There are a few cities in the world that have their own unique visual vernacular, their own architecture, their own special feeling, and just can't be mistaken for any other city. Almost any view of Manhattan is instantly recognizable and can only be that particular city. A view of terra cotta buildings magically floating on narrow canals almost always reveals itself to be Venice. And San Francisco is similar in that way: the buildings, the bay windows, the streets and how they are laid out and how they intersect other streets, a glimpse of a cable car,...it is all unique and instantly recognizable as San Francisco. Prior shows us the unmistakable steep streets and views toward the Bay, but he also treats us to views of specific iconic spots like Francis Ford Coppola's European-style Cafe Zoetrope located in the majestic Sentinel Building in the heart of North Beach, street cars on a rainy Market Street at night, the now-sadly-closed Marquard's, and the classic Café de la Presse on Grant Street near the entrance to Chinatown. But he has also captured perhaps the most unique view of the Golden Gate Bridge ever seen... in his painting International Orange, named for the exact color of paint that blankets the bridge, we see the underside of the monument from the San Francisco side looking toward Sausalito and the rest of Marin.
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