A San Francisco Backyard Dig Unearths a 150-Pound Art Mystery
Talk about finding something underneath the house.
San Francisco landscape contractor Greg Gatwood was grading and leveling the backyard of his Russian Hill home in late May when his shovel hit something hard. He figured he had found an old concrete fence-post footing, grabbed a pickax and started working it loose.
Then he flipped it over.
Staring back at him was the carved face of a woman — part of a hefty limestone bust weighing roughly 150 pounds.
Discover More
Dig into the mystery.
Read the original report, then explore more about Art Deco sculpture and San Francisco's artistic history.
Some links may be affiliate links. INYIM may earn from qualifying purchases.
Gatwood’s partner, painter Judy Gittelsohn, immediately recognized that this did not look like somebody’s weekend craft project. The smooth carving and strongly defined face sent her down an art-history rabbit hole that has now involved dozens of artists, scholars, historians and curators.
One name kept coming up: Ralph Stackpole, the influential San Francisco sculptor and muralist whose work can still be seen around the city, including at Coit Tower and the former Pacific Coast Stock Exchange building.
There is a very San Francisco reason the theory has legs. Stackpole taught sculpture at the California School of Fine Arts, later renamed the San Francisco Art Institute. The former school sits directly across the street from Gatwood and Gittelsohn’s home, and their property was still a vacant lot before the house was built in 1948.
Gittelsohn initially wondered whether the sculpture itself might be a Stackpole. After digging deeper, however, she has said it may be more likely that the bust was carved by one of his students. Other possibilities raised by researchers include sculptors Adaline Kent and Helen Phillips, both of whom had ties to the area.
There is even speculation that the work could somehow connect to San Francisco’s 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island, where Stackpole created the monumental Pacifica sculpture and other artists produced related works. But so far, there is no signature, paperwork or archival record tying the backyard find to any one artist.
And then there is the other mystery: why was it buried in the first place?
The sculpture does not appear to have simply been tossed away. Its placement has led researchers to wonder whether someone intentionally put it underground, whether it fell from an old garden display, or whether a student or artist buried a work they did not want around anymore.
For now, Gatwood is keeping things practical. He cleaned the sculpture and plans to build a pedestal for it in the backyard. His position is simple: it stays with them unless somebody eventually proves they have uncovered something that belongs in a museum.
Inside the Russian Hill Backyard Art Mystery
Take a closer look at the limestone bust and the San Francisco couple trying to figure out who carved it — and why somebody buried it.
Watch the Search for the Sculpture’s Mystery Artist
The report follows Gatwood and Gittelsohn as they piece together the clues surrounding their very unexpected backyard discovery.
Sources: NBC Bay Area; San Francisco Chronicle; Smithsonian Magazine; KTVU FOX 2. Video: NBC Bay Area / YouTube.
