Painting of Bob Kaufman by George Pennewell Arrives at the Beat Museum

Collections, Exhibits

It was a busy Saturday when Brandon took the call. The man on the other end, Bob Gilman, informed us he had a unique artwork and he wanted it to “go to the right place.”

Gilman told us he had commissioned artist George Pennewell to create a “North Beach painting” of Bob Kaufman in 1987. Kaufman had passed away just a year prior, and Gilman was one of the people who participated in a memorial for Bob at City Hall. Gilman told us he had been a longtime North Beach resident, and asked his friend George to do a rendering of Kaufman based on a photograph taken by Jean Dierkes-Carlisle on Grant Avenue in 1979. In it, Bob is wearing a deep red coat, white turtleneck, and black hat.

Bob Kaufman and Shig Murao, Grant Ave (photographer unknown)
George Pennewell with his painting, North Beach
Bob Gilman (left) at The Saloon
The painting in its new home at the Beat Museum, overlooking the North Beach exhibit
Detail showing George Pennewell’s signature

We were familiar with the photo. Jean gave us a copy of it within days of our arrival in North Beach in 2006, and we immediately hung it up in our first location at Live Worms on Grant Avenue. We were familiar with Pennewell too, though he’s perhaps best known for his work as a poster artist of the 1960s counterculture.

Bob told us he was most interested in ensuring the painting be placed somewhere, preferably in North Beach, where it could be viewed by the public and cared for by people who value it. Fortunately the Beat Museum checked all those boxes.