Ghost Figures of the Financial District

580 California at Kearney
Financial District

This building sits on the corner of Kearny and California Streets. It has twelve untitled figures along the four top edges resembling ghost forms wrapped in long cloth garments. They were created by the sculptress Muriel Castanis from 1982-85 for a commission by the building architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee.

The sculptures are made of molded fiberglass, selected due to its strength, light weight (1200-1300 lbs. each) and weathering properties. The three female figures in each tableau are reproduced on each of the four sides of the building.

Muriel Brunner Castanis (September 27, 1926 – March 22, 2006) was an American sculptor best known for her public art installments involving fluidly draped figures. Though she attended New York’s High School of Music and Art, she did not begin her art career until she’d spent 10 years as a wife and mother. Her 1980 exhibit at the OK Harris Works of Art in Manhattan led to her breakthrough. She died from lung failure in Greenwich Village.

These figures are even mentioned in her NY Times obituary.