The
Stock Exchange Tower located
at 155
Sansome Street was designed by noted San Francisco architects
Miller & Pflueger under the direction of Timothy L.
Pflueger (1892 -1946).
The building opened in 1930 and housed the offices of the
brokers who worked 'on the floor' of the adjacent San Francisco
Stock Exchange. That imposing structure, fronting on Pine
Street, with its facade of stately Doric columns, was constructed
in 1910 as a United States Sub-treasury and was adapted to serve
as the exchange's trading floor as part of the 155 Sansome Street
project.
The two monumental
sculptures that flank its entrance are the works of sculptor
Ralph Stackpole (1895-1973) and are named 'Agriculture' represented
by feminine figures and 'Industry' represented by masculine figures.
Believing that great art should be an integral part of
great architecture, Pflueger, one of California’s earliest
architects to incorporate Classic European Modernism into his
work, commissioned a number of the era’s most renowned
artists and craftsmen to work on the project.
The Pacific Stock Exchange Lunch Club (1930-1987), now The
City Club, is considered the best interior in the Art Deco
style in San Francisco, and among the best in California.
The
Entrance to The Club
The
City Club's formal entrance is on the tenth floor of
155 Sansome, through bronze framed elevator doors faced
with images drawn by interior architect Michael Goodman
and executed by Harry Dixon (1890-1967) in five
different metals: Copper, German  Silver
(Monel), Bronze, Silver and Brass. The
first pair of doors show San Francisco at air-level,
land-level and below sea-level. The second pair depicts
the four winds and two hemispheres of the world. The
third presents the convergence of old and new architecture,
fashion and transportation. The
remarkable balusters on the grand staircase, between
the tenth and eleventh floors, designed by Robert Boardman
Howard (1896-1983), are fashioned using chrome-plated
steel. Stylized figures in brass represent a day
in the life of the stockbroker --- in business, golf
and formal evening attire. The newel post at the
base of the staircase forms the initials P. S. E. L.C.
for The Club's original name, Pacific Stock Exchange
Luncheon Club
Art
at The Club
It
was Ralph Stackpole's responsibility to choose the artists
who worked on The Club. His
choice of Mexican artist, Diego Rivera (1886-1957) over California
artists was somewhat controversial. Newspapers
referred to the incongruity of choosing an artist of
Rivera's leftward political leanings to do a mural in
'the citadel of capitalism.
None the less, the renowned artist came and in 1931 completed
what was to be the centerpiece and symbol of The Club.
Allegory
of California
Rivera
created his first U.S.
fresco on the wall and ceiling of the grand stairwell. The
large figure represents Califia, for whom the state is
named.
Her right hand mines the earth for its hidden treasure while
the left hand holds the treasures that grow on its surface.
Tennis-great Helen Wills Moody, a friend of Stackpole's, posed
as Califia. There are also portraits of James Marshall,
discoverer of gold, and Luther Burbank, famed horticulturist.
Other figures represent the engineer, the merchant and the
farmer, all panning for gold. Youth and its dreams are represented
by a serious minded boy (the model in this case was photographer
Peter Stackpole) holding an aero plane, representing the infant
industry. The oil industry and shipping are illustrated above
Califia's shoulders. The large ceiling figure running
diagonally (to recall the diagonal line created by the rail
of the stairs) depicts electrical achievement, flanked by representations
of sun and billowy clouds.
California
Artists
Stackpole
also chose several California
artists (frequent collaborators of both Pflueger and
Stackpole) to create original designs for the Club's
interiors. The two carved panels on the stairwell
flanking Rivera's fresco were carved by Stackpole. The
sculpted corner pieces and panels elsewhere throughout
the Club are the endeavors of Ruth Cravath (1902-1985),
Adeline Kent Howard (1900-1957), Robert Boardman Howard,  and
Clifford Wight (1900-1960's). The bronze sculpture
of a mountain lion by noted sculptor Arthur Putnam (1873-1930)
is located in the alcove near the rest rooms. Painter
and lithographer Otis Oldfield (1890-1969) painted the
hunting scenes on the back side of the windows of the
Wine Cellar to simulate stained glass, in keeping with
the room's theme of an English Grille. This room
was euphemistically called the Grille Room, but functioned
as the bar during the Prohibition era.
Furnishings
Many
of the furnishings throughout the club are original and
have been restored for The City
Club. The massive black marble and brass table in the Cafe
had never been moved prior to the 1988 renovation which
revealed that each re-carpeting of the room was accomplished
by cutting around the huge legs of the table. Located
in the foyer are two types of cocktail tables: black Bakelite
and chrome (singularly modern materials of the 1930's)
and the smaller 'game' tables of copper and glass. Two
large sofas, with woodwork carved by artist Raymond Puccinelli,
feature animals in repose. The 'Ionic' bronze benches and
the lighted console are among those designed for the Club
in 1929 by Sloan's.
In
addition to those mentioned above, Pflueger, Goodman and
Stackpole used a wide variety of local and imported materials
in creating The Club’s magnificent rooms. Belgian
Blue and St. Genevieve Golden Vein marbles combine in the
monumental fireplace of the Main Dining Room. Hungarian
Ash wainscoting below Avadir veneer walls are joined with
ebony and pear wood window casings. The Jeanne Dare
stone fireplace mantelpiece in the Café features
an archer surrounded by incised figures representing the
moods of man.
It was carved in place by Ralph Stackpole.
The
art and interiors of the Stock Exchange Lunch Club cost
a third of a million dollars in 1930, a very significant
sum in those Depression Era dollars. The 1988 renovation
of the facility for The City Club of San Francisco cost
more than a million dollars and in 2004 an additional $300,000
was invested to refurbish this Art Deco treasure.
Historical
information provided by:
Patrick McGrew, Patrick McGrew Associates (refurbishing architect)
Masha Zakheim, "Articulate Art: San Francisco of
the 1930's",
Architectural
Tours provided by:
Marsha Zakheim, 415.648.7198, mzakheim@earthlink.net
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