auction item.

Here is something interesting to be auctioned on Sunday morning. It is a sculptural fragment from the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The building was constructed for the 1915 P.P.I.E. Worlds Fair, nine years after the Great Earthquake leveled the city. The Fair was held to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal and to show that SF was back. My great Uncle Al visited the Exposition when he was stationed at the Presidio before being sent to the slaughter in France in 1917. The architect was Bernard Maybeck. Originally, the building was only intended to be up for the duration of the fair, and was made from plaster with burlap fibers inside. The Palace of Fine Arts hosted art exhibits, and had Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings from France - the first time any such paintings had been seen publicly in western edge California. The building was not torn down at the end of the Fair, and was used for many purposes over the years until by the 1950's it was a crumbling wreck. In the 60's it was demolished and rebuilt/restored in cast concrete and recently earthquake-proofed. This original painted plaster and burlap fiber fragment of a maiden, about 10" tall I noticed yesterday while visiting the auction preview. You never know what will turn up at these things. The auction estimate for this piece is $500-700 with bidding to start at $250. I think it will skyrocket. I'll let you know how it does.

11042033.

Hammer Price was $1300, so out the door was about $1720.00.