 2027
- Sarah Sze: Forever is Composed of Nows transforms SFMOMA’s atrium with monumental paintings, video projections, light, sound, and movement in an immersive meditation on time and memory. (FREE—No Museum Admission Required) | Opens Nov. 21 2026
- *RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me brings together 200 works from the personal collection of RM, of 21st-century K-pop icons BTS, and SFMOMA in a rare dialogue between modern Korean and international contemporary art. | Runs Oct. 3 2026–Feb. 2027
- Fashioning Form: Dior to McQueen brings eight decades of visionary fashion into dialogue with postwar and contemporary sculpture, exploring how designers and artists have reimagined the human form. | Runs April 17–Aug. 7, 2027
⭐ ADMISSION:
- General Admission Adults $30
- Seniors 65+ $25
- Ages 19-24 $23
- 18 & Under FREE.
- *SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS +$15 (Includes access to permanent collections)
- **Membership starts at $130 GA/$110 Senior/$90 Working Artist
- FREE FAMILY DAYS (up to 4 adults accompanying one child – next one is Sunday, October 25, 2026)
- FREE COMMUNITY DAYS
- Discover and Go (Free w/library card – may not apply to all counties)
- SF Museums for All (show your EBT or Medi-Cal card/ID)
- SF Unified Staff Free Admission (at show proof of employment/ID – reserve in-person, not available online)
- Blue Star Museum Discount (FREE Admission to U.S. military personnel and veterans plus up to 5 family members from the 3rd Sat in May until the 1st Monday in Sept.)
- Free General Admission + Guest w/Sotheby’s Preferred Membership.
- Free General Admission + Guest for SFMOMA corporate partners.
- Last Look for Members — Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal (Members Only) every weekend from September 12–27, 2026 from 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
- Family Film Screening with SFFILM: Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom Film Screening + Q&A (Free with RSVP; Museum Admission Not Required) on September 13, 2026 at 10:30 a.m.
- Family Studio: Matisse Landscapes Drop-In Art Making with SCRAP (Free; Museum Admission Not Required) on September 13, 2026 from 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
- A Modern Scandal: An Evening of Art Making Hands-On Art-Making Workshop inspired by Matisse’s Femme au chapeau (Free with Museum Admission) on September 17, 2026 from 6:00–8:00 p.m.
- Graciela Iturbide and Enrique Chagoya in Conversation Artist Talk exploring Iturbide’s five-decade photography career (Free with RSVP) on September 19, 2026 at 2:00 p.m.
- Kite Making with Mariel Paat Family Art-Making Workshop inspired by Jacob Hashimoto: Giant Arc (Free; Museum Admission Not Required) on September 20, 2026 from 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
- Watercolor Workshop: Feeling First, a Matisse Study Watercolor Workshop with artist Marco Flavio inspired by Matisse’s Femme au chapeau (RSVP Required; Ticket Includes Museum + Exhibition Admission) on September 20, 2026 at 2:00 p.m.
- Works on Paper Book Club: Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife by Francesca Wade Book Discussion with SFMOMA Chief Curator Janet Bishop (Free with RSVP) on September 24, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
- Ear Hustle Live! Live Podcast Performance with Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods inspired by O. Smith: Artivist (Free with Museum Admission) on September 24, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
- Family Studio: Crochet Jam with Ramekon O’Arwisters Drop-In Crochet Art Making with Ramekon O’Arwisters (Free; Museum Admission Not Required) on September 27, 2026 from 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m
- The Living Earth Show Presents: Bucket List Experimental Music + Performance Art, co-presented by the Roar Shack (Free; Museum Admission Not Required) on October 1, 2026 from 4:00–8:00 p.m.
- Member Previews — RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me Advance Exhibition Preview (Members Only; Timed Tickets Required) on October 1–3, 2026.
- Rooftop Radio: K-pop K-pop Dance Party with DJs, drag + dance performances celebrating RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me (21+; $35 / $15 Members) on October 15, 2026 from 5:30–9:00 p.m.
⭐ SFMOMA DINING (*MEMBERS RECEIVE A 10% DISCOUNT):
- Steps Coffee (2nd floor) is open Fri-Tues 9:30–4:30 p.m.; Thurs 11:00–6:00 p.m.
- Cafe 5 (5TH FLOOR) is open Fri-Tues 10:30–4:00 p.m.; Thurs 12:00–7:30 p.m. (*Thursday Happy Hour 4:30–7:00 p.m. Includes $6 and $11 beer/wine, cocktails, and a selection of bites.)
- Jane on Third (street level), Amanda Michael’s local café chain named for her daughter, serves housemade baked goods, breakfast, sandwiches, and salads—perfect for a quick snack or leisurely lunch. Open to the public, MUSEUM ADMISSION NOT REQUIRED. Hours: Mon.–Fri. 9:00–5:00 p.m.; Sat.–Sun. 10:00–5:00 p.m.
