Category: Golden Gate Park
-
St. Francis of Assisi in the Fragrance Garden
Fragrance Garden Botanical Garden Golden Gate Park This statue was part of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exhibition on Treasure Island. It is by Clara Huntington who has been on this site before. Huntington was the adopted daughter of Collis Potter Huntington, one of the Big Five railroad magnates. “Oh, Clara Huntington, yes, Clara Huntington Young.…
-
Dolphin from the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939
Presently in storage at Golden Gate Park This statue is from the Golden Gate International Exposition. It is by Cecilia Bancroft Graham. Graham was born in San Francisco, on March 2, 1905. She studied at the California School of Fine Arts, graduated from Mills College in Oakland, and studied sculpture with Oscar Thiede in Vienna,…
-
Gates of Kezar Stadium
Kezar Stadium Frederick Street Entrance These gates stand at the entry to Kezar stadium and were installed in 1991. There are 22 of them around the stadium Kezar Stadium has a long history in the City of San Francisco, but much of its original elements no longer remain. The gates were purchased by the San…
-
The Park Emergency Hospital
811 Stanyan Golden Gate Park The Park Emergency Hospital is part of a system of Emergency Hospitals that existed in San Francisco during the early 1900s. There were four of them. Park, Central (in Civic Center and still functioning), Alemany and Harbor (since torn down). This particular hospital has been designated City Landmark #201. Built in…
-
Thomas Garriue Masaryk
Rose Garden Golden Gate Park Located at the entrance to the Rose Garden just off of JFK Boulevard is this bust of Thomas Garrigue Masaryk. Masaryk was the first president of Czechoslovakia, a statesman, philosopher, liberator and humanitarian. The bust was sculpted by Josef Mařatka in 1926 and was exhibited at the 1939 Golden Gate International…
-
Trader Vic the Sculptor
California Academy of Sciences Golden Gate Park These two seals once resided outside the California Academy of Sciences. They are now inside near the restaurant. This view is through the fence. Entry to the Academy is $30 for adults. These two seals were sculpted by Victor Jules Bergeron. Known locally as Trader Vic, Bergeron is…
-
What is Missing?
California Academy of Sciences Golden Gate Park **** This piece, titled What’s Missing is by Maya Lin. The photo above was taken from outside the fence that rings the Academy of Sciences. Entry to the Academy is $30 for adults. The permanent site-specific sculpture is the first component of an international multi-sited, multimedia art work…
-
Where the Land Meets the Sea
California Academy of Sciences Golden Gate Park This Marine Grade Stainless Steel wire sculpture (difficult to photograph) is titled Where the Land Meets the Sea, and is by Maya Lin. This is the first permanent artwork by Maya Lin in San Francisco. The artist was selected through the Arts Commission’s competitive application process in 2005.…
-
GGP’s Sea Serpent
Koret Childrens Quarters Golden Gate Park This divine sea creature is by Phoebe Palmer. On an architectural scale, Phoebe is building densely textured, sculptural ferro-cement walls and working in mosaics and metal sculpture as well as her “normal” mediums of paint and pastels. Phoebe has taken the characters formerly inhabiting her paintings and pastels and cast…
-
Spreckles Temple of Music
Music Concourse Golden Gate Park Spreckels Temple of Music This is the third bandstand to grace Golden Gate Park. Claus Spreckels (The Sugar King) gave $75,000 towards the $78,810 cost of the building. The shell is an Italian Renaissance style with an acoustically reflective coffered shell standing 70 feet high and covered in Colusa Sandstone.…
-
Lions and Bears in the Park
The Brown Gate 8th and Fulton Street This bear and lion that grace the pillars when you enter the park at 8th and Fulton are by M. Earl Cummings. Cummings has been in this website many, many times, he also has quite a few sculptures within Golden Gate Park. These sculptures were a gift of…
-
The Bard and The Park
Shakespeare Garden Golden Gate Park This is the Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park, a favorite spot for weddings. Behind that iron door is a bronze bust of Shakespeare. On either sides are plaques engraved with excerpts from some of the Bard’s works that mention plants. The purpose of the garden was to showcase plants…
-
Horseshoe Courts of Golden Gate Park
Horseshoe Pits Golden Gate Park There are sixteen courts in a very out of the way spot of the park, not far from McClaren Lodge. The site was developed out of a rock quarry during 1934 as a WPA project. There are two concrete bas-reliefs created on the face of the rocks. The artist was…
-
Sarah B. Cooper Brings the West its First Kindergarten
Golden Gate Park Near the Sharon Art Center This memorial to Sarah B. Cooper was placed in the park by the Golden Gate Kindergarten Association in 1923. This area sits on the other side of the carousel from the Koret Childrens Playground. Sarah Cooper was instrumental in the Kindergarten Movement of San Francisco. Here, from…
-
Animals in the Park
Koret Playground Golden Gate Park There are five of these cast stone creatures in the new Koret Childrens Area of Golden Gate Park. They are the second public art project that Vicki Saulls did in San Francisco. The first you can view here. The playground underwent a major renovation with generous funding from the Koret…
