It was felt by the builders of the Exposition that mural decorating
must be a notable feature.
The Centennial Exposition of '76 had been mainly an expression of
engineering. Sixteen years later architecture had dominated the
Exposition in Chicago. The Exposition in San Francisco was to be
essentially pictorial, combining, in its exterior building,
architecture, sculpture and painting.
When Jules Guerin was selected to apply the color it was decided that he
should choose the mural decorators, subject to the approval of the
architectural board. The choice fell on men already distinguished. all
of them belonging to New York, with two exceptions, Frank Brangwyn of
London, and Arthur Mathews, of San Francisco. They were informed by
Guerin that they could take their own subjects. He contented himself
with saying that a subject with meaning and life in it was an asset.
In New York the painters had a conference with Guerin. He explained the
conditions their work was to meet. Emphasis was laid on the importance
of their painting with reference to the tone of the Travertine. They
were instructed, moreover, to paint within certain colors, in harmony
with the general color-scheme, a restriction that, in some cases, must
have presented difficult problems.
The preliminary sketches were submitted to Guerin, and from the sketches
he fixed the scale of the figures. In one instance the change of scale
led to a change of subject. The second sketches were made on a larger
scale. When they were accepted the decorators were told that the final
canvases were to be painted in San Francisco in order to make sure that
they did not conflict with one another and that they harmonized with the
general plan of the Exposition. Nearly all the murals were finished in
Machinery Hall; but most of them had been started before they arrived
there.