Chapter 4

Fountains of Summer, Autumn and Winter, by the same sculptor as Spring, just described, are similarly installed in their respective niches in the Court of Four Seasons. In "Summer" is represented the earth's early fruition. A young mother lifts her new-born babe for its father's kiss. A gleaner harvests the grain. Over all is a gentle solemnity. In "Autumn," probably the most admired of the four, against the background of a fruit-bearing tree, a superb nymph bears proudly the full jar of wine or oil. On one side a crouched figure gathers a richly-laden garland of the vine; on the other, a youthful, kneeling female figure plays with a lusty child. Even this period of completion is marked by the general pensive beauty. It is emphasized most, however, in "Winter," here illustrated. The bowed, worn toiler rests on his shovel, the spirit of the year waits, still and brooding. But, on the other hand, the sower is ready to cast the new seeds; the cycle re-commences.

Fountain of Ceres Forecourt of the Four Seasons

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

All of the sculpture about the Palace of Machinery partakes appropriately of the size and strength of that huge building which houses the world's progress in mechanical arts. The sculpture, like the building, is Roman rather than Greek in type and modern American in vigor and expression, as are the chief contents of the Palace. The sculptor, Haig Patigian of San Francisco, has expressed this combination with power and virility. The frieze here illustrated appears at the base of massive columns, interestingly made of simulated Sienna marble, the warm tones truly reproduced. The frieze is extremely energetic, although well restrained, and supports the great column as a basic frieze should do, especially when its subject is so appropriate to the purpose. Two winged Genii, one holding a pulley, one upholding the column upon his hands, alternate with two Disciples, for whom their extended wings create a background. One of these is complemented by hammer and anvil, the other by furnace and tongs. Both share the column's weight on powerful arms. The imaginary figures show potential strength in repose, the human figures potent strength in action. The frieze in low relief is colorful and decorative.

The Powers Column Finials, Machinery Hall

High upon the mighty columns that surround, relieve and give color to the immense facades of Machinery Palace, are Haig Patigian's masculine and trenchant figures "The Four Powers." These are of heroic height, and create an impression of superhuman size and strength even when raised so far above the ground. They have a simple robustness that accords well with their theme. Two of the Powers are abstract, the driving powers of thought; these are Invention and Imagination. Two are concrete, representing the mightiest powers of modern mechanics, Steam Power and Electric Power. Steam Power is forcing the driving arm of an engine; Electric Power, the world at his feet, handles the lightnings. He wears the winged cap of Mercury, messenger of the gods, for electricity is the messenger of modern days. Invention, crowned with the bays of achievement, holds in his hand a bird-man about to leave the earth; Imagination, accompanied by the eagle making ready to soar, dreams with closed eyes.

Pirate Deck-Hand Niches, North Facade of Palaces

The northern facades of all the palaces along the Marina are beautifully embellished above the vestibules with an intricate plateresque decoration, modeled after portals in Old Spain. In the three ornate statue-niches - in the original probably devoted to saintly images - are romantic figures by Allen Newman. It is appropriate that these figures facing the water-front should represent, as they do, the Conquistador and the Pirate Deck-hand, who once were masters and terrors of the main. The Conquistador stands in the central canopied niche, the strong line from his helmet-point down his sword-hilt making a grimly decorative axis for the whole. The Deck-hand is repeated in the niches on each side. This ruthless minion of sea adventurers is here pictured beyond the urchin's dreams. The line of the rope he carries is a touch of excellently handled decoration. Both these figures are so well harmonized architecturally and sculpturally to their pedestals and location that the entire facade should be seen for their proper appreciation.

From Generation to Generation Palace of Varied Industries

In the portals on the south side of the group of palaces, facing the Avenue of Palms, we have again the beauteous old Spanish doorways in plateresque design, with niches filled with modern sculpture. The portal of the Palace of Varied Industries, copied from a famous prototype in the old hospice of Santa Cruz, in Toledo, Spain, was assigned to Ralph Stackpole. He is a sculptor who delights to honor the laborer and the craftsman and has supplied the figures for niches and keystone space and the tympanum and secondary groups in the portal of Varied Industries with evident affection. He treats the subject of labor with dignity, according it respect and not sentimentality. In this secondary or crowning group, a strong young man is taking the burden of labor from the shoulders of the last generation - an old workman, bowed but still hale and vigorous. There is a sense of responsibility and earnestness in the group, but complete confidence and power. It might well have been feared that these rugged types of American life might ill accord with the ancient ornate doorway. But the decorative proprieties have been thoroughly sustained.

