The San Francisco Fire: Photographs by Arnold Genthe, April 21-May 27, 1956

Arnold Genthe was an established member of San Francisco’s art community when the disaster struck on April 18, 1906. Though Genthe lost much of his photographic equipment and most of his negatives in the inferno that swept through the city that day, he borrowed a pocket camera and immediately began to document the destruction, ultimately producing more than 170 views starting within hours of the earthquake and continuing for several weeks. Unlike the many commercial photographers who cashed in on the demand for earthquake-related imagery, Genthe printed few of his negatives and rarely displayed them. After the artist’s death in 1942, the Legion of Honor purchased his original earthquake negatives, and, in 1956, the museum contracted Ansel Adams to print twenty-two of the works in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the disaster. The results of this commission were put on display for this exhibition at the Legion of Honor in 1956. In 2018, the 75th anniversary of this important acquisition, the curators and conservators of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts embarked on an ambitious project: the team digitally scanned, cataloged, and published this important body of work. An accompanying book was published to provide an overview of Genthe’s life and work, trace his journey on April 18, 1906, and illustrate the aftermath of the disaster in terms of the impact on the city’s infrastructure and its residents.

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