BONESTELL, CHESLEY

Oil on artist's board (27 x 33 in.), signed "Chesley Bonestell" lower left.

Miller, Ron & Frederick C. Durant III. The Art of Chesley Bonestell, p 31 and pp. 121-122, for two other works executed by Bonestell for the Golden Gate International Exposition

A rare, early painting done by Bonestell of San Francisco's north shore as seen from just south of Sausalito, ca 1939, with the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts, and part of the Marina district in the background, Horseshoe Bay, Point Cavallo, Yellow Bluff, and an apparently no-longer extant harbor just south of Sausalito in foreground. Likely done for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco. 

Starting in 1937, Bonestell began work for the forthcoming 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, timed to coincide with the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Bonestell designed the cover for the event program, and did numerous paintings for the project, including aerial views of the island, and renderings of the landscaping and architecture. 

The Golden Gate Bridge featured many times in Bonestell's work. He first prepared illustrations of it in 1932 for Joseph Strauss, the chief engineer on the design for the bridge. "For the next five years, Bonestell's artwork helped the engineer explain 'to the directors how the money allocated each month was to be spent... I [Bonestell] was hired to draw cutaway sections showing in great detail how various parts were to be constructed.' Bonestell also made several contributions to the bridge's final appearance." (Miller & Durant)