Of all the InterContinental Mark Hopkins’ artistic and architectural treasures, some of the finest are the nine murals depicting early California in the Room of the Dons. These seven-foot-high panels were painted by two of California's most famous Western artists, Maynard Dixon and Frank Van Sloun, whose works may be seen in museums and discerning private collections across the country.

These priceless murals were completed by the artists for The Mark Hopkins' grand opening December 3, 1926. The nine murals portray the history of early California in a rich medley of reds, blues, and browns against a background of gold leaf. The historically and artistically important murals depict California history and a fantasy rendition of international neighbors harkening from distant shores. Prized throughout the art world, the murals are as follows:

• The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors and missionaries in mid-18th century California

• The Chinese, Eskimo, and Japanese people who lived north and west of California

• The Aztec and other Indian cultures living south of California

• The American pioneers making the westward trek to California

• Life in the first half of 19th-century California under Spanish and Mexican rule

• The Spanish discovery of California in the early 16th century

• Calafia, an allegorical virgin queen of an Amazonian tribe, perhaps a symbol of an untamed and bountiful California before European settlement

• Sir Francis Drake's landing in California in 1579

• The discovery of the West by American trappers and traders after the American Revolutionary War

Artist Frank Van Sloun (1979-1938), a Minnesota native who moved to San Francisco in 1911, was one of America's finest etchers, specializing in American genre and Biblical subjects. He was also a talented painter and muralist, known for his superb sense of color. Sloun even taught at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, which preceded the Mark Hopkins Hotel on its Nob Hill site.

Artist Maynard Dixon (1875-1945) experimented with various painting techniques including Impressionism, Modernism and Cubism. He is best known today for his pictorial style of the great West, characterized by robust draftsmanship, skillful use of color, and organization of abstract elements into dramatic and coherent tableaux. Last year, a Maynard Dixon retrospective toured major museums throughout the United States. A flamboyant dresser who often wore cowboy boots, a black Stetson hat, and a silver Navajo belt, Dixon favored painting rugged Western landscapes featuring Indians, cattle ranches, desert canyons, and flat prairies.

When the Mark Hopkins opened in 1926 to great fanfare, Maynard Dixon and Frank Van Sloun's murals were an instant sensation. "For the first time in the history of art in the world, two great artists have worked together and produced nine masterpieces which will live forever,” enthused one San Franciscan on opening night. The Room of the Dons and its paintings continue to delight the generations of San Franciscans and guests at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins.