Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Systematic Saving is the Key to Success

Posted by Cindy on June 25, 2013

Jun 252013

1 Montgomery Street Financial District This pressed copper decorative marquee graces the side entrance to the First National Bank, now Wells Fargo. There are two figures, one on each side of the marquee that stand and serve as supports. Cornucopias are placed at their feet. A nude male and female figure recline on either side of a medallion that is repeated on both sides of the marquee. Fruit, leaves, wheat, and a griffin are used as decorations. The medallion reads Systematic Saving is the Key to Success. The marquee is the work of Emily Michals and was done in 1924. Information about Continue Reading

The First National Bank Building

Posted by Cindy on June 24, 2013

Jun 242013

1 Montgomery Street Financial District This classic Italian Renaissance bank building was designed by Willis Polk in 1908. Polk has been in this website many times. The Raymond granite entryway is only the tease to a beautiful and highly ornamented interior, replete with a carved white marble staircase; counters and benches of carved marble along with bronze tellers’ windows, and hardware. Originally the Crocker-Citizens National Bank (absorbed by Wells Fargo in the 1980’s), the building has been extensively remodeled. It originally housed an 11 story office tower above it and was sheathed in terra cotta. One of its more outstanding Continue Reading

Jo Mora’s California Bears

Posted by Cindy on June 22, 2013

Jun 222013

1000 Van Ness Tenderloin Flanking the doorway of the Cadillac building are two spirally-fluted columns with Ionic capitals, each topped by a bear seated on its haunches. According to the Smithsonian, these were also done by Jo Mora. I have been unable to find any other attribution, and while they are in terra cotta, they have always felt to me as though they were an after thought to the building. * However, I was able to find this photo at the San Francisco Public Library that was taken in 1928 that clearly shows the bears, and as the building was Continue Reading

Jo Mora and the Don Lee Cadillac Building

Posted by Cindy on June 21, 2013

Jun 212013

Jo Mora and the Don Lee Cadillac Building

1000 Van Ness Tenderloin This sculpture sits over the entryway to the Don Lee Cadillac Showroom. The sculpture is the creation of Jo Mora, who has been in this website before. This doorway pediment consists of a central shield bearing the Cadillac insignia framed by an ornately carved, stylized border with a lion’s face at the bottom. Symmetrically seated on either side of the shield is a partially draped seated male figure. The male figure on the left rests his outstretched proper right arm on an 8-spoke Cadillac wheel, beyond which is an anvil. He holds a sledgehammer in Continue Reading

The Don Lee Building

Posted by Cindy on June 20, 2013

Jun 202013

1000 Van Ness Avenue Tenderloin This magnificent building was built in 1921. Designed by Weeks and Day it is the largest and one of San Francisco’s most architecturally significant auto showrooms. As the private automobile became a standard commodity of middle-class American life, hundreds of manufacturers rose to meet the demand. Within this increasingly competitive field, manufacturers quickly learned the value of the showroom in marketing their products to consumers. They understood that the architecture of the showroom was at least as important as its primary functional role: as a place to display, store and repair automobiles. In an era Continue Reading

Richmond District Police Station

Posted by Cindy on June 19, 2013

Jun 192013

461 6th Avenue Richmond Police Station Richmond District The Richmond District Police Station was built in 1927 in a red-brick Romanesque Revival style. The Horse Barn Behind the police station this brick building housed horses with a loft to hold their feed in the back. Both buildings were renovated in 1990 and the horse building now houses offices as well as a neighborhood community room. I had come to the Police Station to photograph and write about the glass entry door by Shelly Jurs. Shelly Jurs trained in architectural glass techniques at the Cummings Studio in San Rafael, California (1973-74) Continue Reading

Washington High School and the WPA

Posted by Cindy on June 18, 2013

Jun 182013

George Washington High School 600 32nd Avenue Richmond District George Washington High School opened on August 4, 1936, to serve as a secondary school for the people of San Francisco’s Richmond District. The school was built on a budget of $8,000,000 on a site overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. The architect was Timothy Pflueger, here he begins moving away from the highly decorative elements of his earlier Telephone Company Building and begins using symmetrical central elements, minimally embellished with fluted speed lines and simple plaques. The lobby is decorated with WPA murals by Victor Arnautoff in the “buon fresco” styles. They depict scenes from Continue Reading

