Search Results : Haig Patigian

Haig Patigian’s Creation at the GGIE

 Posted by on February 3, 2021
Feb 032021
 

February 3, 2021
300 Filbert / Filbert Steps

Haig Patigian is represented on this site with many of his works. Patigian (1876-1950) was born in the city of Van in the Ottoman Empire. His parents were teachers at the American Mission School in Armenia. He was largely self-taught as a sculptor.Patigian spent most of his career in San Francisco, California and most of his works are located in California.

This piece of art is now on private property, but proudly displayed.  It is the studio model of Haig Patigian’s Creation that was sculpted for the Golden Gate International Exposition.  It sat in the Court of the Seven Seas.

Photo from Wish You Were Here at the Treasure Island Museum website

The main exhibits of the fair were placed in buildings that were interspersed with broad courts. One of these was the Court of the Seven Seas. The walkway that ran through the Court of the Seven Seas led to the Tower of the Sun which you can see in the background.

The walkway of the Court of the Seven Seas was lined  by sixteen equally spaced  64 foot pylons crowned by prows of galleons making a stroll a little humbling.

Patigian had four more sculptures at the GGIE. These sat around the great pool in the Court of the Moon and were titled Earth Dormant, Sunshine, Rain and Harvest.

Flower Boxes at the Bohemian Club

 Posted by on August 7, 2013
Aug 072013
 

624 Taylor Street
Nob Hill

Planter Boxes at the Bohemian Club

These planter boxes were commissioned by the architect, Lewis Hobart, for the Bohemian Club in 1933.  They were sculpted by Haig Patigian.

Haig Patigian has been in this site may times, you can read all about him and his works here.

Haig Patigian Planters at the  Bohemian Club

Lewis Parsons Hobart was born in St. Louis, Missouri on January 14, 1873. After graduating from preparatory schools in the East, he attended U.C. Berkeley for a year. While there he was influenced by Bernard Maybeck (as were many other young students, such as Julia Morgan and Arthur Brown, Jr.), participating in drawing classes that Maybeck taught in his home. Hobart left Berkeley to study architecture for two years at the American Academy in Rome and followed that by three years of further architectural training at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1901 to 1903.

Back in the United States, Hobart first worked in New York for two years, and then returned to the Bay Area in 1906, to participate in the rebuilding of the City after the earthquake and fire. He obtained his State Architectural license in October 1906 (number B429). He opened his own office in the A. Page Brown-designed Crocker Building (600 Market at Post). His classical training and knowledge of steel-frame construction stood him in good stead and he obtained commissions for several downtown office buildings from the Crocker Estate and other property owners. Surviving buildings of his from 1908 include the Postal Telegraph Building at 22 Battery, the Jewelers Building at 150 Post, the Commercial Building at 825-33 Market, and the White Investment Co. Building at 280 Battery.

Hobart is best known in San Francisco for his work implementing the design of Grace Episcopal Cathedral on Nob Hill. In 1903 Hobart had married socialite Mabel Reed Deming, a cousin of William H. Crocker who donated the site for the Cathedral. Inspired by 13th-century French Gothic architecture, the plans were drawn and the cornerstone laid in 1910.

In 1932 Hobart became the first President of the San Francisco Arts Commission, and later was appointed to the Board of Architects for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition held on Treasure Island, for which he also designed the Court of Flowers and the Court of Reflections. He died on October 19, 1954 and his funeral was held at Grace Cathedral. (excerpted from the San Francisco Encyclopedia)

Bohemian Club

Owls and Spiders

 Posted by on June 3, 2013
Jun 032013
 

624 Taylor
Nob Hill

The Bohemian Club

Bohemian Club Owl

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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 lists are private. Some prominent figures have been given honorary membership, such as Richard Nixon and William Randolph Hearst. Members have included some U.S. presidents (every Republican president since Calvin Coolidge has been a member of the Bohemian Club), many cabinet officials, and CEOs of large corporations, including major financial institutions. Major military contractors, oil companies, banks (including the Federal Reserve), utilities, and national media have high-ranking officials as club members or guests.  The club’s bylaws require ten percent of the membership be accomplished artists of all types (composers, musicians, singers, actors, lighting artists, painters, authors, etc.). Artistic members are admitted after passing a stringent audition demonstrating their talent.”