⭐ SFMOMA NEARBY ART:
- MUSEUMS: YBCA ON VIEW: GaHee Park: Behind the Curtain explores fantasy, sexuality, and mortality through surreal paintings of intimate moments, uncanny still lifes, and dreamlike landscapes. | Runs Aug. 7, 2026–Jan. 3, 2027. ON VIEW: Creativity Explored at YBCA is a FREE presentation of artwork by Creativity Explored artists, with opportunities to see artists at work, purchase art, and create alongside them. | Runs Aug. 5–Nov. 25, 2026 | 1-min walk
- PUBLIC ART: Revelation, the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial fountain and several others at Yerba Buena Gardens (see LINK for additional works at Yerba Buena Gardens) | 1-min walk
- MUSEUM: MoAD ON VIEW:UNBOUND: Art, Blackness & the Universe presents Blackness as infinite and cosmically expansive, featuring global artists including Lorna Simpson and Rashaad Newsome across painting, sculpture, installation, and video. | Runs Oct. 1, 2025–Oct. 16, 2026. UPCOMING: Dorian Reid: Calling All Cats (MoAD Emerging Artist Series) is a multidisciplinary exhibition of ceramics, paintings, prints, textiles, and installations that celebrates Black history, community, civil rights, and animal welfare through the artist’s whimsical world of cats. | Runs Sept. 30–Dec. 6, 2026 | Dewey Crumpler: Sonic Lineages is the first major museum exhibition spanning more than five decades of the Bay Area artist’s career, bringing together paintings and newly commissioned kinetic works that explore Black consciousness, memory, spirituality, time, and African cosmologies. | Runs Sept. 30–May 30, 2027 | Tahirah Rasheed: The Light We Carry Forward (MoAD Emerging Artist Series) explores Black womanhood through glass, print, and photography, examining survival, care, healing, and resistance in the face of medical and institutional harm. | Runs Dec. 16, 2026–March 7, 2027 | 2-min walk
- GALLERY: Berggruen Gallery ON VIEW: Defining the Century: Modern Visionaries from Picasso to Calder | Runs Sept. 10–Oct. 22, 2026. ON VIEW: Liam Everett: the passenger | Runs Sept. 10–Oct. 29, 2026 | 1-min walk from SFMOMA’s Howard Street entrance.
⭐ SFMOMA NEARBY DINING
- Tropisueño | Taqueria by day and a full-service restaurant and bar by night with a warm, relaxed vibe. | 4-min walk
- Delarosa | Pizza and pasta. BOOK DELAROSA ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 4-min walk
- Amber India | Upscale Indian food w/ *Mon–Fri LUNCH SPECIALS starting at $18 & $32 Lunch Buffet! BOOK AMBER INDIA ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 4-min walk
- Metreon Food Hall | Budget-friendly assortment of food vendors i.e. burgers, salads, poke bowls, wraps, ramen. | 4-min walk
- The Harlequin | Cocktail bar w/Brooklyn vibes serving lunch (Thurs., Sat., Sun.) and dinner. *Check out their FABULOUS HAPPY HOUR 4:00–6:00 p.m. daily featuring $2 oysters and $11 cocktails. BOOK THE HARLEQUIN ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 7-min walk
A LOVE LETTER TO ART’S CASUAL DINING PICKS
- Oren’s Hummus | Delicious Israeli food in a casual friendly setting. *Check out their AMAZING HAPPY HOUR Mon–Thurs 3:00–5:00 p.m. | 3-min walk
- Fang | Cantonese cuisine from the Fang family of House of Nanking. As seen on Chef Dynasty: House of Fang (oh, I like that Peter Fang!), chefs Kathy and Peter Fang blend tradition with charm. BOOK FANG ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 4-min walk
- Ippudo | Cozy, modern ramen restaurant with a full bar. *Check out their DAILY HAPPY HOUR from 3:00–6:00 p.m. | 6-min walk
💖 A LOVE LETTER TO ART’S ROMANTIC DINING PICKS
- The Pied Piper | Old world bar + food + Maxfield Parrish’s Pied Piper painting in SF’s historic Palace Hotel. BOOK THE PIED PIPER ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 6-min walk
- The Cavalier | I love the English hunting lodge meets chic gastropub vibes, thanks to the vision of designer extraordinaire Ken Fulk. *CHECK OUT THEIR FANTASTIC HAPPY HOURS: Mon–Sat 4:00–6:00 p.m.; Fri & Sat 9:00–10:00 p.m. Includes $10 Cocktails & Apps under $20! The MARLOWE BURGER is a SF classic. BOOK THE CAVALIER ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 10-min walk
Currently on View at SFMOMA
Coming Soon to SFMOMA
SFMOMA Dining
A LOVE LETTER TO ART RECOMMENDS
More nearby suggestions are always welcome. Feel free to add in the comments!
SFMOMA NEARBY ART
SFMOMA NEARBY DINING
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Author: ALoveLettertoArt