-
The King of Beasts in Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park Music Concourse This lion sits outside of the new DeYoung Museum near the Pool of Enchantment. It is by Roland Hinton Perry. Created in 1898 it was given to the City of San Francisco in 1906 by San Francisco jeweler Shreve and Company. The sculpture survived a fire in Shreve’s showroom caused…
-
The Drum Bridge at the Japanese Tea Garden
Japanese Tea Garden Golden Gate Park San Francisco’s first Japanese Tea Garden was originally developed by art-dealer George Turner Marsh as part of the 1894 Midwinter Fair, an event that brought the City by the Bay into the international limelight. Shinshichi Nakatani was selected to design and build the Drum Bridge (Taiko Bashi). He built…
-
Japanese Tea Garden
Japanese Tea Garden Golden Gate Park The Japanese Tea Garden was created by George Turner Marsh as a “Japanese Village” feature of the 1894 MidWinter Exposition. Marsh, an Australian, had lived for several years in Japan and had an interest in traditional Japanese Gardens. To create the village, he brought materials and hired craftsmen directly…
-
San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers
100 JFK Boulevard Golden Gate Park The oldest extant structure in Golden Gate Park is also its most beloved: the Conservatory of Flowers. This beautiful, white-washed structure is the oldest wood-and-glass conservatory in America. It is believed that James Lick, a prominent and wealthy San Franciscan, purchased the conservatory as a kit from Ireland for $2050…
-
Golden Gate Park – William McKinely
The Panhandle Baker Street Between Oak and Fell * * * * William McKinely by Robert Ingersoll Aitken The Panhandle is a park that forms a panhandle with Golden Gate Park. The Panhandle is near the geographic center of the city, and forms the southern boundary of the Western Addition neighborhood and the northern boundary…
-
Golden Gate Park – Windmills
Golden Gate Park Windmills The North Windmill Queen Wilhelmina Park The Murphy Windmill The Murphy Windmill Today There are two windmills in Golden Gate Park that served a valuable purpose when they were built. When the park was first being developed the focus was on planting trees to stabilize the ocean dunes that covered three-quarters…
-
Kezar Stadium
Golden Gate Park Kezar Stadium * * * What it looked like originally Every San Francisco 49er faithful knows that this was the first home of the team. What they may not know is who played their first. An appropriation of $200,000 from the City of San Francisco and a $100,000 endowment by Mary Kezar…
-
Golden Gate Park – Sharon Building
Golden Gate Park Sharon Building * * * * This delightful example of what some say is Victorian Romanesque architecture and others say is Richardsonian Romanesque, was designed by architects George Washington Percy and Frederick F. Hamilton. The building is the result of a $50,000 donation from silver baron, Nevada senator, and unscrupulous bank owner,…
-
Golden Gate Park – Verdi
Golden Gate Park Music Concourse * * * * Giuseppe Verdi by Orzio Grossoni March 23, 1914. The statue was dedicated to the sounds of the sweet voice of soprano Luisa Tetrazzini. She sang the aria from Aida to a reported audience of 20,000. The memorial was a gift of the Italian Community spearheaded by…
-
Golden Gate Park – Robert Emmet
Golden Gate Park Music Concourse * Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland. He led an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1798. In 1803 he was captured, tried and executed for high treason. The Emmet statue shows the 25 year old making his famous “Speech…
-
Golden Gate Park – Beethoven
Golden Gate Park Music Concourse * * As a gift from the Beethoven Men’s Choir, the dedication of this statue coincided with the attendance of the Choir at the Pan Pacific International Exposition and a grand concert of Beethoven’s works held at the Civic Auditorium that evening (August 6, 1915). The monument, which was draped…
-
Golden Gate Park – Pioneer Woman
Golden Gate Park * * * * Pioneer Woman and Children Charles Grafly 1915 This is the only statue of a woman in Golden Gate Park. It is the 1914 work of Charles Grafly. It was featured at the PPIE (Panama-Pacific International Exposition) in 1915 and then again at the GGIE (Golden Gate International Exposition)…
-
Golden Gate Park – Thomas Starr King
Golden Gate Park JFK Drive * Thomas Starr King – Bronze – 1892 – by Daniel Chester French This statue was unveiled by Thomas Starr King’s grandchildren on October 26, 1892. Thomas Starr King was born December 17, 1824 Mr. King was an American Unitarian and Universalist minister, influential in California politics during the American…
-
Golden Gate Park – John McClaren
Golden Gate Park Rhododendron Grove John McLaren, Supervisor of Golden Gate Park from 1890 until his death in 1943, detested statues. He hated them with such a passion that he defied the City authorities and persisted in his lifelong crusade to keep Golden Gate Park statue-free. It is fitting, then, that for his efforts McLaren…
-
Golden Gate Park – Father Junipero Serra
Golden Gate Park Father Junipero Serra by Douglas Tilden This is Father Junipero Serra, one of the most studied men in California history. Born November 24, 1713, Serra was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the chain of missions that go from Mexico to San Francisco, California, he died August 28, 1784. Father Serra…