Regarding the Owl:

The Bohemian Club’s symbol is an owl, which has been in use since the first year the Club started. The owl has come to symbolize the wisdom of life and companionship, that allows humans to struggle with and survive the cares and frustration of the world. The owl is found on all Bohemian materials from matchbook covers and doormats to the most elaborate Club publications.

The club motto is “Weaving Spiders Come Not Here”, a line taken from Act 2, Scene 2, of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The club motto implies that outside concerns and business deals are to be left outside. When gathered in groups, Bohemians usually adhere to the injunction, though discussion of business often occurs between pairs of members.

The bronze sculpture, done by  Haig Patigian, (who has been in this website many, many times)  was dedicated n 1933, the other dates in the inscription refer to the Club’s previous buildings, which were built or dedicated in 1872 and 1909.

Bohemian Owl in Terra Cotta

I have been unable to find the sculptor of this owl that sits above the entry door.

 

 

Puttin on the Ritz

 Posted by on May 28, 2013
May 282013
 

Ritz Carlton
600 Stockton Street
Chinatown

Ritz Carlton San Francisco

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 the building after the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed the company’s offices and records in the Wells Fargo Building at Second and Mission Streets.

The original building was built to house the life insurer for a decade, but had to be expanded only five years after it opened. Miller and Colmesnil, a San Francisco architectural firm, bid $127,000 and won the contract to design two symmetrical wings with balconies. The wings were constructed in conjunction with the Stockton Tunnel, which links Union Square to Chinatown. Concrete piers were sunk beneath the tunnel floor to prevent the building’s foundations from shifting. The 28-foot wide wings, opened in 1914, more than doubled Metropolitan Life’s office space.

In 1916, Metropolitan Life purchased the lot north of the expanded building on California and Stockton Streets from the Episcopal Diocese of California. The second expansion, designed this time by prominent San Francisco architects J.R. Miller and Timothy Pflueger, (who has appeared many times in this website) duplicated the original Le Brun “temple.” Seventeen Ionic columns support an entablature of winged hourglasses and lion’s heads.

Haig Patigian

A triangular pediment with a dramatic tableau of nine larger-than-life figures crowns the portico over the building’s entrance. Sculpted in 1920 by Haig Patigian, the terra cotta figures symbolize the American Family “protected” by a winged allegorical figure representing “Insurance.” Patigian, can be found many times throughout this website.

Haig Patigian

The economic boom of the 1920s escalated the company’s business, triggering the building’s third expansion.

This wing continued the building’s neo-classical style using glazed terra cotta tiles, decorative winged hourglasses and lion’s heads. Because of Pine Street’s steep grade, the wing is seven floors on the downhill end and meets the original building’s main floor at the Pine Street wing’s fourth floor. Dedicated in 1930, the wing gave the building an “L” shape.

The building’s fourth addition in 1954 included the California Street wing and central garden courtyard. Designed by Thomsen and Wilson of San Francisco, this steel-frame, terra cotta clad addition is identical to the Pine Street wing and gave the building its “U” shape. Thomas Church, a renowned local landscape architect, designed the ornamental garden courtyard. Each enlargement maintained the original structure’s detailing and materials, making its elegant facades virtually seamless.

In 1973, Metropolitan Life relocated its Pacific Coast headquarters and Cogswell College acquired the building for its campus.

In 1985 Cogswell College again relocated. For the next three years, the building’s offices housed several small businesses on monthly and yearly leases. The nearly vacant building deteriorated. Its extensive renovation restored this landmark to its original beauty. It opened in April 1991 as the Ritz Carlton.

The building was named a San Francisco city landmark in 1984 and listed as Architecturally Significant.

