Water is represented in the panels of the southwest corner of the court. The one on the south wall is called "The Net," and typifies the wealth that man draws from the water. A group of fishermen are hauling in a net, and carriers bring baskets at the back.
"The Fountain," the panel on the east wall, shows a group of people who have come to fill their jars at a spring. The colors here are softer, though quite as rich as elsewhere. The lower half of the painting is, indeed, like a richly colored mosaic.
After examining "The Fountain" at close range it is well to step back to the middle of this south corridor. Look first at "The Windmill" and then turn to look again at "The Fountain." Note, how, when the subjects are once understood, the great distance increases rather than decreases the charm of the paintings. Note especially how beautiful each one is when considered merely as a pattern of color. These two panels, if not the finest of all, at least must take rank among the best three or four.
The North Court of Abundance
Passing under the tower from the Court of Abundance one comes out in the little north court that is conceived in the same spirit, and which likewise is dominated by the Mullgardt tower. The architecture here is like an echo of that of the main court, the decorated spaces alternating with bare spaces. The tower sculptures are all repeated on this side. The only sculpture within the north court is Sherry Fry's personification of Aquatic Life. The statue is of a heavy sort that should be anywhere but in this place of ethereal mood and exquisite detailed workmanship. Blot out the background and you can see that the figure has a certain solid grace. But if designed for this court it fails of its decorative purpose.
Court of the Universe
The Court of the Universe is the most magnificent of the courts. Considering the many units-the noble arches, the long colonnades with their corner pavilions, the sunken garden with its fountains and decorative sculpture, and the vista to the Column of Progress and the Marina-it is by far the richest in artistic interest. But is it so imposing, so vast, that it necessarily lacks the sense of quiet restfulness and intimacy of appeal of the smaller courts. It is in a sense the Civic Center of the great Exposition model city, and as such it offers many suggestions of wise planning-and one or two of poor planning, as in the case of the obtrusive band-stand.
The meaning of the court is to be found in the symbolism of the groups surmounting the two triumphal arches-the Nations of the East meeting the Nations of the West. With the opening of the Panama Canal the peoples of the universe have met at last; West faces East on this shore of the Pacific. The idea is finely expressed in the lines by Walt Whitman, inscribed on the west arch, in which the spirit of the Aryan race, having traveled this far, is supposed to speak as she gazes westward to Asia, "the house of maternity," her original home:
Facing west from California's shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house
of maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,
Look off the shores of my Western Sea,
the circle almost circled.
Variations of this theme may be found in the murals under the arches, and in those under the Tower of Jewels near by. Other universal themes are treated in the Fountains of the Rising Sun and of the Setting Sun, and in The Elements at the edge of the sunken garden. The idea of achievement, of victory in conquering the universe, is also suggested in the triumphal arches.