“Modern and Ancient Science” by Gordon Langdon

 Posted by on May 6, 2019
May 062019
 

George Washington High School
600 32nd Ave

Mural at George Washington High

Over the door to the library at George Washington High School is this Gordon Langdon mural titled Modern and Ancient Science.

On the left is Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Robert Andrews Millikan, who is recognized for measuring the elementary electronic charge. The center panel, apparently, represents Academy Award-winning actress Claudette Colbert, a popular French-born American actress of the 20s and 30s.  Ancient Science is shown on the right.

Photo taken before the pipes went up courtesy of https://www.newdealartregistry.org/artist/LangdonGordon/

Photo taken before the pipes went up courtesy of New Deal Art Registry 

Above you can better see the Pythagorean Theorem in a book sitting above Claudette Colbert.

Gordon Langdon was born in San Francisco, on March 9, 1910. Dropping out at Stanford, Langdon went on to study at the CSFA. During the 1930s he shared a studio with Ralph Stackpole another mural artist with murals at both Coit Tower and George Washington High School Library. Langdon’s family ranch in Olema, California was the subject of his Coit Tower mural where he inserted a likeness of himself. After service in WWII, Langdon abandoned his art career and moved down the peninsula to Palo Alto where he worked in wholesale hardware until he died of a brain aneurysm on March 8, 2963.

His fresco works in San Francisco include: Coit Tower (Timber and Dairy Industries); SF Art Institute Library (The Arts of Man) and this one at the George Washington High School Library

“Advancement of Learning through the Printing Press” by Lucien Labaudt

 Posted by on May 3, 2019
May 032019
 
"Advancement of Learning through the Printing Press" by Lucien Labaudt

George Washington High School 600 32nd Avenue   This mural, by Lucien Labaudt resides on the east wall of the library at George Washington High School it was completed in 1936 as part of the WPA. In this mural you will find such notables as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Junipero Serra, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Alva Edison, and Edgar Allan Poe. Labaut’s intent was to give an expression of mankind’s knowledge through the printed word by showing portraits of literary men, scientists, statesmen, and religious teachers, all grouped, with symbolic attributes surrounding the central figure of Gutenberg, patron saint of printed books. *   Continue Reading

“Contemporary Education” by Ralph Stockpole

 Posted by on May 1, 2019
May 012019
 
"Contemporary Education" by Ralph Stockpole

George Washington High Schoool 600 32nd Street Library Contemporary Education by Ralph Stackpole resides on the west wall of the library at George Washington High School.  It was painted in 1936 as part of the WPA and the New Deal. Newspaper accounts at the time state that Stackpole was  “interpreting contemporary education in the American high schools.” Ralph Stackpole(1885-1973) Stackpole grew up in Oregon and came to San Francisco after the turn of the century. He was a sculptor, muralist, etcher, and teacher and was one of the cities leady artists during the 1920s and 30s.  He was already quite Continue Reading

“Athletics” by Sargent Johnson

 Posted by on April 30, 2019
Apr 302019
 
"Athletics" by Sargent Johnson

George Washington High School 600 32nd Avenue Football Field Originally awarded to San Francisco artist Beniamino Bufano, the commission for this work went to Sargent Johnson after Bufano was fired by the WPA when he proposed to use the Marxist labor leader Harry Bridges as a model in his iteration for the frieze. This 1942 Federal Arts Project gave Johnson the chance that he needed to express himself in new materials, and allowed him to work on a massive scale in well-equipped studios. This giant sculpture was done in 3 by 4-foot panels so that it could be transferred from Continue Reading

Dewey Crumpler at George Washington High School

 Posted by on April 28, 2019
Apr 282019
 
Dewey Crumpler at George Washington High School

George Washington High School 600 32nd Avenue This three panel mural by Dewey Crumpler is a direct response to the 1960s controversy over the Life of Washington murals. However, even these stirred controversy in their day, not with the subject, but with the artist.  The Art Commission, and the students had far different opinions as to the qualifications of the chosen artist. It is a fascinating story which you can read HERE in Crumplers own words. In 1993 Crumpler wrote this about his murals: “In 1966 the student wing of the Black Panther Party saw some murals in the hallways Continue Reading

“Life of Washington” by Victor Arnautoff

 Posted by on April 28, 2019
Apr 282019
 
"Life of Washington" by Victor Arnautoff

George Washington High School 600 32nd Avenue Foyer This twelve-panel mural covers all the walls and the stairwell of the entrance to the main lobby of the school.  Depicting the life of Washington it covers 1600 square feet. Painted in the “buon” fresco style, which consists of painting with pigments directly onto wet plaster, Arntauff was able to cover about nine feet of wall per eight to twelve-hour day.  This largest WPA-funded single-artist mural took ten months to complete. * This piece of artwork is not without its controversy. Arnautoff was considered a left-wing liberal and communist and many of Continue Reading

Balboa Has its Name up in Mosaic

 Posted by on March 29, 2018
Mar 292018
 
Balboa Has its Name up in Mosaic

Balboa at 39th and 34th Avenues These two sided sign posts on Balboa street were commissioned by the SF Arts Commission as part of the Balboa Streetscape Improvement Project.  They were created by artist Colette Crutcher, who has been in this site many times. The site of the Balboa Streetscape Improvement Project extends from 34th to 39th Avenue. The $3,200,000 renovation provided a safer and more pleasant environment for pedestrians, motorists, cyclists, and transit riders to enjoy the neighborhood.