Herakut #7

Posted by Cindy on June 17, 2013

Jun 172013

McCoppin Between Gough and Valencia Mission / SOMA This mura, by Herakut is on the walls of the Flax Art Store on Market Street. Herakut has been in this website before with a piece in the Tenderloin. According to Flax’s website: In 2004 Herakut came together, finding a magic synthesis between the artistic skills and specialties of Hera’s broad, quick strokes and Akut’s photorealistic detail that has become an internationally recognized style. Their latest concept is the The Giant Storybook Project, which chronicles the creation of a new children’s book that Herakut is developing in collaboration with actor Jim Carrey. Launched in September 2012 Continue Reading

The Doors of Court

Posted by Cindy on June 15, 2013

Jun 152013

400 McAllister Civic Center This building houses the Superior Court of California and was designed by Mark Cavagnero and Associates. * There are three identical doors at the entry to the building. They were designed by Albert Paley. Paley’s work can also be found at 199 Montgomery Street. Albert Paley is a modernist American metal sculptor, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1944. He earned both a BFA and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Paley initially worked as a goldsmith and moved to Rochester, New York in 1969 to teach at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he Continue Reading

Great Seal of California

Posted by Cindy on June 14, 2013

Jun 142013

505 Van Ness at McAllister Civic Center This is the Edmund G. Brown State Office Building. Built in 1986 and designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merril, it is one of the anchors of the San Francisco Civic Center. The seal was created by sculptor Rosa Estebanez. Estebanez’s life has been described as a remarkable story of courage, tragedy and the triumph of the human spirit. Born in Cuba, Estebanez graduated from the National School of Art in Havana with a master’s degree in art and became the official sculptor for Cuban president Fulgencio Batista. In 1960, Estebanez left Cuba following Continue Reading

Five Questions

Posted by Cindy on June 13, 2013

Jun 132013

Mint Plaza SOMA/Market Street Area/Union Square WHAT is on the Side of the San Francisco Chronicle Building at 5th and Minna These two sculptures are part of a large project, within an even larger project. The larger project is called the 5M project. The 5M Project is a creative development in downtown San Francisco designed to catalyze the innovative ideas that build our economy and strengthen our communities. It is a place that utilizes a collective need for innovation to encourage shared resources and ideas across traditional boundaries. Where artists, makers, students, changemakers, entrepreneurs, local food, and technology are coming Continue Reading

Jaques Schnier on Treasure Island

Posted by Cindy on June 11, 2013

Jun 112013

Treasure Island Building #1 These two cast stone sculpture represents India and were done by Jacques Schnier for the Golden Gate International Exposition. They have been known by several names, including “The Tree of Life,” but the preferred name is “Spirit of India.” These are just two of twenty that were part of the Unity sculptures placed in the Court of the Pacifica. Jacques Schnier designed at least seven pieces of sculpture displayed at the fair. * Jacques Schnier was born in Romania and came to the United States with his family in 1903. He grew up in San Francisco. Continue Reading

Adaline Kent sculptures on Treasure Island

Posted by Cindy on June 10, 2013

Jun 102013

Adaline Kent sculptures on Treasure Island

Treasure Island Building #1 These cast stone statues are part of Adaline Kent’s group of three Pacific Islander statues that were among the twenty Pacific Unity sculptures produced for the Court of the Pacifica at the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition. The two shown here are listening to a stringed instrument (most likely a ukelele) played by a young boy, the third statue, that is unfortunately lost. Adaline Kent was born in Kentfield, California in 1900. She attended Vassar College and upon graduation she returned to the Bay Area, where she studied for a year (1923-24) with Ralph Stackpole at Continue Reading