The Man with the Pick Palace of Varied Industries

In the repeated niches following the line of the archway in the portal of Varied Industries, described in the foregoing page, appears Ralph Stackpole's "Man With the Pick," a manly tribute to the intelligent, self-respecting workman who is the basis of our national life. There is a frank and unaffected realism in the work that attracts by its uncapitulating sincerity. Its impression of rugged power and self-respect saves it from becoming merely photographic, and its plastic feeling is excellent. In this and the preceding group, as also in the keystone figure and the tympanum, the courageous employment of the actual commonplace garments of everyday labor instead of idealized draperies has met success. The tympanum group is called "Varied Industries." It appreciates the various daily labors of mankind through which civilization continues and is almost devotional in its expression - "in the handicraft of their work is their prayer."

The Useful Arts Frieze Over South Portals

Another artist who appreciates the spirit and enterprise of our own day and finds inspiration in its humble labors is Mahonri Young. This feeling appears in much of his work and is notable in the panel of "Useful Arts," as also in the niche figures that flank it and are really part of the conception. These appear over the handsome portal arch of the Liberal Arts Palace. The beautiful grouping of the many figures in the panel is a delight; the planes of perspective are skillfully handled, without in the least marring the flat surface requisite in a mural panel. This panel of "Useful Arts" does honor to skilled labor. Men and women are shown busy with the spinning-wheel, the anvil, the forge and other implements of skilled craft. Satisfying figures in the niches, the Woman with the Distaff and the Man with the Sledge-Hammer, continue the same idea. Mr. Young's place in art is unique in that he has won distinguished consideration in three branches - painting, etching and sculpture. In the Palace of Fine Arts he exhibits twelve etchings and nine works of sculpture, several of each devoted to the phases of life expressed in this panel.

Triumph of the Field Niches West Facade of Palaces

In the western facade of the Palaces of Food Products and Education are examples of the new tendency in sculpture. These are "The Triumph of the Field" and "Abundance" by Charles R. Harley, the modernist. He has made them intricate and teeming with imagery, giving the beholder much food for study and personal interpretation. These works have been useful in arousing much artistic discussion. They endeavor to express a mood of richness, fullness and success and have the effect of laden chariots in a triumphant pageant. In "The Triumph of the Field," Man sits upon the skeleton head of a steer, surrounded by a multitude of symbols indicative of festivals of agricultural success in the past. Some are pagan, some Christian. Above his head is the wheel of an antique wagon; he holds crude farm implements of long-past days. In "Abundance," the companion piece, Nature, a female figure, sits in the prow of a ship, surrounded by the abundance of land and sea. Her hands are extended; one, in order to receive greatly; the other, that she may greatly give.

Worship Altar of Fine Arts Rotunda

This lovely, adoring figure, pure, devoted, appealing, emblematic of Art Tending the Fires of Inspiration, is placed upon the Altar before the Palace of Fine Arts and can be seen only from across the waters of the lagoon. Her perfect self-surrender to her holy task of guarding inspiration's flame is a sermon and a poem. She is the worshipful spirit for whose reward the glow of genius is sent. She is an image of the perfect reverence for an ideal. It is interesting to note that she is by the same hand that fashioned those rugged laborers on the portals of the Palace of Varied Industries, that of Ralph Stackpole. The altar of Fine Arts, separated from the beholder by the whole width of the beautiful lagoon, set before the great rotunda and surrounded by sculptured barriers and growing green buttress walls of flowers that quite shut it off from all access of the passerby, has the effect of a shrine. This sense of seclusion adds much to the impressiveness of the statue.

The Struggle for the Beautiful Frieze, Fine Arts Rotunda

A surpassingly beautiful contribution to the Exposition art has been made by Bruno Louis Zimm in his panels of Greek culture. These lovely panels in low relief, surely worthy of a permanent medium, are set in the attic of the Rotunda or Belvedere before the Palace of Fine Arts, used and known as the Temple of Sculpture. The panels express not so much the historical Greek tradition - though they are, indeed, produced in the purest Greek manner - as they do the high spirit and ideals of Greek art, the devoted seeking for divine fire, the determined opposition to the trivial and the base. Each of the panels is once repeated. The panel of "The Triumph of Apollo" shows the fiery god of Inspiration, Music and the Sun in a procession of worshipers; his flaming wings are the rays of the sun. The panel of "The Unattainable in Art" might well be called "The Struggle for the Beautiful." It pictures the unending struggle with the gross and stupid, both objective and subjective, that confronts the champion of the beautiful. Art stands serene, aloof, unassailable in the center of the fray. The panel of "Pegasus" shows the winged steed of the poets controlled by a true aspirant, attended by Music, Literature and Art.

