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The San Francisco Art Institute hosted a gala extravaganza inDecember 1949, titled: The Unknown, a theme conjured up by artist Clay Spohn along with his friend, Mark Rothko. The “costume carnival...attracted 1,600 guests'' in “bizarre outfits” along with “Supper, Bar, Distractions, Dancing” and Spohn’s“Museum of Little Known and Unknown Objects”installed in Studio 13. The Unknownwas emblematic of a dramatically changed post-WW2 new art culture that would soon pivot again toward the fascinating frenzied future of the 19Fifties.
With permission, SFAA is re-posting the emails Jeff Gunderson Librarian/Archivist Anne Bremer Memorial Library has been sending out since March 2020. Please enjoy this magnificent archive.