Early Streetcar Scene of San Francisco

Eduard Hildebrandt (1818 - 1869)
San Francisco Streetcars
c.1864
Paper size: 14 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches; 16” x 21” framed
Watercolor on Whatman paper
Signed lower right: E. Hildebrandt
Inscribed lower left: San Francisco

This lovely street scene depicts a view of San Francisco up California Street past Montgomery Street. There is a wonderful sense of one-point perspective in the picture plane with notable local landmarks on either side of the prominently featured road: the Parrott Building and St. Mary's are seen off to the right, to the left is Grace Church, and in the background is Nob Hill. A steam-powered trolley car divides the foreground from the background while a scene of barrels being unloaded exists in along the picture’s center.

Born in Danzig in 1818, Edward Hildebrandt came from a family of artists, his brother being the notable marine painter Trite Hildebrandt (1819 - 1855). An influential time in his career spanned the dates 1860 - 1862 when he went on a grand world tour. His stops included the Middle East, India, Singapore, Siam (Thailand), Macao, Hong Kong, China, The Philippines, Japan and the United States. Hildebrandt worked primarily with watercolors to document the sites that he saw which were then published in Berlin as chromolithographs in 1864. Hildebrandt’s original watercolors were exhibited twice in the later years of his life: in London in 1866 and at an exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1868, just a year prior to his death in Berlin. For more information on this fascinating watercolor, please call Arader Galleries at 415.788.5115, or visit our San Francisco location at 435 Jackston Street.

Arader Galleries is also pleased to present our new catalog, California, celebrating the rich history of Northern California, from the time of exploration, to the advances in photography that captured the beauty of the area, and including the birds and mammals that are native to Northern Calfornia. Please contact contact Arader Galleries San Francisco location to request a copy.