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Turns out that four of the 14 judges hail from Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco, so that explains the surprise victory.
Cholula’s the fourther, so it gets an AutoPen-signed certificate instead of a medal.
I missed the big installation yesterday but KTSF was there.
Here’s what the “South Lion” looks like. Its left paw is “resting on a Buddhist jewel with an openwork design of sculpted peonies, a flower closely associated with lions.” DNKT.
This is a composite shot, but it’s the best one I have now. Guardian lion, 1868-1912. Japan. Bronze. Gift of Marsha Vargas Handley in memory of Raymond G. Handley
These critters certainly have found an appropriate resting place!
The ceremonial unveiling is coming soon.
All the deets from your Asian Art Museum:
“ASIAN ART MUSEUM INSTALLS TWO JAPANESE BRONZE LIONS ON FRONT STEPS
The Asian Art Museum has installed two monumental Japanese bronze lion sculptures on granite plinths outside the museum’s front entrance on Larkin Street. Recently acquired by the museum through a donation from longtime supporter Marsha Vargas Handley in memory of Raymond G. Handley, the 800 lb. sculptures date to the late nineteenth century and are similar to the majestic guardian lions typically placed opposite each other outside Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.
The practice of adorning public buildings with sculptures of lions is a time-honored custom in the US–the New York Public Library and the Art Institute of Chicago are noteworthy examples. The granite plinths outside the Asian Art Museum may well have been intended to support sculptures of lions when the building was originally built in 1916 to serve as the San Francisco Main Public Library. The museum is now following that longstanding tradition–this time with a uniquely Asian spin–giving a sneak peek of the treasures held inside.
The lion on the museum’s south side has its left paw resting on a Buddhist jewel, with an openwork design of sculpted peonies, a flower closely associated with lions. The south lion’s mouth is open, and the north lion’s is closed, symbolizing the sounds and spirit of the Japanese pronunciation of the first and last letters of the Sanskrit alphabet: “A” is pronounced with the mouth open, and “Un” with the mouth closed.
Physical Description: These lions’ enormous size—nearly five feet tall and six feet long— and standing positions are unusual. Paired guardian lions outside shrines today are often shown seated or crouching, and most are made of stone, wood, or, less commonly, ceramic. This pair of large sculptures also stands out in material (bronze). Relatively few bronze guardian lions from before World War II survive, due in part to mandatory metal collections ordered by the Japanese government during the war.
Conservation: The lions have undergone extensive conservation treatment, including repairs to the feet that fasten them to a new, customized base—a strategy of earthquake preparedness. Several layers of protective coating were applied to resist weathering of Ceremonial Unveiling: Details for a forthcoming ceremonial unveiling event will be announced soon.”
I’m thinking this could have something to do with our maritime history, but I don’t know.
400 Battery at Sansome:
Click to expand
Courage.
Our de Young Museum, now with Olmec, doesn’t charge you a dime to ride up their ‘vater to check out the view from the Hamon Tower.
Hurray! You ought to check it out, on a dreaded sunny day.
This could be you. Looking northward, ever northward:
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So there I was in Golden Gate Park tracking a giant blue bird and then when I looked up, I saw a hippy on a Jesus trip coming straight towards me larger than life.
Like this. See the robe, the beads, the sandals, the cross with the letters JHS* or IHS? This statue is a like a giant Catholic billboard on public land.
Check it, a huge bronze by Douglas Tilden made in 1906 and dedicated in 1907:
Via mharrsch - click to expand
So, here’s the Baby Name Wizard’s take on Junipero:
“Father Junipero Serra: Spanish Franciscan Friar. He is very well-known as a misogynistic abuser of native slaves and women, but remains an important historical figure in Central California.”
O.K. then. (Wow, a little harsh, huh?)
But what do you think Father Junípero Serra is trying to communicate here?
And what do you think the City and County of San Francisco is trying to promote by allowing public land for this kind of use?
Now, for some Christians, this statue, and the Prayerbook Cross just down the way, are not enough. These people go into the Music Concourse, see Father Serra and then get bummed:
“I was just there today, and as a Christian, I was very dismayed by the fact that it seems the park administration has allowed the landscaping to STRATEGICALLY block out the base of the sculpture that has the inscribed descriptions of Junipero Serra. It’s religiously discriminatory and outright insulting, and apparently it’s condoned by the city. But then Jesus said his followers would be hated. At least we were warned.”
