educational exhibits of this Exposition, which itself, as a whole, is a
world-university. Its striking features are the great number of official
exhibits by states, cities and foreign nations, and the emphasis laid on
industrial and vocational education, public health, playgrounds, and the
training of abnormal children. An educational exhibit is one of the most
difficult to make vivid and interesting to the general public. This
palace has succeeded by avoiding duplication. To each state or city was
assigned a special problem, as far as possible the one to which it had
contributed a noteworthy solution. Thus, Massachusetts shows her
vocational methods, while Oregon specializes on rural schools as
neighborhood centers. Among the cities, St. Louis devotes most of its
space to the educational museum, while Philadelphia emphasizes central
high schools. The United States Government supplies a branch of its
Children's Bureau, with daily conferences for parents. Among the many
instructors who have been engaged to conduct classes in the palace is
Dr. Maria Montessori, who is to give a course of lessons based on her
famous system. The Philippine exhibit shows that Americans have
developed in the Islands a system of practical education which American
teachers should study.
The Palace of Agriculture is an instructive presentation of modern farm
methods, as well as of raw products of the soil. It shows admirably the
great advance in agriculture in the United States, giving due space to
the work and influence of the state agricultural colleges. Particularly
impressive is the array of farm machinery and the wide application to it
of the gasoline motor. After seeing it, one wonders what place is left
on the farm for the horse. The fundamental nature of agriculture has
brought more states and foreign countries into this palace than are
represented in any other. A significant representation is that of the
Philippines, an exhibition of enormous natural resources. Its display of
fine hardwoods is the finest ever made by any country. Similar exhibits
of Argentina and New Zealand are also excellent. Forestry takes a large
place in this palace, the United States Government making a big forestry
exhibit in addition to the great general display of the Department of
Agriculture.
The Palace of Food Products is a temple of the tin can and the food
package. It is made one of the most interesting of all the Exposition
buildings by its numerous processes in operation. A large part of it is
really a factory, turning out before the visitor's eyes the different
familiar edibles of the magazine advertisements. A mint of money must
have been spent by these exhibitors. A flour company, for example, has
installed a complete mill in which flour is manufactured, and then made
into many kinds of cakes and pastries by a row of cooks of various
nations. A bakery in connection with this mill turns out 400 loaves at a
baking. As in every exposition, visitors crowd the booths where edible
samples are distributed. After viewing many such scenes, a local
humorist dubbed this building "the Palace of Nibbling Arts."
The new idea of co-operation among manufacturers appears in a number of
collective exhibits. California wine producers have united in a splendid
display, far more impressive than could be made by an individual. The
Pacific Coast fisheries have joined in an elaborate exhibit of every
sort of tinned fish. The United States Bureau of Fisheries maintains an
extensive aquarium of fresh and salt-water fishes. The State of
Washington has another, with a salmon hatchery in operation. Modern
production of pure food is greatly emphasized. In a building of its own,
a Pacific Coast condensed milk concern operates a good-sized factory,
using the milk of its herd of pure-bred Holsteins, kept in the
Live-Stock section.
The Palace of Horticulture, with its gardens, has been planned with a
three-fold purpose, to appeal with equal interest to the tourist, the
student, and the business man. Its exhibits by states and foreign
nations picture the gardens and orchards of the world. Its factory
installations exhibit actual processes of preparing and preserving fruit
and vegetable products. Under the great dome are the Cuban and Hawaiian
collections of tropical plants and flowers, already described in the
chapter on the South Gardens. In the flanking rooms are displays of
orchids and aquatic plants. In the main hall Luther Burbank shows his
creations. An exhibit of fresh fruits in season is maintained. The
gardens outside show plants and shrubs from many states and countries,
including the great exhibit of the Netherlands Board of Horticulture.
XVI.
The Foreign Pavilions
Buildings characteristic of the nations represented--Many adaptations
of famous old-world structures--Younger countries build expressions of
their progress--Noteworthy pavilions of France, Holland, and the
Scandinavian kingdoms--Italy's masterpiece in historic architecture--
Argentina, Bolivia and other Latin-American republics well represented--
Canada and Australia present fine buildings and splendid exhibits--
China and Japan reproduce renowned gardens, temples and palaces--Rich
treasures of art and industry shown by many countries.
