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
History of a later period, nearer to the heart of Westerners, is
embodied in Solon Borglum's lusty and venerable Pioneer. This impressive
equestrian stands on the Avenue of Palms at the entrance to the court of
Flowers. It is interesting to note that, in this rugged and commanding
figure, fineness, dignity and nobility are emphasized as well as the
more customary endurance and hardihood conventionally associated with
the character. On the leather trappings of the old Pioneer's horse, the
tepee, the canoe and other symbols of Indian life are marked. The
sculptor is himself the son of pioneers and has treated this subject
with sincerity and affectionate insight. The Pioneer has been greatly
appreciated and has received special notice in a number of addresses
delivered by distinguished guests of the Exposition. Its veracity is
attested by the fact that resemblance to several famous pioneers has
been imagined in it by their admirers.
The End of the Trail
Avenue of Palms
Still further back into the historical records of American stamina goes
The End of the Trail by James Earle Fraser. No single work of art at the
Exposition has attracted more popular applause than this. It has a
gripping, manly pathos that makes a direct appeal. The physical vigor of
the rider, over-tried but sound, saves it from mere sentiment. An Indian
brave, utterly exhausted, his strong endurance worn through by the long,
hard ride, storm-spent, bowed in the abandon of helpless exhaustion,
upon a horse as weary as he, has come to the end of the trail, beyond
which there is no clear path. It is easy to apply the message of this
statue to the tragedy of the American Indian's decline upon the
continent he once possessed. The sculptor acknowledges as his text these
words of Marian Manville Pope: The trail is lost, the path is hid and
winds that blow from out the ages sweep me on to that chill borderland
where Time's spent sands engulf lost peoples and lost trails.
Historic Types
Finial Figures, Tower of Jewels
As repeated alternating figures on the top of corner pedestals on the
first stage of the Tower of Jewels, stand The Four Agents of
Civilization, the historic influences that have developed our American
life. These, the Adventurer, the Soldier, the Priest and the
Philosopher, have been presented with vivid simplicity by John Flanagan.
He has given us, first, the Adventurous Explorer, romantic, courageous,
he who crossed the uncharted seas and found new worlds; then the
formidable conquering Soldier, he who founded settlements and held them
with his sword or fought with natives for empire or riches for European
monarchs; then the Missionary Priest, inspired with a holy zeal to
spread the divine message to strange peoples; and, last, the
Philosopher, the Thinker, whose great influence is but now beginning.
The treatment of these figures is quiet, restful and architectural in
feeling, as becomes their position. They supply the serious note to the
gala Tower.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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