Near the Wharf

A City on Fire

After the earthquake on April 18, 1906, a massive fire raged through downtown San Francisco. The fire lasted four days until finally extinguished by rain. Four undated sketches by Obata appear to have been made at the time of the blaze. Using rapidly applied strokes of wet and dry ink, they reflect the anxious mood of a city filled with billowing smoke, rushing figures, and temporary shelters.

A review of Obata’s work from the March 4, 1928, San Francisco Chronicle commented about these sketches,

Shortly after arriving in America, Obata found himself one of the sufferers of the fire of 1906. Even at such a time of stress, in his eagerness to express the feelings of the moment, he made sketches of the leaping flames. Thus it is that Obata has what is probably the only series of paintings of the San Francisco fire made from the actual scenes of the conflagration.