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An Art Lovers guide to the Exposition

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Produced by David A Schwan




An Art-Lover's Guide to the Exposition

Explanations of the Architecture, Sculpture and Mural Paintings, With a
Guide for Study in the Art Gallery



By Sheldon Cheney



Berkeley
At the Sign of the Berkeley Oak
1915



Copyright 1915 by Sheldon Cheney



Printed and Engraved by Sunset Publishing House San Francisco



Contents



Foreword
The Architecture and Art as a Whole
Court of Abundance
Court of the Universe
Court of the Four Seasons
Court of Palms and Court of Flowers
Tower of Jewels, and Fountain of Energy
Palaces Facing the Avenue of Palms
Palaces Facing the Marina, and the Column of Progress
Palace of Machinery
South Gardens, Festival Hall, and Palace of Horticulture
Palace of Fine Arts
Outdoor Gallery of Sculpture
Fine Arts Galleries
State and Foreign Buildings, and Scattered Art Exhibits
Index



Foreword



This handbook is designed to furnish the information necessary for
intelligent appreciation of the purely artistic features of the
Exposition. It is planned first to explain the symbolism of the
architecture, sculpture and painting; and second, to point out the
special qualities that give each artistic unit its individual appeal. It
is made for the intelligent observer who, having enjoyed the purely
aesthetic impression of the various works of art, feels a legitimate
curiosity about their meaning.

Everything possible has been done to make the volume a guide rather than
merely a general treatise. The chapter groupings are the most obviously
serviceable ones. Running heads will be found at the tops of the pages,
and the sub-headings and catch-titles in each chapter are designed to
make reference. to individual features as easy as possible. A complete
index is added at the end.

Purely destructive criticism and ridicule have been carefully avoided.
But if the writer did not pretend to a power of artistic discrimination
which is lacking in the average layman who has not specialized in art
and architecture, there would be little excuse for preparing the guide.
The praise and criticism alike are such, it is hoped, as will aid the
less practiced eye to see new beauties or to establish sounder standards
of judgment.

Acknowledgment is made to the official Exposition press bureau for
courtesies received, and to those artists who have supplied information
about their own work. For obvious reasons no material has been accepted
direct from articles and books already published. If certain
explanations of the symbolism seem familiar, it is only because all
wordings of the ideas echo the artists' interpretations as given out by
the press bureau.

Acknowledgment is due also to the Cardinell-Vincent Company, official
photographers, since most of the illustrations are from their prints.

S. C.



The Architecture and Art as a Whole



In the art of the Exposition the great underlying theme is that of
achievement. The Exposition is being held to celebrate the building of
the Panama Canal, and to exhibit to the world evidences of the progress
of civilization in the decade since the last great exposition-a period
among the richest in the history of civilization. So the ideas of
victory, achievement, progress and aspiration are expressed again and
again: in the architecture with its triumphal arches and aspiring
towers; in the sculpture that brings East and West face to face, and
that shows youth rising with the morning sun, eager and unafraid; and in
the mural paintings that portray the march of civilization, and that
tell the story of the latest and greatest of mankind's triumphs over
nature. But perhaps the most significant thing of all is the wonderfully
harmonious and unified effect of the whole, that testifies so splendidly
to the perfect co-operation of American architects, sculptors and
painters.

The dominant note artistically is harmony. At no other exposition have
the buildings seemed to "hold together" so well; and at no other has
there been the same perfect unity of artistic impression. The Chicago
Exposition of 1893 focused the artistic expression of the nation at that
time. It brought about the first great awakening of the country in
artistic matters, and it practically revolutionized American
architecture. The St. Louis Exposition of 1904, while less unified in
plan, gave another great stimulus to architecture, and especially to
sculpture. But the Panama-Pacific Exposition should have a more
far-reaching effect than either of these, because its great lesson is
not in the field of any one art, but in showing forth the immense value
of coordination of all the arts in the achievement of a single glorious
ideal. The great thing here is the complete harmony of purpose, of
design, and of color, in the combined work of architects, sculptors,
painters, and landscape gardeners. The sensible plan that results in
perfect convenience in getting about, the clothing of this plan in noble
and fitting architectural forms, the use of sculpture and painting as an
integral part of the architectural scheme, the tying in of buildings to
site with appropriate planting, and the pulling together of the whole
composition with harmonious color-these are the things that will leave
their impress on American art for all time to come. If each student of
the art of the Exposition takes home with him an understanding of the
value of this synthesis, of this co-ordination of effort, he will have
the key to the Exposition's most valuable heritage to the American
people.

Physically there are three distinct parts to the Exposition: the main
group of exhibit palaces, the Zone, and the state and foreign buildings.
The art-lover will be concerned almost entirely with the first of these;
for artistically the Zone expresses anarchy, and the state and foreign
pavilions are given over almost entirely to social and commercial
interests.

Architecture

The architecture of the central group of palaces and courts is a notable
departure from that of most of the expositions of the past. There are
none of the over decorated facades, none of the bizarre experiments in
radical styles, and little of the riot of extraneous ornament, that have
been characteristic of typical "exposition architecture." The whole
spirit here is one of seriousness, of dignity, of permanency. The
effects are obtained by the use of long unbroken lines, blank wall
spaces, perfect proportioning, and a restrained hand in decoration.
Color alone is relied upon to add the spirit of gayety without which the
architecture might be too somber for its joyous purpose.

The ground plan is remarkable for its perfect symmetry. On the main east
and west axis are grouped eight palaces, about three interior courts. At
the east end the axis is terminated by the Palace of Machinery, which
cuts off the main group from the Zone. On the west the axis is
terminated by the Fine Arts Palace, which separates the central group
from the state and foreign buildings. The main cross axis is terminated
at the south by the Tower of Jewels and the Fountain of Energy, and at
the north by the Column of Progress on the Marina. The two minor cross
axes end at the south in the Horticulture Palace and Festival Hall-the
two great domed structures that naturally would separate themselves from
the main plan and at the north these axes open on the Marina and the
beautiful bay view.

This plan is admirably compact. It has the effect of a walled city,
giving a sense of oneness from without, and a sense of shelter from
within. The plan eliminated the usual great distances between exhibit
halls, at the same time providing protection against the winds that
occasionally sweep over the Exposition area. More important still, the
throwing of the finer architectural effects into the inner courts
allowed freedom in individual expression. In the court system the
architects obtained unity with great variety of style, and harmony
without monotony.

The plan was worked out by a commission of architects. But the greatest
credit must be given to Edward H. Bennett, who first conceived the
walled-city idea, and who brought his long experience in city-planning
to serve in determining the best method of utilizing the magnificent
site.

The style of architecture cannot be summed up in any one name.
Practically every historic style has been drawn upon, but there are very
few direct copies from older buildings. The old forms have been used
with new freedom, and occasionally with very marked originality. As one
looks down on the whole group of buildings, the Oriental feeling
dominates, due to the many Byzantine domes. In the courts and facades
the Renaissance influence is strongest, usually Italian, occasionally
Spanish. Even where the classic Greek and Roman elements are used, there
is generally a feeling of Renaissance freedom in the decoration. One
court is in a wonderful new sort of Spanish Gothic, perfectly befitting
California. In the styles of architecture, as in the symbolism of
painting and sculpture and in the exhibits, one feels that the East and
West have met, with a new fusion of national ideals and forms.

The material used in the buildings is a composition, partaking of the
nature of both plaster and concrete, made in imitation of Travertine, a
much-prized building marble of Italy. This composition has the warm
ochre tone and porous texture of the original stone, thus avoiding the
unpleasant smoothness and glare which characterize stucco, the usual
Exposition material.

Sculpture

In one way more than any other, the sculpture here surpasses that of
other expositions: it is an integral part of the larger artistic
conception. It not only tells its individual stories freely and
beautifully, but it fits perfectly into the architectural scheme, adding
the decorative touch and the human element without which the
architecture would seem bare.

