As we entered the Court of the Four Seasons the architect said: "If I
were to send a student of architecture to this Exposition, I should
advise him to spend most of his time here. Of all the courts, it
expresses for me the best architectural traditions. Henry Bacon frankly
took Hadrian's Villa for his model, and he succeeded in keeping every
feature classic. That half dome is an excellent example of a style
cultivated by the Romans. The four niches with the groups of the
seasons, by Piccirilli, screened behind the double columns, come from a
detail in the baths of Caracalla. The Romans liked to glimpse scenes or
statuary through columns. Guerin has applied a rich coloring, his
favorite pink, and McLaren has added a poetic touch by letting garlands
of the African dew plant, that he made his hedge of, flow over from the
top. See how Bacon has used the bull's head between the flowers in the
ornamentation, one of the most popular of the Renaissance motives. And
he has introduced an original detail by letting ears of corn hang from
the top of the columns. Those bulls up there, with the two figures,
carry the mind back to the days when the Romans made a sacrifice of the
sacred bull in the harvest festivals. This Thanksgiving of theirs they
called 'The Feast of the Sacrifice.' "
Crowning the half dome sat the lovely figure of Nature, laden with
fruits, by Albert Jaegers. On the columns at either side stood two other
figures by Jaegers, "Rain," holding out a shell to catch the drops, and
"Sunshine," with a palm branch close to her eyes. At each base the
figures of the harvesters carried out the agricultural idea with
elemental simplicity in friezes that recalled the friezes on the
Parthenon. Here, on each side of the half-dome, we have a good example
of the composite column, a combination of the Corinthian and the Ionic,
with the Ionic scrolls and the acanthus underneath, and with little
human figures between the two.
What we liked best about this court was its feeling of intimacy. One
could find refreshment here and rest. Much was due to the graceful
planting by John McLaren. His masses of deep green around the emerald
pool in the center were particularly successful. He had used many kinds
of trees, including the olive, the acacia, the eucalyptus, the cypress,
and the English laurel.
We lingered in front of these fountains, admiring the classic grace of
the groups and the play of water over the steps. We thought that
Piccirilli had been most successful with his "Spring." "Of course, it's
very conventional work," said the architect, "but the conventional has
its place here. It explains just why Milton Bancroft worked out those
murals of his in this particular way. He wanted to express the elemental
attitude of mind toward nature, the artistic childhood of the race."
When we examined the figures of the Piccirilli groups in detail, we
found that they possessed excellent qualities. They carried on the
traditions of the wall-fountains so popular in Rome and often associated
with water running over steps. The figures were well put together and
the lines were good. All of the groups had the surface as carefully
worked out. In "Spring" the line of festooning helped to carry on the
line leading to the top of the group. There was tender feeling and fine
workmanship in "Summer," with the feminine and masculine hands clearly
differentiated. "The men of today have a chance to learn a good lesson
from Rodin," said the painter. "He is teaching them what he himself may
have learned from the work of Donatello and Michael Angelo, the
importance of surface accentuation, the securing of the light and shade
that are just as necessary in modelling as in painting. In these groups
there is definite accentuation of the muscles. It makes the figures seem
life-like. The work reminds me of the figure of The Outcast, by the
sculpter's brother, Attilio Piccirilli, that we shall see in the
colonade of the Fine Arts Palace. So many sculptors like to secure these
smooth, meaningless surfaces that excite admiration among those people
who care for mere prettiness. It is just about as admirable as the
smoothing out of character lines from a photograph. But the Piccirillis
go at their work like genuine artists."
Those murals we were inclined to regard as somewhat too simple and
formal. "After all," said the architect, "it's a question whether this
kind of effort is in the right direction. So often it leads to what
seems like acting in art, regarded by some people as insincerity. At any
rate, the best that can be said of it is that it's clever imitation. But
here it blends in with the feeling of the court and it gives bright
spots of color. Guerin has gone as close to white as he dared. So he
felt the need of strong color contrasts, and he got Bancroft to supply
them. And the colors are repeated in the the other decorations of the
court. It's as if the painter had been given a definite number of colors
to work with. In this matter of color, by the way, Bancroft had a big
advantage over the old Roman painters. Their colors were very
restricted. In this court they might have allowed more space for the
murals. They're not only limited in size, but in shape as well. Bancroft
used to call them his postage-stamps.
In the entrance court we found Evelyn Breatrice Longman's "Fountain of
Ceres," the last of the three fountains done on the grounds by women,
and decidedly the most feminine. "Mrs. Longman hasn't quite caught the
true note," the architect remarked. "The base of the fountain is
interesting, though I don't care for the shape. But the figure itself is
too prim and modish. Somehow I can't think of Ceres as a proper old
maid, dressed with modern frills. The execution, however, shows a good
deal of skill. The frieze might be improved by the softening of those
sharp lines that cut out the figures like pasteboard. And these women
haven't as much vitality as that grotesque head down near the base,
spouting out water." The architect glanced up and noticed the figure of
"Victory" on one of the gables, so often to be seen during a walk over
the grounds. "There's more swing to that figure than to the one here,
and yet there's a certain resemblance between them. They both show the
same influence, the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Of course, Miss
Longman has purposely softened the effect on account of the mildness of
her subject. But she might have been more successful with her draperies
if she had followed the suggestions in the Winged Victory more closely.
There the treatment of the draperies is magnificent. Both the Greeks and
the Romans were very fond of this type of figure. And it's often found
among the ruins of Pompeii, which kept so close to Rome in its artistic
enterprise."
The need of separating the entrance to the Court of the Four Seasons
from Ryan's display of scintillators on the imitation of Morro Castle at
the edge of the bay, had given John McLaren a chance to create another
of these deep green masses that surrounded the pool. It shut the court
off from the rest of the world and deepened the intimacy, leaving,
however, glimpses of the bay and the hills beyond.