The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition | Page 6

not been to Italy the absolute grandness of Italian fresco.
This is not a detailed review nor can justice here be done to all that honest, earnest, hopeful effort of the world-loving artist - he who delights in the myriad phases of our lovely-terrible life, who naively labors to bring forth his sonnet of praise. Be kind to him all ye who contemplate, and remember how much easier it is to criticize than to - be intelligently sympathetic. It is all for you. Take what you like, and leave the rest without pollution. It may serve to comfort and to joy thy fellow-man.
A. Stirling Calder.

Illustrations and Descriptive Notes of the Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition

Fountain of Energy Central Group, South Gardens

The Fountain of Energy in the place of honor within the main entrance gives the keynote of the Exposition - a mood of triumphant rejoicing. The proud bearing of the equestrian group, the wide sweep of water when the fountain is in play, the sportive movement of the figures in the basin, all express the joy of achievement. In the conception of the sculptor, A. Stirling Calder, this was fitting tribute to the completion of the Panama Canal which the Exposition celebrates.
The fountain has a double significance. In the first aspect it records the conquest by Energy of the labors of the Canal. In the second it proclaims the approach of the Super-Energy of the future. Both interpretations are detailed upon the following pages. On the globe supporting the horseman are indicated the sun's course North and South and the evolution of mankind from lower to higher forms of life. That of the strenuous Western hemisphere is connoted by a bullman; the quiet East by a cat-human. Great oceans and lesser waters revel in the fountain-bowl. A garland of merfolk join globe to base with great sculptural beauty.

Equestrian Group Detail, Fountain of Energy

In the more obvious phase of the fountain's meaning, Energy, the Lord of the Isthmian Way, rides grandly upon the earth, triumphing because of the Canal so well achieved. His outstretched arms have severed the lands and let the waters pass. Upon his mighty shoulders stand Fame and Glory, heralding the coming of a conqueror. The second and more subtle intention is nobly prophetic. Energy, the Power of the Future, the Superman, approaches. Twin inspirations - of two sexes to denote the dual nature of man - urge him onward. His hands point upward, contacting human energy with Divine. It is interesting to note the steadiness of the central figure, the sense of firmness, security, in spite of the feeling of motion in the whole. This is largely due to the hold of the feet upon the stirrups and the weight of the body in the saddle.

North Sea - Atlantic Ocean Details, Fountain of Energy

The basin of the Fountain of Energy is devoted to the revel of the waters. The genii of the four great oceans dominate the scene. They are mounted upon cavorting marine monsters and surrounded by the smaller waters, fearlessly playing, head-downwards, upon dolphins about to dive. The Atlantic Ocean faces East; the Pacific, West; the North and South Seas their appropriate quarters. The symbolic figures are designed to interpret the spirit of the oceans they represent - the Atlantic, fine and bright, upon her armored sword-fish; the Pacific, a beautiful, graceful, happily brooding Oriental; the North Sea, finned and glistening, strange and eerie; the South Sea, savage and tempestuous, blowing a fitful blast. The lesser waters have a lighter quality. The hair of the sea-spirits suggests seaweed and coral. From the mouths of of the sea-chargers jets of water rise to meet the nimbus and rainbows of the semi-spherical downpour of the main fountain.

Mermaid Fountain Festival Hall, South Gardens

Long, quiet mirror pools flank the great Fountain of Energy, giving balance and calm to the entrance plaza, or South Gardens. They are oblong in shape with the farther ends curving into a graceful convex. The pools are surrounded by formal flowerbeds planted to correspond to the beds surrounding the central fountain, thus giving continuity to the whole. These beds are enclosed by a decorative fence which follows the outline of the pools; the entering paths, emphasized at the outer ends by flower urns, at the inner by sculptural light standards.
The curved ends of the pools are marked by Arthur Putnam's beautiful Mermaid Fountain, in duplicate. The crowning figure is by no means the conventional mermaid. She is free, full of grace, charmingly poised. The bifurcated tail is original and gives sculptural distinction as well as greater human appeal. The figure is instinct with a spirit of play but is not boisterous. Arthur Putnam is a Californian who has greatly influenced the development of art in the West.

Torch Bearer Finial Figure, Festival Hall

As Festival Hall