A routine landscaping project in San Francisco has turned into an art-world mystery after a couple unearthed a carved limestone sculpture in their backyard that they believe is linked to the city’s storied Art Deco past.
Greg Gatwood and Judy Gitelson have several theories that hint at the sculpture’s possible connection with one of the city’s most influential artists, Ralph Stackpole.
Stackpole, a prominent figure in the San Francisco art worldduring the 1920s and ’30s, created major public works including statues for the old San Francisco Stock Exchange and murals inside Coit Tower.
If the piece turns out to be an original artwork from the renowned sculptor and muralist, the backyard discovery could fetch big money –– consistent with the market value of his other sculptures.
Gatwood said he was digging in his Russian Hill backyard in May when his shovel hit something unusual.
“It’s probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever dug up in a yard, and I’ve dug up a lot of things over the years,” he told NBC News.
The couple lives directly across the street from the former San Francisco Art Institute, a historic training ground for generations of artists. The proximity immediately raised Gatwood’s suspicions.
“I think that there’s a connection between this statue and the art school across the street,” he said. “And Stackpole did teach there for years. Who knows, either him or one of his students may have touched this thing at one point,” Gatwood told the outlet.
He speculated the statue may have been a gift once displayed in the yard before it fell off its wooden pedestal and disappeared into overgrown brush.
Judy Gitelson, Gatwood’s partner and an artist herself, took a closer look and immediately recognized elements of a familiar visual language.
Gitelson said she does not believe the piece is a creation by Stackpole, but believes its style strongly echoes his era, pointing to distinct features linking the mystery sculpture to that milieu.
“Ralph Stackpole was teaching at the Art Institute for 20 years, and his disciples created this similar look of the flattened nose and broad face,” she told NBC News. Gitelson said the material and craftsmanship suggest a seasoned hand was behind the piece.
“It’s carved limestone, and the quality of the execution and the skill level is quite remarkable,” she said. “A local sculptor said, ‘This is not a fly-by-night person digging at limestone. This is someone very sophisticated.’ So it was made well.”
Despite these clues, the couple has yet to find anyone who can definitively identify the artist or confirm the sculpture’s origins.
