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
In the panel of "The Survival of the Fittest" the battle of life is at
its height. The men are in a furious struggle of strength and prowess.
The interplay of human passions, the contests of wills and capacities,
has developed. The women, too, are taking a conscious part in life, one
weeping and shrinking from the fray, the other extending a restraining
hand. In the last and noblest panel, called "The Lesson of Life," we see
the spiritualized and intellect-guided emotions. A helmeted man and
pure-browed woman gaze tenderly in each other's eyes. Youth, full of
impulse and fire, stays to listen to the voice of Reason. The lover
keeps in touch with the guiding memory of the Mother. And the cycle is
completed from animal to mental toward the higher foundation of life
upon the earth. Seldom has more exaltation of thought or intensity of
feeling been infused, without mawkishness or exaggeration, into a work
of art. The Fountain of Earth, is deeply interpretive of the trend of
modern thought.
Helios
Separate Group, Fountain of Earth
On the wall of the basin of the Fountain of Earth, is a subsidiary group
called "Helios, the Sun." It is a decorative point of finish and is also
symbolic. The Sun is taken as the symbol of the Cosmos, the enduring,
the Day, the source of life. Man is pictured as clinging to it, in the
hope of being freed from the encircling coils of his baser self and the
old earthy entanglements that hold him down, and destroy him. This group
and the main fountain, as well as the sides of the beautiful court, are
mirrored in the long still pool in which the fountain stands - a pool
properly free from splashes or springs as befits the setting of this
intricate and massive work. The rapid and stable growth of Robert I.
Aitken, sculptor of the Fountain of Earth, is of particular interest to
San Francisco, the city of his birth, and the site of several of his
earlier efforts.
Water Sprites
Base of Column, Court of Ages
The "Water Sprite Columns" in the Court of Ages bring the somber
symbolism of this court back to the gay spirit of festival. The sprites
are the work of Leo Lentelli; they have a quaint elfin quality that is
very engaging. The amusing and lovely group seated about the base of the
column have a certain chic habit of pointing elbows, wrists and ankles
that lends an unworldly attraction. Their sister sprite at the top of
the slender decorated shaft is mischievously aiming an arrow downwards.
These Sprite Columns express the gay, frolicsome mood of the waters.
Their feeling harmonizes more with the sea-weed and shell decorations of
the court itself and its falling-water motif than with the weightier
sculpture it contains. They create a pleasing ripple of merriment. Their
light and airy modeling has the beauty of unconscious and unforced
artistry. The columns stand just within the northern entrance of the
court, guarding a vista of the bay.
A Daughter of the Sea
North Aisle, Court of Ages
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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