I’ll agree that the shrubbery appears to have been placed around this statue to obsure it somewhat. This kind of cover could be, as they say, constitutionally significant – it could affect a judge’s or a jury’s opinion on whether it’s kosher for San Francisco to reserve its land for this kind of message.
Father J was much more prominent back in the day. See?
I’ll tell you, our neighbors to the south in Los Angeles had similar issue with a cross that was a part of its history – here’s the story of how they handled it.
How will San Francisco handle the case the Father Serra proselytizing in the GGP?
Now, shouldn’t Golden Gate Park be a proselytizing-free zone reserved as a place for giant blue birds to eat rodents…
…and recycle aluminum cans?
You Make The Call.
*Now, about that inscription on the crossbar. It’s just a Christogram that spells out the first three letters of the name Jesus. So, it goes J-E-S, or Iota-Eta-Sigma. There’s no need to make up a backronym like Iesus Hominum Salvator or nothing.
Remember all the trouble people had getting Harvey Milk back into City Hall, what with all the issues involving the placement of the busts of former Mayor Willie Brown and that Filipino-killing super-cracker Frederick Funston? Well, now that that’s over, why not get your own Harvey?
It’s new, it’s you. Check it out at HarveyMilkSculpture.com. And best of all, most of your money will end up going to the San Francisco Arts Commission, MilkFoundation.org, GLBT Historical Society and Lyric.
As seen just atop the Grand Staircase:
All the deets:
CELEBRATE GAY PRIDE YEAR ROUND WITH YOUR VERY OWN COMMEMORATIVE BUST OF HARVEY MILK
Available in three styles, the busts are replicas of the commemorative sculpture of Harvey Milk located in San Francisco’s City Hall.
60% of proceeds support the San Francisco Arts Commission, MilkFoundation.org, GLBT Historical Society and Lyric.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 23, 2010 – Director of Cultural Affairs for the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Luis R. Cancel is pleased to announce that Jonah Hendrickson, one of the original artists who created the commemorative bust of Harvey Milk at San Francisco’s City Hall, has made replicas of the bust, which are available for sale. Following the dedication of the sculpture in City Hall in 2008, both Mr. Hendrickson and the Arts Commission received numerous calls from people interested in purchasing reproductions. According to Mr. Hendrickson, “I realized there was a demand from parties who wanted their own copy for the home. I just thought, if people wanted these, why not make them available?” The busts, which come in three styles in both bronze and plaster, can be purchased online at harveymilksculpture.com and range in price from $350 to $2,500, see below for further details. Sixty percent of all proceeds will benefit the San Francisco Arts Commission, MilkFoundation.org, GLBT Historical Society and Lyric.
“I thought if these reproductions take off, it would be a great opportunity to channel a percentage of the profits back to the LGBT community,” said Mr. Hendrickson. “My hope is that these donations will continue Harvey Milk’s legacy of furthering equal rights and also support the great civic work of the Arts Commission, which ensures that the arts are an integral part of the City’s identity.”
Ever more deets, after the jump
The is the scene at Golden Gate Park‘s Brown Gate near 8th Avenue and Fulton – it’s Bear vs. Cougar in soft metal. Actually, the everyday meanings of both these words have changed over the century since these sculptures went up, so how about Brown Bear vs. Mountain Lion instead?
(San Francisco has more people bears and people cougars than ever. Oh well.)
Bear has the reach but Cougar appears to want it more.
“We were playing Cat and Bear, you know, and Cat was chasing me and I ran panicked over logs and through streams, you know, maddened with primal terror, you know, and I turned and raked my deadly claws against his howling snout, you know, and I rose to my hind feet, towering, and still bellowing he came, and I mewled and spewed gore from my wounds and snot from my flaring wild maw and… and… and we were locked like lovers and, and, and, and I was encircled by spotted feline bodies and my entrails were hanging out and I tried a savage feral roar but, alas, my force was spent.”
Look for them the next time you pass by on the #5 Fulton.
