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 murals in the Court of the Four Seasons are the work of Milton
Herbert Bancroft. They are smooth, flat, highly decorative to the wall
surfaces into which they blend with rare discretion and harmony. They
have a soft beauty of coloring and a classic definiteness of outline
that accord well with the pure feeling of this court. Mr. Bancroft has
kept two ideas consistently throughout these murals. One is the
abundance of rewards and delights brought by the changing seasons; the
other, the fruitful labors of man. In this second idea special honor is
tendered to those who labor in the arts and artistic crafts. To these
two ideals the sculptor has given the unifying title, "The Pleasures and
Work of the Seasons." The panels of The Seasons appear in the walls of
the fountain niches. In the place of honor is the beautiful Half Dome;
beneath its colorful decorated roof are the great, panels, "Man
Receiving Instruction in Nature's Laws" and "Art Crowned by Time." In
the former, Nature holds her child, Man, in her arms. She has summoned
for him all the forces of the Universe, who attend in a group of calm
dignity. She teaches him that by obedience to her laws all these forces,
Earth, Fire, Water, Life, and even Death, will serve and never harm. The
other panel is described on the following page.
Art Crowned by Time
Court of the Four Seasons
In this calm and classic panel, "Art Crowned by Time," the sculptor has
done honor not only to the Fine Arts but also to those artistic crafts
that fulfill the perfect combination of use and beauty. In the center of
the panel stands Art, a superb, regal figure, serenely indifferent to
the wreath of appreciation with which she is being crowned by the hand
of Time. She is surrounded by her attendants, the Useful Crafts:
Weaving, with her distaff; Glasswork, holding carefully a delicate
example of her skill; Jewelry, a beautiful youth severely garbed,
bearing an ornate casket; Pottery, with a finished vase upon her knee;
Smithery, carrying in his strong arm a piece of armor; and Printing,
cherishing in both hands a beautiful clasped book. The panel has a fine
Olympian dignity and an ornateness that becomes simplicity through grace
of handling, and does not mar the correct mural flatness of surface. In
spite of the gracefully composed grouping each figure has individual,
almost statuesque, distinction. The treatment of the draperies is
interesting.
The Seasons
Court of the Four Seasons
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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