Keith and I were pleased to attend last night’s preview of the second annual SF 20 Modernism Show.
Frankly, the show is a huge improvement not so much in quality but certainly in style over its maiden outing last year. The returning and the new dealers endeavored to make this a serious show, with new dealers including, a fortunate example, San Francisco’s Hedge. Opting for SF 20 over next month’s San Francisco Fall Antiques Show, they really put shoulders to the wheel. Their centre of the show pavilion, formed with both interior and exterior walls composed of weathered barn lumber, 
was perhaps the most striking of the entire show. This, coupled with interior designer and Hedge co-owner Steven Volpe’s entrance vignette, resulted in both designer and gallery forming a nearly overarching at-show presence.
Another notable display, and I am trying to overlook my personal biases because they are friends of ours, was that of Downtown, the bicoastal gallery of David Serrano and Robert Willson. Chic, no question, but with the inclusion of soft furnishings in a room vignette, one can project oneself easily into the setting- perhaps what I might term elegantly domestic.
Downtown’s near neighbor at the show, Habite, is also their near neighbor in Los Angeles. Though great to see owners Laurent Rebuffel and Kimberly Denman, a bit of wistfulness is mixed in, too. Laurent is closing his San Francisco location, and consolidating his stock in their showroom on La Brea in LA.
The great and the good were all there, but a significant cadre of interior designers- great, good and beautiful- were on hand, too. Designer presence was doubtless bolstered by the active involvement of preview designer chairman, Douglas Durkin.
With SFMOMA as the beneficiary of last night’s gala, the show is certainly given further legitimacy by the generous support of the newly launched Modern, an editorially serious quarterly from Brant Publications, whose other magazines include Interview and The Magazine Antiques. 
Gregory Cerio, already well established as a journalist of note in New York design circles, is editor in chief, with Greg in attendance last night and through the run of the show.
The show runs through this Sunday, September 27, at Herbst Pavilion at Fort Mason.