Almost all the twenty-one foreign pavilions at the Exposition are
characteristic of the architecture of the nations that built them. Some,
like the unique Japanese temple or the beautiful French pavilion, are
reproductions of famous old-world buildings. The three fine Scandinavian
pavilions reflect notable types of national architecture. Italy's
delightful group, which is the most noteworthy of all, is for every one
who has visited that country an epitome of her most interesting historic
palaces, rich in the art of the Renaissance. The buildings of the newer
countries, like Canada or the Argentine, which have not yet had time to
develop characteristic styles of their own, are admirable expressions of
their progress and prosperity.
Argentina.--The Argentine Pavilion is really a palace. It is the work
of Sauze, a celebrated architect of Buenos Aires, in the style of the
French Renaissance. (See p. 169.) The Argentino exhibits, with the
exception of dioramas, moving pictures, and photographs, are in the
Exposition palaces. The pavilion is the center for the social functions
of the Commission.
Both exterior and interior of the building illustrate the amazing
progress of the South American republic in art, as its exhibits in the
Exposition palaces exemplify its advancement in industry and commerce.
The entrance opens into a noble hall, imposing in its simplicity. In the
clerestory the walls are decorated with fine murals by the brush of the
Argentine artist, Colivadeno,--works which show that Argentine art has
the beauty, freshness and vigor of the nation from which it springs. In
the center of the hall is an exquisite bit of Sculpture.
On left and right the foyer opens into a fine reception hall and a
graceful refreshment room. In the rear is a theater, where moving
pictures of Argentine scenes are shown daily. In the wall of the
corridor surrounding the theater on the first floor are excellent
panoramas showing scenery and resources. Among these is a view of the
famed Iguazu Falls, the greatest and most magnificent waterfall on the
globe. In the corridor upstairs are other panoramas, a series of
photographs, and a collection of graphic charts which show the commerce,
finance, industry, administration, education and social service of the
republic. The second floor ends at the rear in a beautiful library.
The pavilion was built entirely of materials brought from Buenos Aires,
and constructed by Argentino workmen.
Australia.--The Australian Pavilion, at the Presidio entrance to the
Exposition, was designed by George J. Oakeshott, F. I. A. N. S. W. (p.
148.) Obviously it is intended to symbolize the industrial cohesion of
the six Australian States, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South
Australia, West Australia, and Tasmania. The facade bears below the
cornice the titles of the states, with the state banner waving from a
staff above. All are subordinated to the central tower, floating the
flag of the Commonwealth.
Because its exhibits are eloquent of the resources of the great young
country, the Pavilion has been described aptly as "the shop window of
the Commonwealth." The building is, in fact, a huge sample room; and
although the large states only, New South Wales, Victoria and
Queensland, provided the display, each section is adequately
representative of all Australia produces. Tropical fruits and other
products from the northeast combine with the horticultural and
agricultural products of the temperate zone. Minerals from the rich
fields of all the states are grouped. The opals and gems from White
Cliffs and Lightning Ridge in New South Wales vie with other precious
stones from Queensland in forming one of the great attractions. Handsome
building stones, including exceptional marble, are side by side with
samples of the world-famous hardwoods and the scarcely known but
beautiful cabinet woods from the Australian forest, while the pastoral
areas have provided wonderful collections of wool, leathers, meat and
by-products. The agricultural exhibits have attracted much attention,
and were so arranged as to show the productiveness of irrigated areas as
well as of the country generally. Carefully prepared literature,
distributed liberally, has been a feature of the efforts of the
Australians. The commissioners have made it their boast that nothing has
been exaggerated; everything is "real." Even art critics who visit the
pavilion will not be disappointed, for on the walls they will find many
paintings of merit by Australian artists, including loan collections
from the National Gallery of New South Wales and the Victorian Art
Society.