Ritz Carlton Details

Washington Square – Fireman’s Memorial

 Posted by on June 28, 2012
Jun 282012
 
North Beach
Washington Square
 Firemen Memorial by Haig Patigian
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 To Commemorate the
Volunteer Fire Department
of San Francisco
1819-1866
Erected 1933
By Bequest of
Lillie Hitchcock Coit.
This sculpture by Haig Patigian  was erected with funds left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an honorary member of Knickerbocker Volunteer Fire Company No. 5, and was originally meant for Coit Tower. The geodetic survey marker, dating from 1869, was placed there by Dr. George Davidson, for whom Mount Davison was named. In 1937, the latitude and longitude of Washington Square were carved onto the monument.

Three firemen grouped on a circular base, are standing, dressed in uniform. Two have hats on. One firefighter carries a woman in his arms; another holds what appears to be a bullhorn, and the third (behind the other two) holds a firehouse.

This statue was paid for by a portion of the monies left behind by Lillie Hitchcock Coit.

Jun 162012
 
The Marina Green
Near the end of Fillmore Street
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Memorial to William C. Ralston by Haig Patigian  1941
William C. Ralston made his fortune in Nevada’s Silver Comstock Lode.  He was one of the richest and most powerful men in California, founding the Bank of California and building the Palace Hotel.  In 1875, after a combination of the expense of building the Hotel, his attempt to buy and resell the Spring Valley Water Company and the effects of the Panic of 1873, which crashed the stock value of his Bank, his body was found in the Bay.  Whether due to a stroke during his regular swim, or from suicide it will never be known.  It is said nearly 50,000 people watched his funeral procession.

This statue to Ralston was commissioned and paid for by Edward Bowes(14 June 1874, San Francisco – 13 June 1946, Rumson, New Jersey) Bowes made his fortune in real estate in San Francisco.  The 1906 earthquake made him reevaluate his life, he moved to New York and became involved in the entertainment industry.  Major ( a rank he obtained in WWI, and insisted on being addressed this way for the rest of his life) Bowes’ Amateur Hour was the best-known amateur talent show in radio during its eighteen-year run (1934-1952) on NBC Radio and CBS Radio.

I have no idea what linked the two gentlemen’s lives.
The Woman is holding an eagle on one hand and a weapon in the other.  On the east and west sides, were ornamental fish, they are no longer there.  The sculptor, Haig Patigian has been in this site many times before.

Civic Center – Abraham Lincoln

 Posted by on March 22, 2012
Mar 222012
 
Civic Center
Front of San Francisco City Hall
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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 was listed in the San Francisco city directory as a cameo cutter and a sculptor–began working on a clay model of a large statue of Lincoln.The Mechanics Institute was soon going to host a fair, and so the Institute suggested that Mezzara cast the statue in plaster for the fair, which opened in Union Square on August 10, 1865. The plaster statue was unveiled the first night of the fair and consequently, became the first statue erected in honor of Abraham Lincoln.” (Excerpted from Everything Lincoln)

The stone on this monument reads:
Lincoln
Erected by Public Subscription under the auspices of the Lincoln Monument League representing the Grand Army of the
Republic and the Lincoln Grammar School Association of San Francisco
 
This photo is the artist with his sculpture

Golden Gate Park – General Pershing

 Posted by on March 5, 2012
Mar 052012
 
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

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Haig Patigian is noted for his classical works, which are especially numerous in public venues in San Francisco, California. Patigian was born in Van, Armenia, which at that time was under Turkish rule. Haig was the son of Avedis and Marine Patigian. His parents, teachers in a missionary school, wanted their two sons to find freedom in the growing United States. When Patigian’s father was accused of creating propaganda for the Russian government — he was an artist, photographer — he took the opportunity to flee to the West.

They settled outside of Fresno. After working on a few farms in the area, the father found himself able to buy a ranch and a vineyard to establish his family. The parents, both believing passionately in art, encouraged the two boys to develop their artistic skills. And living in a peaceful community, Patigian developed quite well.

