Eye of the Beholder

When Artist Eugene Kenney envisioned the eye, he did not expect it to be of a storm. What he had in mind was hanging a huge canvas eye of Horus, symbol of the all-seeing Egyptian deity, from the top of San Francisco's 853-ft. pyramid-shaped Transamerica Building. "An artistic idea that could be comprehended on many levels," contended Stephen Goldstine, president of the San Francisco Art Institute, and an insightful way to mark the museum's King Tut exhibit.

Kenney's proposal received some eyecatching endorsements. "Ingenious," said Roy Schmidt, senior vice president of the firm that designed the building. "Something that we can all enjoy," said Charlotte Mailliard, a former member of the Landmarks Advisory Board. But Transamerica Chairman John Beckett turned Kenney down. Said Beckett: "This building is like our house. It's where we work and live, and we just don't want an eye on it." Said Kenney: "They just don't speak an artist's language."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.