Doris and Donald Fisher. "Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10" will feature 250 works by 35 artists, marking a dramatic transformation of the Fisher Collection since it opened to the public as part of SFMOMA’s building expansion in 2016.

How Donald and Doris Fisher "fell into" founding The Gap and rocketed to success is one of the Bay Area's best known origin stories. Donald, a third generation San Franciscan, was searching for a pair of Levi's when he and his wife Doris, discovered a "gap" in the market. The world's most popular denim, Levi's (also founded in San Francisco), was quickly evolving from factory work attire to youth fashion statement, yet availability was spotty. “What if,” Don mused, “someone put together all the styles, colors, and sizes Levi Strauss had to offer in one store?”

The Fisher's first boutique, on Ocean Avenue, sold records and clothing targeted at the 12-25 age range. Its original name "Pants and Discs" was (fortuitously) replaced by a shortened version of "Generation Gap," a term referring to the Baby Boomer youthquake shaking society when the store opened in 1969. The Gap grew quickly (eventually worth billions), and launched its own private clothing label, which sold in over 3,200 outlets worldwide.

As the Fishers' fortunes swelled, the couple began collecting contemporary art. Guided by a close friend, Don and Doris visited art galleries and schooled themselves. Seeking to liven up Gap headquarters, the Fishers started purchasing prints. "It fit our budget," Doris remembered, "and you could get good Roy Lichtenstein prints for about $600 each at the time. Don always wanted to buy the entire series, rather than one print from this group and one from that group." Even at the start, the Fishers instinctively collected in depth.

After The Gap went public, Don and Doris moved on to paintings and sculptures, which were more expensive. Their tastes developed alongside their knowledge and experience. Never hiring a personal dealer, the couple preferred working directly with artists to "get a better deal and enhance relationships" with the people making the work they wanted to own.

Don often self-identified as a visual learner, excited most by bold graphics, color, texture, and sensuality. Doris appreciated precision and an unwavering work ethic, telling the Wall Street Journal that she and her husband preferred aesthetically pleasing pieces to those that were violent or sexually graphic.

Don and Doris stressed that both had to like what they acquired, yet it was equally important they be able to sell at auction, should they fall out of love or lose interest with an acquisition. They did not believe in amassing valuable objects for purely financial reasons; the Fishers wanted the artworks they purchased to be seen. Much of their collection initially filled Gap headquarters on the Embarcadero, which houses a 20,000 sq. ft. private gallery and is permanent home to "Charlie Brown," the 60-ft, 115 ton, Corten steel Richard Serra sculpture that dominates the lobby.

After building one of the world's most extensive private collections of 20th- and 21st-century art, the Fishers attempted to join the ranks of other private collectors who opened their own museums rather than donating their holdings to public institutions. The proposed structure was to be located in San Francisco's Presidio, a former army base turned national park, of which Don was one of seven original board members. The building's design boasted 55,000 sq. ft. of gallery space (5,000 more than SFMOMA had at the time). The effort met with resistance and was abandoned within a couple of years.

Two days before Donald Fisher's death on September 27, 2009, the couple finalized an agreement to loan a substantial portion of their (approximately 1,100 work, 185 artist) collection to SFMOMA for 25 years (later extended to 100, renewable every 25 years) and made a sizable donation kick-starting the fundraising campaign that resulted in the museum's current structure, which opened in 2016 with a huge selection from the Fisher's collection on display, much of which has remained in relatively static view since.

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the expanded museum, the Fisher collection has been "Reimagined," some pieces going into storage, many more shifting position in an attempt to view the artworks in a new light. This iteration is more artist-centric, the museum's fourth floor now conceived as 14-monograph exhibitions (including Guston, Martin, Mitchell, Polke, and Richter) with much of the interpretive work accomplished via artist quotes, archival interviews, and footage documenting studio practice.

Sol LeWitt, "Wall Drawing 477," (1986)
© The LeWitt Estate / Artists RightsSociety (ARS), New York; photo courtesy SFMOMA

The museum's fifth floor emphasizes form via the three artists (Calder, Kelly, LeWitt) the Fishers collected in most depth. Ted Mann, the SFMOMA curator leading the "reimagining" is most excited by the realization of seven LeWitt wall drawings spanning 1968 to 2007. One of them, "Wall Drawing #477" hasn't been shown since 1986.

South Africa's William Kentridge and Germany's Anselm Kiefer, two prolific artists whose work is deeply informed by their home countries' legacies of violent nationalism and colonialism will be in dialogue and will be joined by artists who "consider memory from a range of perspectives." What I am most excited to see is the return of "Passage," Iranian-born artist Shirin Neshat's 2001 video collaboration with Philip Glass poetically documenting Muslim funeral rites in the desert. I believe it is one of the most gorgeous, mesmerizing, and moving videos ever made.

Forty pieces will be cycled out of the archives for fresh consideration, and of course, it is hoped this reimagining will incite audiences old and new to reconsider the artists and artworks Don and Doris admired and supported so well.

→ "Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10" opens April 18 at SFMOMA - visit sfmoma.org for information