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.

Signal on Treasure Island

 Posted by on October 23, 2019
Oct 232019
 
Signal on Treasure Island

699 Avenue of the Palms Treasure Island While much of Treasure Island is under construction you must reach this piece via a detour, the road will end on 9th Street near Avenue B. In 2015, the historic east span of the Bay Bridge was taken down and its remnants granted to 15 artists around the state.  One of these artists was Tom Loughlin a San Francisco based conceptual artist who received 36 tons of steel from the bridge. The piece, Signal,  is meant to function like a giant tuning fork vibrating at 35 hertz, the frequency of a foghorn: “You’re Continue Reading

Treasure Island Museum Mural

 Posted by on March 30, 2019
Mar 302019
 
Treasure Island Museum Mural

Treasure Island Museum Former Administration Building Treasure Island This mural resides in what was originally called the Navy Museum inside the GGIE’s Administration Building. The museum opened October 3, 1975 with exhibits representing the Navy and Marine Corps from the early 1800’s to the present. Eventually the collection grew to include the Coast Gaurd and then the Golden Gate International Exhibition, the Bay Bridge, which runs through the island, and the island itself. Once the museum began covering far more than the Naval history the name was changed to the Treasure Island Museum. The museum resides in a  1938 moderne style Continue Reading

Treasure Island Artwork Spread Far and Wide

 Posted by on September 12, 2017
Sep 122017
 
Treasure Island Artwork Spread Far and Wide

  Sometimes you are given an opportunity to peek behind the scenes and today I had just one of those magical moments.  Anne Schnoebelen, the passionate author of the website TreasureIsland1939.com asked me to come see the Pacific Fountain and bring along my friend Deborah Blake of Sullivan Masonry, to see about the restoration of the fountain. The fountain has quite a fabulous history.  It was part of The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) a World’s Fair held on Treasure Island. The fair, celebrated, among other things, the city’s two newly built bridges. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge which opened in 1936 Continue Reading

Jaques Schnier on Treasure Island

 Posted by on June 11, 2013
Jun 112013
 
Jaques Schnier on Treasure Island

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 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

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 on June 7, 2013
Jun 072013
 
San Francisco's First Airport

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 on June 6, 2013
Jun 062013
 
Bliss Dance

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

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