Haig Patigian was an Armenian-American sculptor born on January 22, 1876 in the city of Van, Armenia, in the Ottoman Empire and died on September 19, 1950 in San Francisco, California.

Family

• Father: Avedis Patigian
• Mother: Marine (Hovsepian) Patigian
• Siblings: Brother of Horen Patigian; Arshalous ‘Lois’ (Patigian) Fair; Lily Patigan; Rose Patigan and Arthur Schely Patigian
• Spouse: Blanche Hollister
• children: Haig Patigian (deceased), Hollis Patigian

Biography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haig_Patigian

His parents were teachers at the American Mission School in Armenia. He was largely self-taught as a sculptor.

Patigian spent most of his career in San Francisco, California and most of his works are located in California. The Oakland Museum in Oakland, California, includes a large number of his works in its collection, and more can be seen in and around San Francisco City Hall.

Patigian was an active member of the Bohemian Club, serving two terms as club president. He designed the Owl Shrine, a 40-foot high hollow concrete and steel structure which was built in the 1920s to have the appearance of a natural rock outcropping which happened to resemble an owl. The Owl Shrine became the centerpiece of the Cremation of Care ceremony at the Bohemian Grove in 1929.

Patigian married Blanche Hollister of Courtland, California, in 1908.

Selected public works

• Vanity, shown in 1916 at the Palace of Fine Arts McKinley statue in Arcata, California, 1906
• Electricity, Imagination, Invention and Steam; four repeated sculptures at the Machinery Palace, Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915) (destroyed)
• General John Pershing, San Francisco, California, 1921
• Abraham Lincoln, San Francisco, California, 1928
• Thomas Starr King (1931) This work resided in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. as one of California's contributions to the National Statuary Hall Collection until being replaced by a statue of Ronald Reagan in 2009.Volunteer Firemen Memorial, San Francisco, California, 1933

Architectural sculpture

• M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, tympanum, San Francisco, California, circa 1895 (removed)
• San Francisco Savings Union Bank building, pediment, San Francisco, California, 1911
• Palace of Fine Art & the Machinery Palace, (now destroyed) Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, California, 1915
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Building, (now the Ritz Carlton Hotel) pediment, San Francisco, California, 1920
• Navigation, Aviation, and Industry, Richfield Tower, Los Angeles, California, allegorical figures, 1928 when the building was demolished in 1968 the figures were moved to the Art Museum of the University of California, Santa BarbaraDepartment of Commerce Building, pediment, Washington D.C., 1934.

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Achievements

• Haig Patigian has been listed as a noteworthy sculptor by Marquis Who's Who.

Awards

• Awarded Josephine Hancock Logan 1st medal and cash prize for sculpture, 1939
• medal and certificate of appreciation from the State of California at the Golden Gate International Exposition, 1940.

Membership

• Member International Jury Awards Panama Philippine Islands Exposition, 1915, hors concours. Member International Jury of Awards for sculpture at 10th Olympiad, 1932 (hors concours), awarded diploma, same olympiad. Principal works: McKinley Monument, Arcata, California, 1905.
• Member California National Guard 5 years.
• Member National Sculpture Society, National Institute Arts and Letters. *Clubs: Bohemian (honorary life).

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Obituary

• The Sacramento Bee
• Sacramento, California
• 20 Sep 1950, Wed • Page 30

Links

• Find A Grave
• Wikipedia
• Prabook
• Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco “… ultimately became one of the most famous sculptors on the West Coast. His oeuvre includes portrait busts, monuments, and architectural sculpture.”
• The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California, 20 Sep 1950, Wed • Page 30. < newspapers.com > Obituary for Haig Patigian (Aged 74)