The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition: A Pictorial Survey of the Art of the Panama-Pacific international expositionPerry, Stella G. S. (Stella George Stern)
General
The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition: A Pictorial Survey of the Art of the Panama-Pacific international exposition
Perry, Stella G. S. (Stella George Stern)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.); Sculpture, American
Long, quiet mirror pools flank the great Fountain of Energy, giving
balance and calm to the entrance plaza, or South Gardens. They are
oblong in shape with the farther ends curving into a graceful convex.
The pools are surrounded by formal flowerbeds planted to correspond to
the beds surrounding the central fountain, thus giving continuity to the
whole. These beds are enclosed by a decorative fence which follows the
outline of the pools; the entering paths, emphasized at the outer ends
by flower urns, at the inner by sculptural light standards.
The curved ends of the pools are marked by Arthur Putnam's beautiful
Mermaid Fountain, in duplicate. The crowning figure is by no means the
conventional mermaid. She is free, full of grace, charmingly poised. The
bifurcated tail is original and gives sculptural distinction as well as
greater human appeal. The figure is instinct with a spirit of play but
is not boisterous. Arthur Putnam is a Californian who has greatly
influenced the development of art in the West.
Torch Bearer
Finial Figure, Festival Hall
As Festival Hall is the seat of the Exposition's musical life, all the
sculpture on and about the building expresses a lyrical mood. The
sculptor has contrived to give this feeling great variety; but, on the
whole, the large reclining figures - the beautiful, relaxed Reclining
Nymph and the Listening God over the great pylons - seem to be
meditatively listening, the seated figures have a fanciful, lighter
suggestion and those standing give a gentle effect of rhythm. The great
arches are marked by a cartouche emphasizing this intention.
"The Torch Bearer" here pictured is lightly yet firmly poised above the
minor domes. Exquisitely silhouetted against the sky, she has a spiral
beauty, and the grace of one posed in the midst of a dance. The work of
Sherry Edmundsen Fry, who made all the sculpture on Festival Hall, is,
generally characterized by a classic correctness combined with a modern
robustness. It lends itself well to this French Renaissance building - a
type that depends upon its sculptured embellishments.
The Muse and Pan
Pylon Group, Festival Hall
At the base of the great pylons that flank the columnar entrance court
of Festival Hall, are low pyramidal masses of foliage and flowering
shrubs. An interesting group by Sherry E. Fry is set in the midst of
each. The more evident figure, mounted upon a decorative pedestal, is
identical in both groups - a classic, flower-bearing Muse, who seems to
step softly forward. But though the Muse is repeated, the groups vary in
the smaller seated figures at the base of the pedestals. This variation
is not felt architecturally, for the figures balance perfectly and are
nestled in a mass of leafage. At the feet of the Muse before the
northern pylon a Boy Pan sits among the flowers, balanced in the
southern group by a Young Nymph or Dryad.
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