By the time he was 17 (around 1893), Patigian had found an apprenticeship painting signs. He painted the natural scenery, working with watercolors and oils. He soon had his own shop, once he put some money aside he moved to San Francisco, his older brother already worked in San Francisco as an illustrator. And in 1900, Patigian found employment at the San Francisco Bulletin as an illustrator.

Two Old Banks Still Stand Proud

 Posted by on March 16, 2001
Mar 162001
 

Grant Avenue and Market Street

union trust and savings union banks frisco market street Architectural Spotlight: Two Old Banks Stand Proud

Many critics of historical preservation projects complain that the process leaves the building frozen in time. Adaptive re-use proves that this does not need to be the case.

Adaptive re-use, which adapts buildings for new uses while retaining their historic features, can also a sustainable form of development that reduces waste, uses less energy and scales down on the consumption of building materials. San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square remodel in 1964 marked the first adaptive re-use project in the United States and San Francisco has never looked back.

A prime example of adaptive re-use in San Francisco can be found when comparing the two, classic Beaux Arts buildings that make up the stately entrance onto Grant Avenue from Market Street, the one street in San Francisco that comes closest to embodying the City Beautiful movement espoused by Daniel Burnham.

Coincidentally, both buildings were originally banks. Standing at 1 Grant Avenue is San Francisco Landmark #132: built in 1910 as the Savings Union Bank it was reconfigured for retail through adaptive re-use in the 1990s. The Savings Union Bank was designed by Walter Danforth Bliss and William Baker Faville. Both gentlemen were graduates of MIT and began their San Francisco practice in 1898.

This steel frame building is clad in gray granite. Six Ionic columns hold up its massive pediment 38 feet high. This modified domed temple is derived from the Roman Pantheon. The pediment, designed and sculpted by Haig Patigian, houses a Bas Relief of Liberty. Patigian, an Armenian by birth who spent most of his career in San Francisco, was one of the cities most prolific sculptors during his time.

At one time the front was graced with bronze doors. These doors consisted of four panels designed by Arthur Mathews and were said to be “descriptive of the historical succession of the races in California.” First the Indian, then the Spaniard who was typified by a Franciscan monk, next a miner representing the “American” and then an allegorical representation of a San Franciscan shown as the ideal figure of a youth beside a potter’s wheel modeling one of the new buildings in the city. Those doors have been replaced with glass.

d2c1171b3f02e4337bda307f761f90e3 Architectural Spotlight: Two Old Banks Stand Proud Interior of Retail establishment at 1 Grant Avenue (photo courtesy of Goldstick Lighting Company).

Inside are eight Tavernelle (an old building stone term that means spotted or mottled) marble Corinthian pilasters and columns thirty feet high. These support the main cornice, which is surmounted by an attic and coffered ceiling. The walls are not of marble but of Caen stone. Caen stone is a limestone quarried in France near the city of Caen. It was first used in the Gallo-Roman period. (the period when Gaul was under Roman influence)

Across the street, also built in 1910, at a cost of $1.5 million, stands the Union Trust Company Building, San Francisco Landmark #131. Union Trust merged with Wells Fargo Bank in 1923. The building still houses a Wells Fargo Bank branch.

AAC 4587 Architectural Spotlight: Two Old Banks Stand ProudPhoto Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library.

Clinton Day was the architect of this Neoclassical Beaux Arts building. According to the July 1, 1908 San Francisco Call “The structure at Market Street and Grant Avenue Will Be Handsome and Commodious.” Day came from a distinguished California family. His father was State Senator Sherman Day and co-founder of College of California, the precursor to the University of California Berkeley. Clinton Day was a graduate of College of California.

This modified temple design is without a pediment. Its beautiful layered façade consists of carved granite ornamentation, derived from classical antiquity that includes ten columns, a bracketed overhang and a roof crowned by a balustrade parapet. This is all accented by dark iron window framing. The curvature on the Market Street side grounds it nicely to its location.

This well-heeled area of Market Street makes these two banks stand proud, unlike the rundown Mid Market area that holds the Hibernia Bank.

Wells Fargo Bank Grant and Market StreetPediment at 1 Grant Avenue designed and sculpted by Haig Patigian.

 

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