Visitor Center Art Exhibit Features Dramatic 1906 Earthquake/Fire Painting

The first retrospective exhibit chronicling the life/work of acclaimed West Coast maritime artist William A. Coulter (1849-1936) opens in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Visitor Center on April 18 (the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake). Among the 101 featured works of art, some on public display for the first time, is the signature Earthquake image "San Francisco Fire, 1906." It was painted from the perspective of a ferryboat fleeing the disaster, on a 10-foot-long window shade the artist rescued from the rubble. The exhibit is open through October 31, 2006.