The Australian exhibits, unlike those of most other countries, have been
grouped in this building, instead of being shown in the various
Exposition palaces.
Bolivia.--Bolivia has erected one of the most essentially national
pavilions at the Exposition, an admirable building that expresses
equally the two elements of its population, the Spanish and the Indian.
The building is Spanish in its solid rectangular plan; its entrance is
copied from the portal of the Church of San Lorenzo, and its central
patio fashioned after that of the old mint at Potosi. It is Indian in
the curious carved work of the facade and the monoliths flanking the
entrance, both being exact copies of ceremonial temple stones from the
lake region of Bolivia. The building was designed by Dr. Calderon of the
Bolivian Commission and Albert Farr of San Francisco.
Tropical plants and fruits are shown in the brick-paved patio. The rooms
in the interior include a moving-picture theater, an art gallery and
museum, with pictures by Bolivian artists, and relics of the
civilization of the Incas. The national exhibits are shown in the
Exposition palaces.
Canada.--The Canadian Pavilion is the largest of the foreign buildings,
and the best example at the Exposition of businesslike advertising by a
government. (p. 148.) Planned by a permanent commission which has had
fifteen years of exposition experience, the Canadian exhibit, down to
the last detail, is designed to advertise the country. Even the site, at
the junction of the highways leading to the Live-Stock Section, was
chosen to get the largest number of the kind of visitors Canada is most
anxious to greet. The architects were Humphreys, Limited, of London.
Architecturally, the building is mixed classic, finished in the
Exposition travertine. The maple leaf of Canada appears in medallions on
the walls, the royal arms of Britain over the entrances, and the British
lion on either side of the approaches. Canada's entire exhibit is here.
Her commission cares nothing for awards, but is concerned solely with
attracting settlers and capital.
With this in view, the chief feature of the display consists of Canadian
landscapes, illustrating the agricultural, lumbering, mining, and
shipping interests of British North America. The scenes are set to
produce a remarkable perspective. The beholder seems to stand on rising
ground, looking away over miles of country. In each view the foreground
is enlivened with real water and either living or moving things. There
is a panorama of the great wheat fields bordering on Lake Superior.
Trains move from grain elevators in the interior to the docks on the
lake, where model steamers ply on real water. Electricity supplies the
power.
The largest scene of all is of Canada as it was and as it is. The
foreground represents the North, when the Indian and the game had it to
themselves. In the background the visitor looks for miles down a broad
Canadian valley filled with wheat fields and pleasant farms. Canada's
wild life is represented in the foreground by splendid stuffed
specimens, from the bear and the moose and the musk-ox to the marten and
the muskrat, and from the great gray honker to the hummingbird. On the
right, in a forest scene, is a beaver pond with dam and house, where the
real beavers splash in the water. On the left of the scene, where a
cascade tumbles into it, is a pool of Canadian trout, maintained in the
wonted chill of their native waters by an ice-making plant under the
scenery. Canada hopes to draw wealthy sportsmen and vacationists, who
will then see for themselves the opportunities for investment. Some of
her largest enterprises have begun thus.
The Canadian Pavilion makes no provision for social functions, but it is
an attractive place, where everyone is welcomed. By common consent
Canada has made the most effective exhibit of its kind at the
Exposition.
Central America.--Guatemala, Honduras and Panama have each erected
pavilions characteristic of Central American architecture. The
Guatemalan Pavilion houses a display of the products of the forests,
fields, and mines of the country, with coffee as its most notable
exhibit. A native marimba band playing Guatemalan airs makes complete
the Central American spirit of this pavilion. The Pavilion of Honduras,
which might have been brought entire from Central America by a genie,
contains a display of laces, woven hats, tropic ferns and flowers.
China.--The Imperial Audience Hall of the Forbidden City at Peking is
reproduced in miniature in the three government buildings of the Chinese
compound at the Exposition. The central pavilion is modeled after the
great hall where for three centuries the Manchu emperors gave audiences.
