(These facts were kindly given by Mr. Donald McLaren of the Department of Landscape Gardening, San Francisco.)
The South Gardens
Throughout the Exposition these garden beds are to show a succession of blooms. At the opening of the Exposition five thousand daffodils were in bloom over two hundred thousand yellow pansies.
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The South Gardens, besides having two great pools, at the end of which are the Mermaid Fountains by Arthur Putnam of San Francisco, have a most decorative fountain called the Fountain of Energy.
In the pool below are seen great sea animals, representing:
1. The Atlantic Ocean, with coral in hair and seahorses in her hand, riding on the back of an helmeted fish, suggestive of armored cruisers, etc.
2. The North Atlantic, an Esquimaux riding the walrus, ready to spear the enemy.
3. The South Atlantic, a negro riding on the back of a sea-elephant playing with an octopus.
4. The Pacific Ocean on the back of a great creature unknown on land or sea.
In the pool, on the dolphins' backs, ride most charming sea maidens.
Around the base of the earth are grouped sea spirits.
The earth shows on one side a great bull representing the WesternHemisphere, a great lioness denoting the Eastern.
One sees the swirling of the waters around the figure of Panama.
Surmounting the globe, standing in his stirrups, rides Energy, the force that has overcome the play of the waters and has put thru the Panama Canal. Energy is strongly suggested by this stalwart male, who rides on, having surmounted all difficulties. This is the great power that is responsible for the completion of the Panama Canal, and Fame and Victory blow bugles long and loud from his shoulders.
The idea of energy is further carried out by the splendid play of the waters from the fountain itself, tremendous force being evident.
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At the west end of South Gardens, opposite the Band Concourse, are most interesting groups of trees, shrubs and flowers. The members of different floral families have taken the opportunity of meeting and establishing themselves in the same neighborhood, and the result is delightful for the lover of flowers. Now is the time to study differences and similarities in the plant world - and our opportunities are appreciated.
Notice the splendid groups of trees and shrubs on either side ofHorticultural Palace.
Monterey pines, Monterey cypresses, Lawson cypresses, acacias, laurustinus, veronicas and dahlias are grouped so as to make a most remarkable effect in form and color.
The Dracaena Canariensis or Canary palm, as we are in the habit of calling it, and the Washingtonia robusta, or California fan palm, are seen in alternate arrangement, double rows on either side the Avenue of Palms.
On the south side of the Exposition grounds is a wall, twenty feet high, of living green. It is made of mesembryanthemum spectabilis put in boxes, six feet by two by two and a half inches, filled with earth, over which is put a wire-mesh screen. This is the first time this work has been tried and it has proved to be a thorough success.
Festival Hall
Architect - Robt. Farquhar of Los Angeles, California, widely known for his fine domestic architecture.
On the south side of the Avenue of Palms, opposite the Court of Flowers, stands the building in which the majority of the musical festivals of the Exposition are to be held.
The main hall will hold three thousand people.
There are about five hundred conventions to meet here during the time the Exposition is open.
The organ, of marvelous tone and sweetness, is one of the finest in the world.
Edwin H. Lamare of London will give one hundred performances, each recital beginning at 12 M. He starts his musicals the first of June.
The building is French in style, having been inspired by the Beaux ArtsTheatre, Paris.
It has a large dome, the cupola of which is lighted by projectors beneath the floor of the building.
Sherry Fry of Iowa has done the sculpture, all of it being suggestive of festivity.
Bacchus, with his grapes and wine skin, reclines on one side, while "TheReclining Woman" listens from her position.
On the west are two Floras with their festoons of flowers.
Little Pan sits with his panpipes on an Ionic capital over which is thrown a fawn skin. He has just stopped playing to watch the lizard that creeps at his side.
The Torch Bearer, a most graceful figure, is poised on each corner dome.
A border of pinkish-lavender hydrangeas, four feet in diameter, with a fringe of lavender and pink baby primroses, adds much to the beauty of this spot.
Pinkish-lavender erica, or heath, borders the steps leading fromFestival Hall to the Avenue of Palms.
Above the western entrance one see the old Greek drinking horn, the rhyton, suggestive of festivity.
The Color Scheme
Jules Guerin, probably the greatest man in his particular line in the world, has had complete charge of the Exposition coloring.
He has used only five colors, but of course these colors are not all the same tone.
All walls are pastel pink or a sunset shade, as seen in the Court of theAges. All niches are the same shade.
All ceilings and shells are ultramarine blue, with two exceptions. The Court of the Ages is a pastel blue, and that of the Court of Palms is fawn-color.
The domes of the Fine Arts Palace, and the Court of the Universe, are burnt orange, or, as one writer has expressed it, "sea-weed washed with brine."
The other domes are an oriental green, approaching copper-green.