Red Gothic

 Posted by on March 28, 2018
Mar 282018
 
Red Gothic

Muriel Leff Mini Park 7th Avenue between Geary and Anza Richmond District This piece by Aristeded Demetrius is titled Red Gothic.  It was donated to the park by the Cyril Lerner Foundation and was installed in the park in 1986 at the request of Ms. Leff and other community members. Demetrius has several pieces throughout San Francisco.  Aristides Burton Demetrios (1932-  ) was born and raised in Massachusetts. His father, George Demetrios, was a classical sculptor, trained by Bourdelle, a student of Rodin. His mother, Virginia Lee Burton was the renowned author and illustrator of children’s books, including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Continue Reading

Dahlias at Cabrillo

 Posted by on March 22, 2018
Mar 222018
 
Dahlias at Cabrillo

Cabrillo Playground 853 38th Avenue Outer Richmond Cabrillo Playground, and its attached club house were completely renovated with $45 million dollars from the 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond. The budget for the art was $35,970. These lacy flowers are by Colette Crutcher and were inspired by the Dahlia Garden that is attached to the park. The artwork is comprised of flower imagery fabricated in galvanized iron lacework, incorporated along fence panels on 38th and 39th avenues at Cabrillo Avenue, with an overall dimension of 121 in. by 299 in. at 38th Avenue; and 121 in. by 222 in. at 39th Continue Reading

Richmond District Police Station

 Posted by on June 19, 2013
Jun 192013
 
Richmond District Police Station

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 on June 18, 2013
Jun 182013
 
Washington High School and the WPA

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

Aero #8 by Moto Ohtake Spinning in the Richmond

 Posted by on December 7, 2012
Dec 072012
 
Aero #8 by Moto Ohtake Spinning in the Richmond

851 27th Avenue Richmond District * Aero #8 by Moto Ohtake – 2012 – Stainless Steel Inspired by the natural elements on both macro and microscopic levels, aero #8 is a self-contained wind driven system that creates an infinite number of movements in response to changes in weather patterns. Moto Ohtake was born in 1952 in Tokyo Japan.  He holds a BFA from Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan, a BFA in sculpture from the Academy of Art College and an MFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institue.  He is presently an instructor in sculpture, three dimensional design and Continue Reading

Fire at Fire Station #24

 Posted by on December 4, 2012
Dec 042012
 
Fire at Fire Station #24

100 Hoffman Castro/Cole Valley * Fire by Jaap (Jacob) Bongers – 1993 Jaap Bongers was born in Stein, Holland and studied at the Jan Van Eyck Academie of Fine Arts and the Stadsacademie of Fine Arts, both in Maastricht, Holland. In addition to his travels to Africa, Bongers also visited the United States for the first time in 1985 and settled permanently in San Jose in 1987. This piece was commissioned by the San Francisco Art Commission for $14,000. The words are ways to say fire in several other languages. Api – Indonesian Apoy – Ilocano/Filipino Feu-French Feuer-German Fuego-Spanish Fuoco Continue Reading

Richmond District – Rochambeau Playground

 Posted by on September 26, 2011
Sep 262011
 
Richmond District - Rochambeau Playground

The Richmond District Rochambeau Playground 25th Avenue between California and Clement The artwork celebrates sports at Rochambeau Playground. Two concrete pillars clad in ceramic tile are topped by an 8-inch mosaic tennis ball and a 22-inch mosaic basketball. They mark the end of the handicapped ramp and the wall between the children’s playground and the blacktop courts. The work is by Johanna Poethig who has shown up numerous times in this website.

The Richmond – Speaking Stones

 Posted by on September 25, 2011
Sep 252011
 
The Richmond - Speaking Stones

The Richmond District Richmond Recreation Center 251 18th Avenue Throughout the park is poetry cast into concrete benches and carved into stones. The artist, Seyed Alavi titled this piece Speaking Stones.  It was to be a poetry garden with metaphors for health, contentment and community. Seyed Alavi received a Bachelor of Science degree from San Jose State University and a Masters of Fine Art from the San Francisco Art Institute. Alavi’s work is often engaged with the poetics of language and space and their power to shape reality. The various concrete benches read from left to right : They stained Continue Reading

Playland Revisited

 Posted by on September 24, 2011
Sep 242011
 
Playland Revisited

The Richmond District Corner of LaPlaya and Cabrillo Many people come to San Francisco and head to the Musee Mecanique.  There the first person you encounter, either with your ears or with your eyes is “Laughing Sal.”  Well she wasn’t always in a museum. Laughing Sal was originally at “Playland”.  Playland (also known as Playland at the Beach and Whitney’s Playland beginning in 1928) was a 10-acre seaside amusement park located next to Ocean Beach at the western edge of San Francisco, along the Great Highway where Cabrillo and Balboa streets are now.  It began as a collection of amusement Continue Reading

Richmond District – Fire Station #4

 Posted by on September 23, 2011
Sep 232011
 
Richmond District - Fire Station #4

The Richmond District 41st Avenue at Geary Fire Station Number 4 This is one of my favorite fire stations in the city.  There is something about its size, the fact that it is brick, and the position between two streets that just charms me. The Phoenix is by artist Lenda Anders Barth, and was installed in 1997.  The inscription reads: This relief sculpture, inset into a brick wall in front of the station, depicts the legendary Phoenix – the mythical bird reborn from its own ashes whose image is also on the City’s seal. This beautiful teal bird is set Continue Reading

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