Pacific Gas and Electric Building
245 Market Street
Embarcadero/Financial District
Above the arched entryway to the Pacific Gas and Electric building is this bas-relief depicting the primary activities of the company, hydroelectric power. At the top is a waterworks with water pouring through three openings symbolizing the “falling waters” that come from the mountains. This sign is flanked with two kneeling men facing the center. Under the base is a head of a grizzly bear, set amidst foliage, claws showing over the rim of the archway.
The sculptor for this entry way was Edgar Walter.
Edgar Walter was born in San Francisco, CA in 1877. He studied locally with Arthur Mathews and Douglas Tilden at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, and then continued in Paris with the painter Fernand Cormon and and the sculptor Jucques Perrin.
A longtime resident of San Francisco he was one of a group of West coast sculptors that included his teacher Douglas Tilden, Arthur Putnam and Beniamino Bufano.
Work in San Francisco included St. John at Grace Cathedral and the Spandrels at the San Francisco Opera House. He exhibited his Nymph and Bears at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition and was awarded an honorable mention. There is cast of the work, also known as The Bear Charmer at the Hearst San Simeon State Park.
He taught at the CSFA (1927-36) and maintained a residence in San Francisco at 1803 Franklin Street until his death on March 2, 1938.
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