Helen Phillips and the Golden Gate Exposition

Posted by Cindy on June 8, 2013

Jun 082013

Helen Phillips and the Golden Gate Exposition

Treasure Island Building #1 This cast stone sculpture is by Helen Phillips. Titled Flutist, it is from the Chinese Musicians Group produced for the Golden Gate International Exposition. This was one of a group of 20 sculptures titled Unity that were produced for the Court of the Pacific. This is from Helen Phillips obituary: Phillips was born in 1913 in Fresno, California, and studied at the School of Fine Art in San Francisco. Ralph Stackpole taught her direct carving there, and introduced her to Diego Rivera, who was pointing [sic] murals in the city. She remembered with affection how the Continue Reading

San Francisco’s First Airport

Posted by Cindy on June 7, 2013

Jun 072013

Treasure Island 1 Avenue of the Palms Administration Building Treasure Island was built with imported fill on the north side of Yerba Buena Island The connected Yerba Buena Island sits in the middle of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. Built by the federal government, Treasure Island was planned for and used as an airport for Pan American World Airways flying boats, of which the China Clipper is an example. The flying boats landed on the Port of Trade Winds Harbor / Clipper Cove which lies between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. This relief, by Jacques Schnier, is found at the both ends Continue Reading

Bliss Dance

Posted by Cindy on June 6, 2013

Jun 062013

9th and Avenue of the Palms Treasure Island This piece, by Marco Cochrane , was featured at Burning Man in 2010. According to the supporting art group Black Rock : The sculpture, of a dancing woman, stands 40 feet tall, weighs 7000 pounds and is ingeniously constructed of triangulated geodesic struts. By day, the dancer’s ‘skin’, made of stainless steal mesh, shimmers in the sun. By night, it alights brilliantly with a complex array of 1000 slowly changing l.e.d. colored lights. Viewers may interact with and manipulate the lighting effects with an iphone application. The dancer’s delicate, graceful form precariously Continue Reading

Thomas Garriue Masaryk

Posted by Cindy on June 5, 2013

Jun 052013

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 Exhibition on Treasure Island. It was given to the park in 1962 as a gift of the San Francisco Chapter of Sokol, a Czechoslovakian gymnastics association. Josef Mařatka was a Czech visual artist who was born in 1874. Mařatka studied Applied arts at Celda Klouček and then under Josef Continue Reading

Florence Nightingale

Posted by Cindy on June 4, 2013

Jun 042013

Laguna Honda Hospital Forest Hill / Twin Peaks This graceful painted cast stone statue of Florence Nightingale titled Lady of the Lamp is by David Edstrom and was done in 1937. The project was part of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) Federal Artists Program. The statue sat in the Court of the Seven Seas during the Golden Gate International Exhibition. The Lady of the Lamp refers to a Longfellow poem. (Peter) David Edstrom (1873-1938) was an immigrant from Vetlanda, Jönköping County, Sweden. In 1880, he immigrated to the United States with his parents, John Peter Edstrom and Charlotte Gustavson Edstrom. Edstrom lived in Ottumwa, Iowa from 1882 Continue Reading

Owls and Spiders

Posted by Cindy on June 3, 2013

Jun 032013

624 Taylor Nob Hill The Bohemian Club * As this post is about the art not the club, (a controversial group at best) I will simply copy what Wikipedia says about the Bohemian Club: “The Bohemian Club is a private gentlemen’s club located at 624 Taylor Street, San Francisco, California. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journalists, artists and musicians, it soon began to accept businessmen and entrepreneurs as permanent members, as well as offering temporary membership to university presidents and military commanders who were serving in the San Francisco Bay Area. A number of past membership lists are in public domain, but modern club membership Continue Reading

Trader Vic the Sculptor

Posted by Cindy on June 1, 2013

Jun 012013

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 far better known for his chain of Polynesian Restaurants name Trader Vic’s, and his claim of having invented the Mai Tai. In 1940 the first franchised Trader Vic’s opened in Seattle, Washington. In 1950, Bergeron opened a Trader Vic’s location in Hawaii and in 1951 at 20 Cosmo Place Continue Reading

What is Missing?

