Some Artists at the Fair — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Some Artists at the Fair
John Stuart Mill · en
composition is bold in line, firm in outline, and original in
conception. Mr. Kenyon Cox in the adjacent dome has worked so far in
harmony with Mr. Simmons that he has decorated the pendentives rather
than the upper part of the vault, placing a standing female figure in
each against a balustrade and foliage. Above the heads, graceful
banderoles, bearing the subjects illustrated, convert each pendentive
into a shield-shaped space. A robust woman in buff jacket testing a
sword, suggests “Steel Working.” A graceful girl in blue and white
drapery holding a rare vase needs no title to show that she represents
“Ceramic Painting.” “Building” is symbolized by a tall and shapely
damsel in golden green robes, standing near an uncompleted wall, and
“Spinning” by a stately maiden of fair complexion dressed in
rose-colored stuffs, with the significant accessory of a spider-web. In
the north portal Mr. J. Carroll Beckwith has illustrated the subject of
Electricity as applied to Commerce. Four female figures occupy the
pendentives. The “Telephone” and the “Indicator” are personified by a
woman standing holding a telephone to her ear and surrounded by tape
issuing from the ticker; “The Arc Light” by a figure kneeling holding
aloft an arc light; “The Morse Telegraph” by a woman in flying draperies
seated at a table upon which is the operating machine, while she reads
from a book; and “The Dynamo” by a woman of a type of the working-class
seated upon the magnet with a revolving wheel and belt at her feet.
Above, in the upper dome, is placed the “Spirit of Electricity,” a
figure of a boy at the top of the dome from which radiate rays of
lightning, to which he points. Mr. Walter Shirlaw, who has decorated the
neighboring dome, shows distinct originality of conception in his four
allegorical figures, “Gold,” “Silver,” “Pearl,” and “Coral,” symbolizing
the abundance of the land and the sea. The maiden representing “Gold”
steps forward freely, her mantle of yellow falling as she advances. A
silver-gray cloak, fastened with silver disks, distinguishes the figure
of “Silver.” “Pearl” stands erect with glistening pearls around her neck
and on her garments. “Coral,” with raised arms, places a coral ornament
in her hair. A spider’s web in decorative pattern connects the figures
and occupies the central surface of the dome. White, green, and gold,
treated in monotones, form the color plan.
The figure on page 29 is taken from a sketch of one of Mr. C. S.
Reinhart’s figures in the south dome of the West Portal, and was
materially changed in the enlargement, and improved in action and
accessories. The effort of the artist has been to bring all the separate
tones into harmony with each other, making the design and color
appropriate
[Illustration: “THE ARMORER’S CRAFT,” ONE OF FOUR FIGURES BY E. H.
BLASHFIELD, REPRESENTING THE ARTS OF METAL WORKING.]