Guardian of the Arts Attic of Fine Arts Rotunda

Two stately "Guardians of the Arts," one male, one female, of godlike proportions and great dignity, are placed in the attic of the Fine Arts Rotunda, separating the panels of Greek culture. They are the work of Ulric H. Ellerhusen, who has shown a keen perception of the structural necessities involved in these immense details. The Rotunda of Fine Arts, the temple of Sculpture, is one of the most interesting architectural features of the Exposition. It is the culminating beauty of the marvelous colonnade of Fine Arts Palace, its chief distinction. Within are some of the treasures of the exhibit sculpture. Under the arching dome are Robert Reid's mural paintings described in a later place. The Weeping Figures on top of the colonnade itself are also by Mr. Ellerhusen. They express the humility that ennobles the true artistic spirit and distinguishes it from the spurious. Instead of the self-satisfied Triumph or Victory that might be expected to crown this last of the Exposition palaces, these represent the spirit of Art weeping at the impossibility of achieving her dreams.

Priestess of Culture Within the Fine Arts Rotunda

High on the decorative columns that mark the great arches within the beautiful Rotunda of Fine Arts, stand, repeated, the peaceful, dignified and serene "Priestess of Culture," by Herbert Adams, an angelic figure, modeled with the control and calm that fittingly express the mission of culture upon the earth. Indeed the work of Mr. Adams may be said generally to be characterized by that probity and intellectual beauty ministering to the purposes of culture. These figures are harmonious ornaments to the richly decorated ceiling which they touch and to which they give a certain tranquillity. The slope of their wings connects gracefully with that of the arches; this, with the quiet beauty of the drapery and its accord with the line of the cornucopia, creates a restful architectural effect. It is a pleasant coincidence that these Priestesses of Culture look down upon the statue of William Cullen Bryant by the same sculptor, an exhibit piece, charmingly installed at the entrance to the great Rotunda.

Frieze Flower Boxes, Fine Arts Colonnade

The very large flower boxes bearing masses of luxuriant California shrubs that mark the Peristyle Walk in the Fine Arts Colonnade are constantly admired for their own beauty, the beauty of their contents and their part in the general effectiveness of the delightful Colonnade they enrich. The friezes are by Ulric H. Ellerhusen, who made also the Weeping Figures and the heroic "Guardians of Arts" already described. It is interesting to note that the precision of handling has given this design, in spite of its size, an exquisite delicacy. Standing at charmingly balanced intervals, a circle of maidens bear a heavy rope-garland. This rope makes a gratifying line that has given pleasure to connoisseurs. The frieze is so successful largely because, though frankly decorative as suits its purpose, its personality and charm distinguish it from the pattern-like or conventional. The landscape planting in the boxes, in the flower beds and above, is one of the enduring attractions of this colonnade and walk. The green is architecturally massed and the relief of flowers bright and delicate, never intrusive.

The Pioneer Mother Exhibit, Fine Arts Colonnade

The "Pioneer Mother" monument, by Charles Grafly, is a permanent bronze, a tribute by the people of the West to the women who laid the foundation of their welfare. It is to stand in the San Francisco Civic Center, where its masterful simplicity will be more impressive than in this colorful colonnade. It is a true addition to noteworthy American works of art and fully expresses the spirit of this courageous motherhood, tender but strong, adventurous but womanly, enduring but not humble. It has escaped every pitfall of mawkishness, stubbornly refused to descend to mere prettiness, and lived up to the noblest possibilities of its theme. The strong guiding hands, the firmly set feet, the clear, broad brow of the Mother and the uncompromisingly simple, sculpturally pure lines of figure and garments are honest and commanding in beauty. The children, too, are modeled with affectionate sincerity and are a realistic interpretation of childish charm. Oxen skulls, pine cones, leaves and cacti decorate the base; the panels show the old sailing vessel, the Golden Gate and the trans-continental trails. The inscription by Benjamin Ide Wheeler perfectly expresses what the sculptor has portrayed.