The capitals when colored are burnt orange, with either an ultramarine-blue or an Indian-red ground. Columnettes and a few decorative bands are of turquoise-green.
There is a unity, a balance, a color beauty all unto itself. You see it in the architecture, sculpture, and painting, in the arrangement of the decorations, in the courts. Then over it all hangs the spirit of romance such as surrounds the days of old Castile.
A mediaeval beauty and splendor bring longings for the pageants that would add a world of interest.
There is a Graeco-Roman appeal in the long colonnades, the porticoes, the fountains, the courts.
The Orient is strongly marked by the domes, the minaret suggestions, the elephants, and minor details.
It is an Arabian-Nights-Tale - not a thousand and one nights, but two hundred and eighty-eight.
Siena marble is used mainly at entrances and for pedestals. The travertine is pinkish, grey and cream. Doorways in shadow are of lattice green. Flag-poles are colored Spanish red. Lighting standards are green, ochre, or eucalyptus blue. Banners are ochre and cadmium.
The world has never seen such an Occidental-Oriental harmony as in thisExposition.
The traditions of the olden days are so strongly worked into these palaces and courts that one feels more than he can tell when wandering in this world of beauty; and we the laymen owe a debt of gratitude to the architects, sculptors, painters, horticulturists, financiers, engineers and the workmen who have given us this dream city of 1915.
Index
AbundanceAcroteriumAdams, HerbertAdventurerAdventurous BowmanAgricultureAirAitken, RobertAmerican PioneerAngel of PeaceApollo PanelAquatic MaidsArch of Rising SunArch of Setting SunArmoured HorsemanArt Crowned by TimeArtsAspirationAtlasAutumnBacchusBacon, HenryBakewell and BrownBancroft, MiltonBateman, JohnBeach, ChesterBeauty and the BeastBeecher, Henry WardBisonsBorglum, SolonBrangwyn, FrankBucraniaBurden BearersBurroughs, Edith WoodmanCalder, A. StirlingCanephoriCaryatidsCeresCortezCrusaderCummingsDallin, Cyrus EdwinDawn of LifeDay TriumphantDeneville, PaulDescending NightDodge, Frank de LeftwichDomesDome of PhilosophyDome of PlentyDu Mond, Frank VincentEaglesEarthEducationElectricityEllerhusen, Ulric H.Elwell, Frank EdwinEmerald PoolEnd of the TrailFairyFarquhar, RobertFavilleFeast of the SacrificeFestivity, FireFlanagan, JohnFountain of El DoradoFountain of EnergyFountain of Psychology of LifeFountain of YouthFour Golds of CaliforniaFraser, James EarleFrench, Daniel CheaterFruits and FlowersFruitionFry, SherryGenii of MachineryGenius of CreationGentle Powers of the NightGerlach, GustaveGruppe, KarlGuerin, JulesHarley, CharlesHarvestHassam, ChildeHastings, ThomasHeliosHermesHolloway, Chas.Hospice of Santa Cruz, ToledoHumphries, Charles A.ImaginationInventionJaegers, AlbertJaegers, AugustJoy of LivingKelham, GeorgeKneeling FigureKonti, IsadoreLaessle, AlbertLentelli, LeoLesson of LifeLincoln, AbrahamLionsListening to the Sound of the AgesLongman, EvelynMcKim, Meade and WhiteMcLaren, JohnMacNeil, Hermon A.Man Receiving Instruction in Nature's Law (Mural)Manship, PaulMatthews, ArthurMaybeck, Bernard R.Men from AtlanticMermaid FountainMinerMullgardt, Louis ChristianMusicNahl, PerhamNations That Have Crossed the Atlantic (Mural)NatureNatural SelectionNewman, AllenNiehaus, CharlesOld World Handing Burden to New WorldOriental Flower GirlPanPanama Canal (Murals)Patigian, HaigPegasusPegasus PanelPetersPhilosopherPiccirilli, FurioPiratePizarroPool of ReflectionsPower of IndustryPriestPriestess of CulturePriestess of ReligionPrimitive ManProctor, P.ProvidencePursuit of PleasurePutnam, ArthurRainReclining WomanReid, RobertRichardson, SymmesRise of CivilizationRising SunRoth, FrederickRumsey, CharlesSaint Gaudens, AugustusScout, TheScudder, JanetSeed TimeSetting SunSimmons, EdwardSpanish CavalierSpringStackpole, RalphStar, JeweledStea, CesareSteam PowerSummerSunshineSurvival of the FittestThoughtTonettiTorch BearerTriumph of the FieldsUnattainable In ArtVaried IndustriesVictorious SpiritWalters, EdgarWard, J. Q. A.Ward and BlohmeWarriorWaterWeinert, AlbertWeinmann, A. A.Whitney, Gertrude V.Winter, WorkmanYoung, MahonriZimm, BrunoZodiac, Signs of