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Lot description
William Alexander Coulter (1849 - 1936) San Francisco Bay Harbor Evacuation scene, Oil on Canvas measures 27.75" x 39.75" period frame measures 35" x 46.5". The work depicts the ships of early San Francisco evacuating citizens in the 1906 Earthquake and fire that burned for three days, destroying thousands of buildings. Coulter sketched the evacuation during repeated trips on the Sausalito Ferry. Coulter, the son of an Irish Coast Guard Captain, worked and lived seven years at sea sketching and painting the ocean and maritime vessels. Upon disembarking in San Franscisco due to an ankle injury, he never looked back becoming a ‘waterfront artist’ for the ‘San Francisco Call’ newspaper where he drew pen and ink sketches for the paper. His drawings for the newspaper were used to show to the world the devastation of the 1906 earthquake and fires. He continued to paint the ever-evolving San Francisco bay area, not only witnessing the devastating earthquake of 1906, but also the city's rebuilding and modernization, particularly through the lens of his maritime roots. The present work was painted in the aftermath of the earthquake, and depicts a singular sail boat and captain floating away from the fires, amidst an army of steam driven tug boats and mammoth steam liners filled with fleeing citizens and the iron cranes and modern ships loom under the burning skies that burned for three days, destroying thousands of buildings and displacing over 200,000 people signed lower left