Ruby Red

June 30, 2022

2022 marks the 40th anniversary of the San Francisco Fall Show – our Ruby Jubilee! Rubies are thought to possess an inner flame, symbolizing passion, devotion and endurance. How apt for the longest running art, antiques and design fair on the West Coast, renowned and respected across the globe and a beloved and integral part of the San Francisco Bay Area’s art and design communities. The Show will embrace all shades of glorious red, celebrated in cultures around the world for extraordinary energy, romantic love and good luck.

A row of empty, shiny red vinyl diner booths with matching tables lines the right side of a sunlit diner. Dramatic shadows stretch across the teal and green floor. The image is devoid of people, creating a nostalgic and solitary mood.
From Modernism Inc: Red Booths HC, 1986 by John Register

We’re not the only ones “seeing red”. After returning from Milan Design Week, the editors of Architectural Digest declared tomato red to be this season’s “it color”.

A modern living room with glossy black, tufted leather sofas and ottoman on a red rug, surrounded by vibrant red walls. A black side table holds glassware, and three white vases are grouped together. A mirror reflects more seating and decor in the background.
Versace Home’s presenattion at Milan Design Week – photo courtesy of Versace Home

This summer’s must-see exhibit is NYC’s Museum of Modern Art’s “Matisse: The Red Studio,” a small but spectacular exhibition that dissects one of the artist’s greatest early paintings. This show reunites — for the first time since they left the artist’s studio in the Parisian suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux — all the surviving works that Henri Matisse depicted in “The Red Studio,” a painting whose seductive radicalness has attracted admirers since it entered the museum’s collection in 1949.

A bright red room filled with paintings, a table with dishes and fruit, an empty gold frame, a statuette, a vase, and various artworks on the walls. The space is lively, colorful, and abstract, with strong contrasts and minimal detail on objects.
A modern art gallery with two bronze sculptures on white pedestals, a large colorful painting with objects on a reddish background, and a smaller framed painting with a green and pink circular motif hanging on plain white walls.

In the words of legendary icon of style Diana Vreeland: ”Red is the great clarifier – bright and revealing. I can’t imagine becoming bored with red – it would be like becoming bored with the person you love.”

A woman in a red dress lounges on a sofa in an opulent, red-patterned room filled with floral wallpaper, plush pillows, framed art, flowers, and ornate decor, creating a bold, luxurious, and eclectic atmosphere.
Horst P. Horst/Getty

By Vera Vandenbosch