The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition: A Pictorial Survey of the Art of the Panama-Pacific international exposition — John Shaqi
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
The Forecourt of the Seasons, the continuation of the Court of the Four
Seasons to the Marina, is officially called the Forecourt of Ceres,
because of Evelyn Beatrice Longman's Fountain of Ceres which commands
it. Ceres, or Demeter, the goddess of Agriculture, presided over the
Earth's abundance. By her favor, came the good harvest; she it was who
first instructed man in the use of the plough. In the loveliest of
antique myths she is the mother of Prosperine, the Spring. Miss Longman
has expressed her as exultant, regal, young - far less matronly than as
conventionally pictured - glorying in her power to bless the cooperative
labors of man and nature. She holds as her sceptre the stalk of corn,
and offers the crown of summer to the world. The central figure is not
more lovely than the pedestal base on which she stands. A frieze of
dancing maidens, wrought in cleancut low relief, Greek in manner,
celebrate the Harvest feast. In the accompanying illustration, the
groups on pylons, by Albert Jaegers, already described, may be seen in
the background.
The Genius of Creation
Central Group, Avenue of Progress
"The Genius of Creation," by Daniel Chester French, has the superb
simplicity of all works of that master of sculptural calm, intellectual
power and straightforward sincerity. Mr. French is said to make no
mistakes in composition; his precision is not dryness but technical ease
and infallibility; his classical quality is not obedience to tradition
but insight, into the underlying laws that made tradition. Here we have
a splendid example of his perfection of mass, balance and finish and of
quiet, inspiring depth and directness of feeling. Creation extends
life-giving arms over the universe. Serene, brooding, blessing, the
noble face emerges from mysterious shadows of the enveloping mantle. The
sculptural quality of the draperies, their weight and texture and grace
are notable. At the foot of the pedestal rock, man and woman stand -
facing different sides, but their hands are clasped at the back of the
group. The Serpent surrounds all, inevitably suggestive of the story of
Genesis, but symbolic of the waters from which life emerged and the
encircling oneness of the universe.
The Genius of Mechanics
Column Friezes, Machinery Hall
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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