Some Artists at the Fair — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Some Artists at the Fair
John Stuart Mill · en
that the useful may be beautiful even in engineering. Painting of an
artistic character has been confined for the most part to a few domes
and panels in various pavilions, to wall spaces under colonnades and
porticos, and to the two or three interiors in which there is
sufficiently high finish to permit of mural decoration.
The Administration Building, by Mr. Richard M. Hunt, which was built for
the uses of the World’s Columbian Commission with the numerous branches
of its executive force, is the real focus of the group of buildings, not
only from its position in the centre of a grand plaza of enormous
extent, but on account of its monumental character. The portals and the
angles of this building are adorned with groups of sculpture by Mr. Carl
Bitter, of New York, and spandrels and panels, both outside and inside,
are enriched by designs by the same sculptor. The dome, which is two
hundred and sixty-five feet high, is truncated at the top and is lighted
by a great eye forty feet in diameter. The interior of this dome around
the great eye, a surface of the approximate dimensions of 35 x 300 feet,
is to be covered with a figure composition painted by Mr. W. L. Dodge,
representing in general terms the figure of a god on a high Olympian
throne crowning with wreaths of laurel the representatives of the arts
and sciences, and flanked by figures of Agriculture, Commerce,
[Illustration: “MUSICIANS,” FRAGMENT FROM THE PROCESSION, BY W. L.
DODGE, IN THE DOME OF THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.]
and Peace. A Greek canopy, supported by flying female figures, contrasts
agreeably with the clear blue of the sky background, against which the
principal groups are shown in strong relief. Three winged horses drawing
a vehicle with a model of the Parthenon, troops of warriors cheering the
victors in the peaceful strife of the arts, and a wealth of minor
figures, make up the composition, which is bold and imposing not only in
magnitude but in line. The interior walls of the great Rotunda are
tinted so as to give the effects of colored marbles and mosaics and
under the outside the massive white Doric columns have a background of
Pompeian richness
[Illustration: “CERAMIC PAINTING,” BY KENYON COX, IN A DOME OF THE EAST
PORTAL, MANUFACTURES BUILDING.
(From an unfinished sketch.)]