The late Karl Bitter was chief of the department of sculpture, and
although there is no single example of his work on the grounds, it was
he who, more than any other, insisted upon a close relationship between
the architecture and the sculpture. A. Stirling Calder was acting chief,
and he had charge of the actual work of enlarging the models of the
various groups and placing each one properly.

The material of the sculptures is the same as that of the buildings,
Travertine, thus adding to the close relationship of the two.

Mural Paintings

The mural paintings as a whole are not so fine as either the
architecture or the sculpture. The reason can be traced perhaps to the
fact that painting does not readily bow to architectural limitations. In
this case the artists, with the exception of Frank Brangwyn, who painted
the canvases for the Court of Abundance, were limited to a palette of
five colors, in order that the panels should harmonize with the larger
color scheme.

Color

Never before was there an exposition in which color played such a part.
Here for the first time a director of color was placed above architect
and sculptor and painter. Jules Guerin, chief of color decoration, has
said that he went to work just as a painter starts to lay out a great
picture, establishing the warm buff of the building walls as a ground
tone, and considering each dome or tower or portal as a detail which
should add its brilliant or subdued note to the color harmony. Not only
do the paintings and sculpture take proper place in the tone scheme, but
every bit of planting, every strip of lawn and every bed of flowers or
shrubs, has its duty to perform as color accent or foil. Even the gravel
of the walks was especially chosen to shade in with the general plan.

As seen from the heights above the Exposition-and no visitor should go
away without seeing this view-the grounds have the appearance of a
great Oriental rug. The background color is warm buff, with various
shades of dull red against it, accented by domes and columns of pale
green, with occasional touches of blue and pink to heighten the effect.

In the courts the columns and outer walls are in the buff, or old ivory,
tone, while the walls inside the colonnades have a "lining color" of
Pompeian red; the ceilings are generally cerulean blue; the cornices are
touched with orange, blue and gold; and occasional columns of imitation
Siena marble, and bronzed statues, set off the whole.

In connection with the color scheme, great credit must be given to John
McLaren, chief of the department of landscape gardening, who has worked
so successfully in co-operation with architects and color director. The
Exposition is built almost entirely on filled ground, just reclaimed
from the bay; and it was a colossal task to set out the hundreds of
thousands of flowers, shrubs and trees which now make the gardens seem
permanent, and which set off the architecture so perfectly.

Lighting

When one's soul has been drenched all day in the beauty of courts and
palaces and statues and paintings, dusk is likely to bring welcome rest;
but when the lights begin to appear there comes a new experience-a
world made over, and yet quite as beautiful as the old. Walls are lost
where least interesting, bits of architecture are brought out in relief
against the velvet sky, and sculptures take on a new softness and
loveliness of form. Under the wonderfully developed system of indirect
illumination, no naked light is seen by the eye; only the soft reflected
glow, intense when desired, but never glaring. If this lighting is not
in itself an art, it is at least the informing spirit that turns prose
to poetry, or the instrumental accompaniment without which the voice of
the artist would be but half heard. Too much credit cannot be given to
the lighting wizard of the Exposition, W. D'Arcy Ryan.



The Court of Abundance



The Court of Abundance is the most original, and perhaps the most
consistently beautiful, of all the Exposition courts. No other is so
clearly complete in itself, without the intrusion of features from
surrounding buildings and courts. No other has the same effect of
cloistered seclusion partly because each of the others is open on one
side. And certainly no other indicates so clearly the touch of the
artist, of the poet-architect, from the organic structural plan to the
finest bit of detail. Even the massive central fountain, though
conceived in such different spirit, has no power to dispel the almost
ethereal charm that hovers over the place.

The distinctive note of the court is one of exquisite richness. As one
enters from any side the impression grows that this is the most
decorative of all the courts; and yet one is not conscious of any
individual bit of decoration as such. Everything fits perfectly: arches,
tower, cornices, finials, statues, planting-it all goes to enrich the
one impression. Someone has said that the court is not architecture, but
carving; and that suggests perfectly the decorative wealth of the
composition.

