San Francisco Waterfront (Pier 5)

Wedo Georgetti

An exemplary work of the beginning of the Bay Area abstract expressionist era, Wedo Georgetti's lithograph is all movement and mood, depicting the Golden Gate Bridge as seen from the famed piers of the San Francisco waterfront under a dark and stormy sky. Those familiar with Pier 5 know of its grand stone archway, shown here on the right with the profile of a ship seen through its opening.

At the time of Georgetti's execution of this image the Italian-born, Washington-raised artist had been a merchant seaman for nearly a decade, with San Francisco as his home base. He was drawn to urban industrial scenes and hubs of transportation, all of which benefitted from the dynamic expression of the American abstract movement. This small lithograph is a time capsule of sorts, prior to the over-commercialization of the piers and just as a new wave of visual art was beginning to change the world.