That motionless steam engine, all in gray, harmonizing with the
Travertine, was furiously at work. Into the air it sent clouds of steam
that turned to red and blue and green under Ryan's magic. And up there,
at the top of the Column of Progress, we saw the Adventurous Bowman and
his companions in two groups, one reflected on the illuminated fog.
Through the smoke and the fog the bombs were shooting and breaking into
great masses of liquid fire, golden and green and pink and yellow.
"Someone says we're all children at heart," the architect remarked.
"These fireworks get more attention than all the architecture and the
art put together. But, after all, they're just about as beautiful as
anything man can make and, in the way of color, they put the artists to
shame."
We were part of the crowd that swept to the Court of the Universe, never
so splendid as at night, with the columns reflected in the pool and
Calder's star figures shining from the concealed electric bulbs. On
reaching the court itself we stood at the end of one of the corridors
and looked down. Great drops of light hung on the columns like molten
gold. "Ryan has done something very artistic and unusual there," the
architect remarked. "So far as I know nothing just like it has ever been
done before. It suggests the tongues of fire mentioned in the Scripture
that descended from Heaven."
In the sunken garden those two shafts, rising from the fountains,
looking like stone by day, had become great candles, glowing from the
base to the glass globe on top. "They're practically the sole means of
illuminating this court. The other lights are merely ornamental. So far
as I'm aware nothing just like these shafts has ever been tried in an
Exposition or anywhere else. It's a novel Expositional effect. Some
people don't like it; but most people admire it immensely. It symbolizes
the gold that first drew the multitude to this part of the world. If the
golden color had been used more extensively throughout the Exposition it
would have helped a lot. Guerin gets it at night by means of the light
that shines through the windows and Faville gets it in the light behind
those wonderful doorways of his that haven't been praised half as much
as they ought to be."
The Court of the Ages lured us along the dimly lighted inner court, the
arches taking on an even more delicate beauty in the night light. Once
within the court we found ourselves under the spell of Mullgardt's
genius. The architecture, the cauldrons sending out pink steam, the
flaming serpents, the torches on the tower, the warm lights from within
the tower, the great ecclesiastical stars, brilliant with electricity,
all carried out the idea of the earth, cast off by the sun.
In the entrance court we found the effects less magnificent but, in
their way, just as beautiful. The lighting emphasized the refinement of
the court, the rich delicacy of the ornamentation. "Mullgardt ought to
go down into history for this contribution to the Exposition," said the
architect. "He has shown that originality is still possible in
architecture."
In the Court of the Four Seasons we watched the Emerald Pool turning the
architecture into a mermaids' palace. The water flowing under the four
groups of the seasons shone from an invisible light beneath, coloring it
a rich green. "When Ryan promised to illuminate the water here without
letting the source of the light be seen, it was thought by the people it
couldn't be done." For a long time we sat in front of the lagoon where
the swans were silently floating and, and the Palace of Fine Arts was
reproduced with a deeper mystery. Now we could feel the relation between
the colonnade and Gerome's chariot race. "It would please Gerome if he
could know that he had helped to inspire so magnificent a conception,"
said the architect. "And if Boecklin could see this vision and hear that
his Island of the Dead had started Maybeck's mind thinking of it he
would probably be astonished and delighted at the same time. With his
fine understanding of the influences operating in art he would see that
his contribution did not in any way detract from Maybeck's originality.
Down the centuries minds have been influencing one another and, in this
way, adding to the sum of wisdom and beauty in the world. Now and then,
as in this instance, we can plainly see the influences at work. Behind
Boecklin and Gerome there were doubtless influences that led to their
making those two pictures, inspirations from nature or from other
artists, or both together. And this palace will doubtless inspire many
another noble conception."
"When we apply that thought to the Exposition as a whole," I said, "we
can see what a big influence it is likely to have on the art of the
country."
"It has undoubtedly had a big influence already, even though we may not
he able, as yet, to see it working. The very interest the Exposition
has, aroused in the people that come here, whether they are artists or
not, can't help being productive."