Architecture

The style of architecture has been guessed at as everything from
Romanesque and Gothic to Flamboyant Renaissance and Moorish. The truth
is that the court is a thoroughly original conception; and the architect
has clothed his pre-conceived design in forms that he has borrowed from
all these styles as they happened to suit his artistic purpose. The
spirit of the court is clearly Gothic, due to the accentuation of the
vertical lines-and one will note how the slender cypresses help the
architecture to convey this impression. The rounded arches, modified in
feeling by the decorative pendent lanterns, hint of the awakening of the
Renaissance period in Spain, during the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries, when the vertical lines, and decorative leaf and other
symbolic ornaments of the severer Gothic, were so charmingly combined
with classic motives.

The architecture here is inspiring as a symbol of the American
"melting-pot." It is a distinct and original evolution, recalling the
great arts of Europe, and yet eluding classification. The court shows
that the designer was master of the styles of the past, but refused to
be a slave to them; at the same time he had an original conception but
did not let it run into the blatant and bizarre. It is from such fusions
of individual genius with the traditions of the past that a distinctive
American architecture is most likely to flower.

The tower is a magnificent bit of architectural design. It is massive
and yet delicate. It dominates the court, and yet it fits perfectly into
the cloister. The rich sculpture is so much a part of the decorative
scheme that there is no impression of the structure having been
"ornamented." One must search long in the histories of architecture to
find a tower more satisfying.

The architect who designed the Court of Abundance is Louis Christian
Mullgardt, one of the two most original geniuses among California's
architects.

It is well to enjoy this court at first for its beauty alone, without
regard to its rich symbolism. One who has thus considered it, merely as
a delight to the eye, usually is surprised to find that it has a deeper
underlying meaning than any of the other courts. The present name,
"Court of Abundance," is not the original one. The architect conceived
it as "The Court of The Ages." It is said that the Exposition directors,
for the rather foolish reason that a Court of the Ages would not fit
into the scheme of a strictly contemporaneous exposition, re-christened
it "The Court of Abundance." But it is the former name that sums up the
thought behind the decorative features.

The underlying idea is that of evolution. The tower sculptures, which
will be more fully explained in following paragraphs, represent
successive ages in the development of man-the Stone Age, the Mediaeval
Age, and the Present Age. The decoration of the cloisters may be taken
as symbolizing the evolution of primitive man from the lower forms of
life. Thus the ornamental garlands that run up the sides of the arches
are of seaweed, while other parts of the decoration show crabs, lobsters
and other of the lower forms of sea life. Higher up the ornament
includes conventionalized lilies suggestive of higher plant life. And
surmounting the colonnade, one over each pier, are the repeated figures
of primitive man and primitive woman. It is at this height that the
tower sculptures begin, carrying on the story of man up to the present
age. At a level between the Stone Age group and the Mediaeval Age is a
row of cocks, symbols of the rise of Christianity. Perhaps the whole
aspiring feeling of the court is meant to further suggest the upward
rise of man-but after all, the purely sensuous beauty of the
architecture is sufficient to warrant its being, without any straining
after symbolism.

Sculpture

Groups on the Tower. The three main groups typify the rise of man, and
especially the rise of man's civilization through religion. The lowest
group, over the main arch, is called The Stone Age. Along the base are
prehistoric monsters, and above are figures representing various phases
of primitive life, as a man strangling an animal with his hands, and a
figure that may suggest the rude beginnings of art or industry. The
heads indicate a period of evolution when man was not very different
from the ape; but the central figures suggest the development of family
life, and a new outlook and a seeking for something higher.

The middle group, The Mediaeval Age, shows an armored figure with sword
and shield, a crusader perhaps, with the force of religion symbolized in
the priest or monk at one side, and the force of arms suggested by the
archer at the other, these being the two forces by which man was rising
in that age.

The third and highest group represents The Spirit of the Present Age
enthroned. At one side a child holds the book of learning, while at the
other a child holds the wheel of industry. The group also carries
inevitably a suggestion of motherhood.

