Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Tag: San Francisco

  • Nob Hill – Fountain of the Turtles

    Nob Hill Huntington Park * * * * * * Huntington Park has a rich history steeped in the building of the Trans-continental railroad. The railroad men of California constituted some of the richest men in San Francisco. They were known as the Big four and their names were, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford,…

  • SOMA – Federal Building

    SOMA Federal Building 90 7th Street * This post is about the art that is part of the new Federal Building in San Francisco, however, it is difficult to discuss art without introducing you to the building itself.  I abhor the building, and it is not because I have anything agains modern architecture, I just…

  • Union Square – Dewey Monument

    Union Square * Most everyone that visits San Francisco sees this piece of public art.  Two years before the Gold Rush, in 1847, Jasper O’Farrell, the first surveyor of San Francisco,  created a design for the city, with Union Square as a public plaza. By the 1880s, it was a fashionable residential district, and in…

  • Union Square – Lamp Posts

    Union Square * * * Union Square Collonade by Ron M. Fischer Union Square was built and dedicated by San Francisco’s first mayor, John Geary in 1850 and is so named for the pro-Union rallies that happened there before and during the United States Civil War. Since then, the plaza has undergone many notable changes…

  • Civic Center – Hiro II

    Civic Center San Francisco War Memorial Opera House Hiro II by Peter Voulkos * This piece is actually owned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, it was acquired in 1971. Peter Voulkos was born January 29, 1924, in Bozeman, Montana to Greek-born parents, Efrosine and Harry Voulkos, and died February 16, 2002 in…

  • Civic Center – Hall McAllister

    Civic Center * Hall McAllister by Robert Ingersoll Aitken – Bronze – 1904 Outside the north wall of City Hall, on McAllister Street coincidentally, is the figure of pioneer attorney Hall McAllister. McAlllister served as first presiding judge of the Circuit Board of the Pacific States from 1855-1862. The pediment reads: HALL MCALLISTER Leader of…

  • Civic Center – Abraham Lincoln

    Civic Center Front of San Francisco City Hall * * Abraham Lincoln by Haig Patigian – 1926 This statue of Abraham Lincoln by Mr. Patigian replaced a statue by P. Mazarra of Lincoln destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.”Lincoln was dead! A period of national mourning swept the nation immediately after his assassination. During this time, Pietro Mezzara–who…

  • Civic Center – Henry Moore

    Civic Center Davies Symphony Hall Corner Van Ness and Grove Street * * Large Four Piece Reclining Figure by Henry Moore – 1973 – Bronze This piece, by Henry Moore, sits prominently in the Civic Center, and an easy one to see and enjoy by anyone that visits San Francisco. In the early 1970s Moore…

  • 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…

  • Lands End – Chinese Cemetery

    Lincoln Park Golf Course Chinese Cemetery 1st and 13th Fairway * * * At the turn of the 20th century there were no municipal golf courses in San Francisco or, for that matter, in any of the surrounding communities. However by 1902 golf was fast gaining popularity, and many private golf and country clubs were…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Golden Gate Park – Doughboy

    Golden Gate Park JFK Drive   Heroes Redwood Grove This grove is dedicated to the memory of the members of the San Francisco Parlors, Native sons of the Golden West who gave their lives in the World’s War I and II. The meadow adjacent to this grove and the Doughboy Statue with laurel wreath are…

  • Golden Gate Park – General Pershing

    Golden Gate Park Music Concourse A tribute to General Pershing and the victorious armies of the United States and her co-belligerents during the World War 1914-1918 Presented by Dr. Morris Herzstein 1922 Bronze by Haig Patagian * Haig Patigian is noted for his classical works, which are especially numerous in public venues in San Francisco,…

  • Golden Gate Park – Ulysses S. Grant

    Golden Gate Park Music Concourse * Ulysses S. Grant by Rupert Schmid The pedestal of the bronze bust lists the principle battles of the generals’ command. It was sculpted by Rupert Schmid and funded by a citizens committee in 1904. (However, there are articles the say it was installed in 1894 and 1896). Schmid had…

  • Golden Gate Park – Rideout Memorial Fountain

    Golden Gate Park Music Concourse Rideout Memorial Fountain  The Rideout Memorial Fountain – 1924 * This area was developed for the Midwinter Fair’s Grand Court of Honor. The grounds were sculpted from sand dunes by men using horse-drawn sleds. The fountain, dedicated in 1924, was made possible with a $10,000 gift from Corrine Rideout. Corrine…

  • Golden Gate Park – Portals of the Past

    Golden Gate Park Lloyd’s Lake This is the reservoir for the water pumped up its adjacent hill to Rainbow Falls. The water is circulated via the JFK Drive stream, and pours back into the lake in a cascade at its southwest corner. A trail entrance from Transverse Drive leads up the hill overlooking the water.…

  • Golden Gate Park – Stow Lake

    Golden Gate Park Completed in 1893, Stow Lake is considered a landscaping masterpiece. Created out of sand dunes by park superintendant John McLaren, it is the largest of Golden Gate Park’s lakes. Massive holes were dug out of the sand, carloads of clay were wheeled in and windmills were built to draft water from natural…

  • Golden Gate Park – William D. McKinneon

    Golden Gate Park * Chaplain William D. McKinneon First California US VOL INF 1898-99 Here is an excerpt from “San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park: A Thousand and Seventeen Acres of Stories” “William D. McKinnon taught at Santa Clara University and was chaplain with the First U.S. Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War in the Philippines.…

  • Golden Gate Park – Cervantes

    Golden Gate Park Music Concourse Museum Drive just off JFK Drive * * Miguel Cervantes Memorial by Jo Mora Bronze and Stone 1916 This work was presented to the City of San Francisco by J.C. Cebrian and E.J. Molera, September 3, 1916. It is so appealingly, Don Quijote and Sancho Panza looking up to their…

  • Golden Gate Park – Atop Rainbow Falls

    Golden Gate Park Atop of Rainbow Falls           Atop of Rainbow Falls is the Prayer Book Cross (also called Drake’s Cross). It is the tallest monument in the park at 64 feet with base. It is not easy to reach, and is well hidden by foliage. It was erected in Golden…

  • Golden Gate Park – Pool of Enchantment

    Golden Gate Park * * * This is the Pool of Enchantment, it sat between the two circular stairway entries to the old de Young Museum. The pool is now on the east side of the entryway. The Pool of Enchantment actually preceded the Museum by a few years. Donor Marie Becker, widow of banker Bernard…

  • Golden Gate Park – Roman Gladiator

    Golden Gate Park *  Roman Gladiator – 1881 by Geef In Commemoration of the Inauguration of the California Midwinter International Exposition On this spot the first shovelful of earth was turned with ceremonies on August 24th 1893. (That first spade of shovel was turned by President William Howard Taft) After the popular 1893 Columbian Exposition…

  • Golden Gate Park – Sphinx

    Golden Gate Park * Copies of Sphinx by Arthur Putnam – 1912 These sit to the right of the entry to the new de Young Museum. The plaque on them reads: This pair of concrete sphinxes replaces the original black granite sculptures commissioned from Arthur Putnam for the entrance to the Egyptian revival Fine Arts…