The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition / A Pictorial Survey of the Art of the Panama-Pacific international exposition

by Stella G. S. Perry

The Harvest
Court of the Four Seasons

The Court of the Four Seasons, classic in spirit, finished and chaste in execution, required a perfect harmony of mass, line and feeling in the sculpture that was to embellish it. It was the further task of the sculptors and mural painters to give the court its meaning, to illustrate the idea of the earth's abundance and the fruitful beneficence of the seasons that is implied in the title of the court. That they have nobly succeeded in this difficult double achievement is an actual triumph. "The Harvest," by Albert Jaegers, crowning the half-dome, is a magnificent bit of architectural sculpture. It seems a faithful part of the surface it enriches; its outlines are faultlessly balanced; although its sides are varied, its mass is superbly centered. The Goddess of the Plentiful Harvest sits in the slope of an overflowing cornucopia; a sheaf of ripe wheat rests in her supporting arm; she is attended by a lad who can scarcely lift the weight of fruit he bears. The group is bound more closely to the half-dome by a graceful garland applied to the wall-surface Mr. Jaegers has further illustrated the traditional idea of Harvest Home festivals by the vigorous groups, "The Feast of Sacrifice," which adorn the huge pylons of this court.

Rain
Court of the Four Seasons

On separate columns flanking the Half-Dome of the Harvest, Albert Jaegers has given us classic presentations of the two great resources of nature that bring the blessing of rich harvest. These are symbolic figures, "Rain," here pictured, and "Sunshine." In "Rain," the nymph of the Earth, holds upward a shell, her cup, in grateful expectation of the beneficent rainfall, while she shields her head from the storm with a cloud-like mantle. On the other column, that of "Sunshine," the nymph shades her head with an arching palm-branch, though she looks up in happy appreciation to the welcome glow of the sun. As in his "Harvest" and "The Feast of Sacrifice," Mr. Jaegers has here given with perfect restraint a sense of generous weight, of richness, profusion and mass that are highly satisfying in their artistic aspect and are valuable interpreters of the message of the Court. August Jaegers, a younger brother of this sculptor, has embellished the arcade of this court with an attractive repeated attic figure. In voluminous, decorative draperies this female figure stands between two young orange trees, her arms about them - significant of the harvest of California.

Fountain of Spring
Court of the Four Seasons

The seasons of the year are expressed in the Court that honors them by four wall-fountains, the work of Furio Piccirilli. The sculptured groups are set in colonnaded niches, against a warm background of deep pastel pink wall. The water flows over a cascade stairway. The floors of this and of the basin are painted pale Oriental green, giving a luminous beauty to the water, especially at night in the glow of hidden lighting. The planting about the niches and the trailing green on the walls are component parts of the fountains' beauty. The sculptor has felt the Seasons in their gradual changes, as found in California, rather than in the usual sharp divisions. He has infused them with a wistful sadness, however, as at the passing of time. In "Spring," here illustrated, for example, we feel something more than the Youth, Flowers, Love and Promise obvious in the composition - something tender and romantic but by no means gay.

Fountain of Winter
Court of the Four Seasons

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.