Flanking the middle group are two figures, in which the whole idea of
human evolution is suggested by a modern man and woman outgrowing their
old selves. On the east and west faces of the tower are figures
representing "Thought."

All the sculpture on the tower is by Chester Beach.

Figures Surmounting Colonnade. Two figures of "The Primitive Man" and
one of "The Primitive Woman" are repeated above the cloister all around
the court. The woman carries a child on her back, one man is feeding a
pelican, and the other is a hunter returning with a club in one hand and
his quarry in the other. These figures are remarkably well suited to
their purpose, balancing one another exactly; they are so much a part of
the decorative scheme, indeed, that the average person is likely to
overlook their merits as individual statues. Albert Weinert was the
sculptor.

The Water Sprites. At the tower side of the court, flanking the stairway
that leads to the archway under the tower, are two free-standing
monuments that were designed as fountains. The original plan called for
cascades from below the Stone Age group on the tower to these monuments.
Although the elimination of this feature made the court more simple and
satisfying as a whole, the figures of the Water Sprites were left high
and dry, so that now there is a certain incongruity in their position.
Still one may admire the very spirited girl archers surmounting the two
columns, even if they are apparently launching arrows at their sister
sprites below, instead of into jets of water as was intended. The
figures at the bases of the columns, while lacking the grace and the
joyous verve of those above, still are very decorative. All are the work
of Leo Lentelli.

The Fountain of Earth. In the large basin in the center of the Court of
Abundance is Robert Aitken's "Fountain of Earth." While plainly out of
keeping with the spirit of the court, this is in itself one of the most
powerful and most interesting sculptural compositions at the Exposition.
It is deeply intellectual, and more than any other group it requires an
explanation of the symbolism before one can appreciate it.

The fountain is really in two compositions. The larger, and central, one
is composed of a globe representing the earth, with four panels of
figures on the four sides, representing certain of the incidents of life
on earth, or certain riddles of existence. The secondary composition
lies to the south of the central one, on the same pedestal; and this is
divided into two groups by a formalized wing through the center. The two
scenes here represent life before and after earthly existence. The two
huge arms and the wing are all that can be seen of Destiny, the force
with which the allegorical story begins and ends.

To "read" the fountain in proper sequence, one must start with the west
face of the secondary group. This represents The Beginning of Things.
The arm of Destiny is calling forth life and points the way to the
earth. The three women figures next to the hand show the gradual
awakening from Oblivion. The adjoining two figures represent the kiss of
life or of love, and the woman is holding forth to the earth the
children created of that love. The entire group on this west face,
considered in relation to the main composition, may be taken as
representing the peopling of the earth.

There is now a gap which one must pass over, to reach the South panel of
the central composition. This gap represents the lost period of time
between the peopling of the earth and the beginning of history.

The South panel of the main structure has as its central figure Vanity
with her hand-glass. Whether the artist intended it as a pessimistic
commentary on all human life, or not, his series of episodes on earth
begins and ends with the figure of Vanity. Reading to the left on this
same panel one sees a man and a woman starting the journey of life on
earth, apparently with suffering but certainly with courage perhaps for
the sake of the children they carry.

The West panel now shows the first of three incidents or problems of
life on earth. This is entitled Natural Selection. Two women turn to one
man who is clearly superior to the two men they are leaving. The two who
have been spurned as mates cling to the hands of the women even while
they are turning away.

The North panel represents The Survival of the Fittest. Two men are in
combat, the woman at the left evidently to be the prize of the victor.
At the other side a woman tries to draw away one of the combatants. The
sculptor has given this group a second title, "The Awakening of the War
Spirit," which is equally applicable.

The East panel is entitled The Lesson of Life. A young man and a young
woman turn to each other through natural impulse, while an older woman
with the experience of life attempts to counsel them. On the other side
an old man restrains an impetuous youth who evidently would fight for
the girl.

Turning the corner now to the South panel again, there are two figures
representing Lust trying to embrace a reluctant woman. Then one comes to
Vanity once more, and the story of life on earth is done. Again there is
a gap, and the scene leaves the earth for the unknown world after
physical death.

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