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9. City Life

Victor Arnautoff | fresco | 10 feet by 36 feet A favorite of visitors, this busy urban scene is a pastiche of downtown San Francisco locations, characterized by the cross-streets Montgomery and Washington, located in the financial district. Workmen, traffic rushing by, an auto accident, a holdup, a razor vendor, and a fire ladder truck labeled No. 5 (symbolizing Lillie Hitchcock Coit's association with Knickerbocker Engine No. 5 of the volunteer Fire Department in the 1860s). In the background are City Hall, Main Library, and the Stock Exchange building (with Ralph Stackpole's sculpture outside it). A large, bland, green U.S. mailbox in the foreground placidly contrasts with the frantic activity around it orchestrated by the static policeman directing traffic.

 City Life