Posted by Cindy on May 31, 2013

May 312013

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 dedicated to raising awareness about the current crisis surrounding biodiversity and habitat loss. The dedication of the sculpture, which was commissioned by the SFAC, coincided with the Academy’s one-year anniversary in its new location. The Academy is the only institution in the world to house Continue Reading

Where the Land Meets the Sea

Posted by Cindy on May 30, 2013

May 302013

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. Although Lin does not usually participate in competitions, she responded to the Arts Commission’s invitation to apply because of her keen interest in the California Academy of Sciences and the opportunity the project would provide to engage with the institution’s scientists. As an ardent environmentalist, Continue Reading

GGP’s Sea Serpent

Posted by Cindy on May 29, 2013

May 292013

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 them in the round as she breaks into the classical realm of ceramic sculpture. This is Palmer’s first piece of public art. The ferro-cement-and-tile creature weighs nearly a ton and cost about $10,000. According to San Luis Obispo.com: From the start, the sea creature was Continue Reading

Puttin on the Ritz

Posted by Cindy on May 28, 2013

May 282013

Ritz Carlton 600 Stockton Street Chinatown Heralded as a “Temple of Commerce” when it opened in September 1909, the massive, 17-columned building spanning Stockton Street between California and Pine Streets, has been expanded five times and is now one of San Francisco’s best examples of neo-classical architecture. The original structure, an 80′ x 80′ white cube with four giant engaged Ionic columns and rich filigree, revived the neo-classical architectural style popular with early 20th-Century financial institutions. It was designed by Napoleon Le Brun and Sons of New York to be Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s Pacific Coast headquarters. Metropolitan Life commissioned Continue Reading

Mona Caron in Noe Valley

Posted by Cindy on May 27, 2013

May 272013

3871 24th Street Noe Valley These two murals sit on the two sides of a parking lot on 24th Street They are by Mona Caron who has been in this website many, many times. According to Caron’s website: The mural comprises two paintings that face each other over a small park and parking lot in the Noe Valley neighborhood. As a tie-in to the weekly farmer’s market that is held there, both murals feature giant botanical illustrations of vegetables and their leaves and blossoms. A scroll-like ribbon weaves around the vegetables. Wherever the ribbon is larger and appears closer, there Continue Reading

Spreckles Temple of Music

Posted by Cindy on May 25, 2013

May 252013

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. The Temple, dedicated on September 9, 1900, suffered damage in the 1906 earthquake (much of its Colusa sandstone cornices, balustrades and corners collapsed). It was further rattled by the region’s 1989 earthquake. This time the restoration was over seen by restoration architects Cary and Company. Performers Continue Reading

Lions and Bears in the Park

Posted by Cindy on May 23, 2013

May 232013

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 Susanna Brown, a one time resident of San Francisco. Ms. Brown gave $5000 to create the animals which were installed in 1908 to honor her late husband. Gustave Albert Lansburgh of Lansburgh and Joseph, a firm noted for its movie theater design, is responsible for Continue Reading

The Bard and The Park

Posted by Cindy on May 22, 2013

May 222013

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 and trees mentioned in William Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Some of the original plantings in the garden were from seeds from Shakespeare’s garden in Stratford-upon-Avon, supplied by plant purveyor Sutton and Sons. The garden was established by the California Blossom and Wild Flower Association in July Continue Reading

Horseshoe Courts of Golden Gate Park

Posted by Cindy on May 21, 2013

May 212013

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 Jesse S. “Vet” Anderson (born 1875) who was a cartoonist and caricaturist for the Detroit Free Press and later for the New York Herald Tribune. Anderson was a member of the horseshoe club, he died in 1966. The sculptures, overgrown and forgotten were revealed in Continue Reading

A Peacock Awes the Tenderloin

Posted by Cindy on May 20, 2013

May 202013

Geary and Leavenworth The Tenderloin This phenomenal peacock is by Satyr-1, who has been in this website many times. Satyr-1 is a professional artist who has long since left the ideas of “tagging” behind for commissioned projects in defined spaces with the support of building owners. His work made a difficult transition, but it mirrors the challenges faced by many other artists in todays street art culture. *

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