Lafayette Exhibit, Fine Arts Rotunda

Paul Wayland Bartlett's "Lafayette," of which this is a plaster copy, should be known and honored by every loyal American. It is considered by many the most successful equestrian statue of modern times and it was the gift of the school children of America to the Republic of France. The original bronze stands in the Court of the Louvre, the most coveted location in Paris. The position of honor among the sculpture exhibits accorded to this copy, as the central piece in the Temple of Sculpture, gives the impressive beauty of the "Lafayette" the distinction it deserves. Seen at a little distance, with the background of the lagoon, the superb bearing of both horse and rider get their full effect. This interpretation of Lafayette, commanding, heroic, graceful, unselfconscious, his Gallic dash and fire evident but restrained by military and aristocratic control, is stirring and convincing. The upheld sword is a touch of fine artistry. Mr. Bartlett was Chairman for Sculpture of the Exposition Jury of Fine Arts. He has just completed the pedestal heads for the House wing of the Capitol at Washington. His "Dying Lion," exhibited in plaster copy in the Fine Arts garden, has been coupled by critics with the "Wounded Lion" of Rodin.

Thomas Jefferson Exhibit, Fine Arts Rotunda

All the work of the late Karl Bitter bears a peculiar appeal at this time, since he was Chief of Sculpture of the Exposition, was so close personally to many of the men who made its beauty, was so valuable an influence to the art of our nation and left so ennobling a memory as man and as artist. His sustained, faithful and enduring works are well represented in the exhibit galleries by his "Signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty," made for the St. Louis Exposition and loaned by that city; his Tappan Memorial from the University of Michigan; his Rockefeller Fountain, and the appealing "Faded Flowers." A medal of honor was awarded to him. Thomas Jefferson was always a sympathetic study to Karl Bitter, who has interpreted that statesman, scholar and patriot in his several capacities. The original of the present statue was made for the University of Virginia; Jefferson said he preferred to be remembered as founder of that institution rather than as President of the United States. He is here represented in a moment of meditative leisure.

Lincoln Exhibit, South Approach

Two noble Lincolns by the great Augustus Saint-Gaudens do honor to the city of Chicago and are distinguished by the titles "The Standing Lincoln" and "The Seated Lincoln." Both have the homely beauty, greatness and dignity of character that are essential to the presentment of this national inspiration. "The Seated Lincoln" here shown is the original bronze, not a replica. It was loaned, under the protection of heavy insurance, to the Fine Arts Department, and will soon be installed in a Chicago park. It is the property of the Lincoln Memorial Fund, a foundation of $100,000 left by the late John Crerar to commemorate Abraham Lincoln in Chicago. Saint-Gaudens, having made "The Standing Lincoln" with such success, was given the opportunity for a new presentation of this great theme. "The Seated Lincoln" has a soul-stirring expression of figure and countenance; the crumpled shirt, the square-toed shoes, the well-known shawl draped upon the chair, are not more real than the simple greatness of soul that somehow expresses itself throughout.

Earle Dodge Memorial Exhibit, Fine Arts Rotunda

The "Princeton Student" made by Daniel Chester French as the Earle Dodge Memorial, is lent to the Exposition by the trustees of Princeton University. It is this master's expression of the type of young manhood that makes for the winning of respect and enthusiastic friendship and worthy leadership in our modern college life. Full of energy and spirit, the youth steps forward, physically rugged, of athletic prowess and sportsmanly character, intelligent, frank, clearbrowed, fearless and straightforward of gaze, bearing his books with care and ease and draped with the academic gown, symbol of scholastic achievement. To give this figure of young manhood the solemnity of a memorial and still keep it true to the hearty and cheerful vigor it depicts was a notable achievement. The setting in one of the arches of the Rotunda, with the lagoon and the landscape-planting in the background, is admirable. Two great universities have in recent years been graced by Mr. French's work; his "Alma Mater" on the great stairway of the Columbia University Library is one of the art treasures of New York City.

Fountain Foyer, Palace of Fine Arts

This fountain, by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who made the Fountain of El Dorado for the Exposition, is strikingly different from that work in treatment and character, showing a notable versatility and responsiveness to change in motif. As that was poetically symbolic, this is a massive direct work in a more virile and vigorous manner. It shows three well-modeled nudes supporting a bowl heavy with richly laden vines. Its installation in the center of the entrance hall of the Fine Arts Palace is in itself a work of art. The white marble fountain - for this is the original work, loaned by the artist - is cleverly contrasted with vivid green water plants in the bowl; just enough of them and tastefully placed. And in the rim small trees are set, of well-chosen verdure, shape and size. The fountain was awarded a bronze medal.

Wildflower Garden Exhibit, Colonnade