The Rising Sun
Adolph Alexander Weinman, Sculptor
This fresh, strong young Sun is about to start on his journey - dawn is soon to break upon the world. With muscles stretched, the wind blowing through his hair, the heavenly joy of the first move expressed upon his face, the vigor of young life pulsating through his body, he will start the chest forward and move those outstretched wings. Let us preserve this glorious figure for our western city. It would so admirably suggest the new light that has been shed upon San Francisco by the Exposition of nineteen hundred and fifteen, as well as the new light occasioned by the opening of the Panama Canal.
Descending Night
Adolph Alexander Weinman, Sculptor
The figure on the page opposite is a beautiful lyric poem. She might be called "A Hymn to the Night." Every line of her figure is musical, every move suggested, rhythmical. Seen at night, she croons you a slumber song. How subtly Mr. Weinman has told you that she comes to fold the world within her wings - to create thru her desire a "still and pulseless world." The muscles are all lax - the head is drooping, the arms are closing in around the face, the wings are folding, the knees are bending - and she too will soon sink to slumber with the world in her arms. What a fine contrast of feeling between the tense young "Sun" and relaxed "Descending Night."
Winter
Furio Piccirilli, Sculptor
Naked Winter stands before you. It is the period of the year when the leaves are of the trees and the bark is splitting. After the activities of autumn man is resting. The fruits have been gathered - the golden apples and the purple grapes - so man's labors have ceased. It is the period of conception. The sower has just cast forth the seed. Mother Earth will nurture the little seed until the cold winter has passed and the warm sunshine comes again to give each clod its "stir of might."
The Portals of El Dorado