By Tim Binnall
A California couple were left scratching their heads after discovering a rather sizeable sculpture that had been buried in their backyard long ago. The peculiar find was reportedly made back in May as Greg Gatwood and his partner, Judy Gittelsohn, were renovating the outside of their home in the San Francisco neighborhood of Russian Hill. While digging in their backyard, Gatwood came upon what appeared to be a large chunk of concrete. As he contemplated smashing it with a pickaxe, he took a closer look at the object and saw that it had a face. "It was like something you see in a movie, almost cinematic," he mused, "a big beautiful statue like this."
An artist herself, Gittelsohn was equally amazed by the piece, which measures two feet across and weighs 150 pounds. "What an enormous find," she marveled, "I was just gobsmacked." Since discovering the statue, the couple has been on something of a quest to determine its backstory. Based on her research, Gittelsohn suspects that the piece may have been crafted nearly a century ago at a San Francisco Art Institute class taught by sculptor Ralph Stackpole. Her reasoning for this theory is that the work was constructed out of limestone, which is considerably less expensive than marble or granite, and that their home is relatively close to where the now-shuttered college was located.
As for how the piece wound up on their property, Gatwood speculated that it may have simply been some yard art that slowly found its way underground over the decades. "It's quite possible this statue was displayed in the garden," he said, "and not so much buried, but just lost." Since sharing their story with local media outlets, the couple has heard from several individuals who thought they might have insight on the piece, but no one who can definitively explain its origins. To that end, the sculpture is set to be showcased in September at the American Messenger Gallery, where they hope someone will recognize it and provide an answer to the riddle they unearthed outside their home.