Early December 2024

Introduction

The other day, as I was searching for new examples of street art, i began to think of the art that I had seen but has since disappeared. Of course, I had thought along these lines before (check out these earlier posts here and here).

When I started photographing and writing about street art, I did not realize I would have an image repository of wall murals that are now gone, for one reason or another. If you’re a regualar reader of this blog, you will have seen some of these before. But I think they are all worth a revisit. I’ll try to arrange them by neighborhood, when I can.

Sagrado Corazon

This mural, on the wall of a three story building, was visible for several years from the platform of the urban train station in Sagrado Corazon. It had faded over the years; it is now gone. I never did figure out the symbolism.

The evocative Woman with Green Face was also near the Sagrado Corazon urban train station. She has long since been painted over.

Domenech

I first noticed this while on the urban train as the train, elevated at that point, rounded a curve near the Domenech station. A few days later, I went back, got off at that station and took this from street level. The mural is still on the wall but it has faded enough to obliterate it.

Avenida Juan Ponce de Leon

The next two were just off Avenida Juan Ponce de Leon, the main street through San Juan, near the intersection with Avenida de Diego. They have since been painted over.

Plaza del Mercado, Santurce

The next four are from the neighborhood around the Plaza del Mercado in Santurce. The house above was on the street leading to the plaza from the south, off Avenida Juan Ponce de Leon. It is rare to see wall murals with red as the dominant color.

These intricate figures were on the bridge pier along Calle Canal, entering the Plaza area from Condado, to the north. They’ve been painted over.

This smiling face greeted visitors to the Plaza as they headed north, along Calle Canal.

Condado

This was not technically in Condado. It was on a side street leading into Condado, from the south. I was and remain intrigued by this work.

Calle Cerra

As I’ve written before, Calle Cerra is a hotbed of wall art. I’ll probably do another post on it later but here are three examples of murals there that have been painted over with new art.

Conclusion

So there are a few examples of wall art that has disappeared. I wonder if copyright protection still pertains to works painted over. I should check that out. Perhaps I can use these and other images in a book to sell to avid tourists pouring off the cruise ships. What do you think – want to send me a few bucks to get me started?

Notes and Sources

The images are all mine. I use a Sony point and shoot digital camera and edit my images with Adobe Lightroom and/or Adobe Photoshop.