Visitors to museums may be surprised when seeing a painting they have encountered before, the newness. In November of 2025 this is what I wrote:
“A joy of mine is seeing something with fresh eyes. Disregarding the seriousness of the subject, deaths in a labor dispute, artist John Langley Howard’s painting of Fan Francisco is a delight. The quality of light as depicted is expressive and refined. This painting hangs next to Ben Shahn’s Ohio Magic. The curatorial connection is obvious.
The layout of Mr. Howard’s painting fascinates me—the balance of mass, detail, space, and movement to express social activity. The eight figures to the left move in one direction while the lit figure with a briefcase moves in another. The painting develops circuitous interest as one’s eye follows the lines. Movement of line is implied in the figures of the painting. Two female figures in the background lend an alternative of feeling— the way they move and appear to speak together. A lone male figure appears to view their approach as he stands in front of a tailor’s shop.
The graphic elements portray the life of the city. The placard for Clay street is small and painted in a subdued tone while the large billboard is colorful, lit, and powerful. As the group of figures move toward Clay street, and the business man moves toward the billboard, one may interpret class distinctions. The billboard is a commercial for business and Clay street a place for workers.
In the center of the canvas there is an open window. The interior is dark in color, black. The window is a hinge, an axis that the composition moves upon.
In the far right corner is a figure seated on a curb. The figure’s gaze is cast downward. As a whole shape I interpret the form like a ball in a lane. The upcoming group of figures, the eight, appear as pins in a bowling alley. My overall impression of this painting is the plight of workers in a rigged game. To the far left is a storefront for beer and sandwiches, worker fare. The tailor shop is in line with the business man’s trajectory and also the implied line of the women.
Embarcadero and Clay Street depicts the intersection of labor and the questioned fruits of labor’s production. The paintings asks us to think.
A guard came up to me while I was making my last observation, the car. We spoke. I said the car is the last piece, just because I like the way it is depicted. The front end of the car speaks to the scene in a hard to describe way—it just speaks.”
By Drew Burgess
Drew Burgess is an art instructor at the College of Alameda of the Peralta Community College District of California.
John Langley Howard, Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1935, oil on canvas, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, FAMSF
Cite this page: Drew Burgess, “John Langley Howard Embarcadero and Clay Street at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum”, February 8, 2026, https://www.drewburgess.art/museum-visits/2026/2/8/john-langley-howards-embarcadero-and-clay-street-at-the-de-young
John Langley Howard, Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1935, oil on canvas, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco
John Langley Howard, Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1935, oil on canvas, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco—detail
John Langley Howard, Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1935, oil on canvas, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco—detail
John Langley Howard, Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1935, oil on canvas, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco—detail
John Langley Howard, Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1935, oil on canvas, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco—detail
John Langley Howard, Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1935, oil on canvas, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco—detail