The San Francisco call., 1909-10-03
CANVAS DEPICTS
BUILDING BUSTLE
Jules Pages Picture, "The Re-
construction of San Fran
CISCO" Is Exhibited

picture No. 1876, exhibited in one of
the most prominent positions in the
Paris salon this year, arrived in this
city yesterday and is on public view.
1t is THE Reconstruction of San Fran
CISCO" one year after the fire, by Jules
Pages H. c.. and from every stand
point, artistic. sentimental and histor-
icaI, is one of the most notable paint
ings ever displayed on this coast.
The canvas was unmoored from it's
wrappings at l o'clock yesterday after
noon and put in place in Gump's new
galleries. BY o'clock it had collected
a crowd.
The subject is one that is bound to
appeal to every San Franciscan, for it
is a monument to one of the biggest
achievements of the century, the up
building of the city, and is painted with
a fidelity to life, and withal a pictur-
esqueness, that make it particularly at
tractive to Californians. The view IS
taken from below the present vaults of
the Bank of California, looking up and
over to he new Merchants exchange,
just completed. The workmen in the
excavation are busy with the pile driv-
ing machines and the scene is rich
with color from the skeletons of the
iron buildings, the piles of debris,
bright with brick dust and the blasts
of flame from the hosting engines.
The scene is alive and vital, with the
motion and excitement of the hour
Half hidden by the dense of gray ana
black smoke from the machines, a
glimpse is caught of the busy life of
California street, looking west from
Sacramento, with a cable car passing
an automobile, and wagons with their
loads of wares and building materials
Down in the excavation the actual
work of reconstruction is shown with
a wealth of detail that is truly marvel
Gus. There is nothing that the artist
has left out or overlooked. The dirt
and the dust the little pool of water
rejecting a touch of blue sky, the piles
and plankS and beams, the men busy at
their various avocations, are depicted
faithfully.
The spirit of San Francisco pervades
the picture and strikes it's own note.
the familiar everyday scene caught and
depicted on canvas for the future gen
erations to see, rendering the painting
one of the most striking of its day.
1t was the one picture of the year to
create a furore in Partisan art circles
and from present indications it's popu-
larity here on its home soil promises
to be even greater. 1t should be owned
by either the merchants exchange or
one of the big hotels, so as to be kept
in the years to come before the public
eye as mute testimonial to the spirit
of 1907-0S.
The canvas is about IL feet high by
six feet broad and is one of the best
things from the brush of Jules Pa ges.
which is in itself the highest compli-
ment that can be paid him, when it is
remembered that he is the only Cali
fornia painter who ever received a
medal from the Paris salon.
Pages began his artistic areer in this
city being interested for many years
in newspaper illustrating. OF late
years he has divided his time between
France and California, returning here
at the time of the disaster for his last
visit. At present he is making his
headquarters entirely in Paris