London Planetree, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

FEATURED ON THE HOMEPAGE OF FINE ART AMERICA

Artistic rendering of the Music Concourse, an open-air plaza within Golden Gate Park in San... more

by Connie Fox

Title

London Planetree, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Artist

Connie Fox

Medium

Photograph - Outdoor Color Photo

Description

FEATURED ON THE HOMEPAGE OF FINE ART AMERICA

Artistic rendering of the Music Concourse, an open-air plaza within Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, USA. This color image with paint daubs, based on my original photograph, showcases one of the plaza’s spectacular heavily pollarded London planetrees. London plane, or hybrid plane, is usually thought to be a hybrid of Platanus orientalis (oriental plane) and Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore).

The primary trees used in this plaza are London planetrees and Scotch elm. All of the trees covering the oval-shaped bowl are heavily pollarded to give a very regular and formal appearance to the plaza.

Pollarding is a pruning system, often used in plazas such as this. It involves the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and club-like branches, but can also produce an arthritic look such as seen here. In some cases, such as this, it lends an especially interesting look to the tree, with all its knobbiness, curved club-like limbs, and deciduous bark, along with heavy leaves that look like those of an American sycamore.

The Spreckels Temple of Music, often called the Bandshell, is the focal point of one end of the Music Concourse. You will find a solarized image of of the Bandshell in my California Collection. Two unidentifiable people are seen practicing Tae Kwan Do. Green contemporary-style benches lend a cool look to the foreground.

The Music Concourse, or plaza, was originally excavated for the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition. It underwent a significant redesign after the fair, in order to be repurposed as a venue for public gatherings centered on music performances.

Copyright 2009-2022 Connie Steitz Fox
All rights reserved
Canon A630; artistic - works well for the products

FEATURED on the main homepage of Fine Art America, March 31, 2022, and Just Perfect, April 2022; The Art Workshop, August 2023; Seasons of the Trees and Serenity Inspiring Photogaphy, September 2023.

Uploaded

March 31st, 2022