The two flanking structures, both alike, are copies of the buildings
where court officials and the delegations awaited the coming of the Son
of Heaven to the throne room. The pagoda and the tower at the left and
right of the entrance are likewise copies of structures in the Forbidden
City. All the buildings were constructed by native artisans, brought
over from China for the purpose. The flag of the Republic floats from
the tower, its colors from top to bottom standing in order for
Manchuria, South China, Tibet, and Mongolia. The ancient dragon is
absent, banished by the spirit of New China.
Within the three government pavilions are magnificent carvings, vases
and lacquered furniture, old prints and paintings on silk. The priceless
collection of the latter, shown here and in the Chinese section of the
Fine Arts Palace, is the finest in the world, the property of a Chinese
collector. Its pictures are a complete representation of Chinese
painting for more than a thousand years. China is represented by
exhibits in all the Exposition palaces, the most extensive participation
by any foreign country.
Cuba.--The Cuban Pavilion, designed by Francisco Centurion, is a good
example of Spanish-American architecture. It is distinguished by a
square tower at one corner, a wide portico, roof of Spanish tile, and a
central patio, designed for receptions. On the second floor is a great
ballroom approached by a splendid stairway in the old Spanish style.
Cuba's most striking exhibit at the Exposition is the display of
tropical plants and flowers in the Palace of Horticulture.
Denmark.--Denmark, like the two other Scandinavian countries, has made
her pavilion characteristic of her own national architecture. Though not
in any sense a reproduction, the building finds its motive in Hamlet's
Castle of Kronberg at Elsinore. The architect has softened the grimness
and bulk of the ancient fortress into a pleasing building, that has the
spirit of the gray land by the German Ocean, and the solid character of
the Danes. The dim past appears in the great gravestones on the grounds,
copies of monuments on ancient Danish barrows.
In the entrance is a tiled lobby, with the information bureau. Beyond is
the "Garden Room," so styled because of its exquisite furnishings and
abundance of cut flowers. To the left is a reception room, done in
massive Danish decoration, with Danish woods and Danish furniture. A
handsome cabinet of mahogany and hammered silver is its most striking
piece. Other rooms also contain wonderful antique furniture. An assembly
room with a raised dais, and mural decorations suggestive of Danish
industry and commerce, is in the northeast corner. The building contains
a number of paintings by Danish masters that are of great interest and
value.
Funds for this pavilion were contributed by Danish residents of
California. The Danish Government supplied the furnishings. No
commercial displays are in the building.
France.--The Pavilion of France is a replica of the eighteenth-century
home of the Prince de Salm, at Paris, now and for more than a century
the Palace of the Legion of Honor. (p. 157.) The original building, in
the soberer mode of the French Renaissance, was of Caen stone, the
effect of which has been reproduced in the present construction. The
erection of this pavilion marks a record in work of such magnitude. On
the outbreak of the war, all thought of participating in the Exposition
was dropped; but later the American ambassador, Mr. Herrick, succeeded
in persuading the French Government to reconsider its decision. The
plans were cabled from Paris, at a cost of $10,000, and the structure
was completed in sixty days.
More notable than the building itself, or its priceless contents, is the
fact that these are here. That, in the midst of war and its demands,
France should still find time for the ideal, and for this beautiful
tribute to the long-standing friendship between the two countries, is a
demonstration of French spirit and of French culture that will not
escape the attention of any thoughtful American. For France herself, as
it has well been said, her appearance here means as much as a victory on
the battlefield.
The French Pavilion is a dignified and impressive structure, as those
who recall the Legion of Honor Palace in Paris will understand. The
entrance to the court is a triumphal arch flanked by double rows of
Ionic columns on either side, with figures of Fame as spandrels. The
arch is connected by lateral peristyles with the wings of the pavilion,
the attics of which are adorned with has reliefs. Ionic colonnades
extend along the sides of the court to the principal front of the
building, which is decorated with six Corinthian columns, forming a
portico for the main entrance. The portal opens on a stage, above which
a great central hall, flanked by lesser halls, extends back through the
palace.
But the glory of the building is in its exhibits. France poured out the
treasures of the Louvre, the Luxembourg and the National Museum to adorn
this pavilion. Fine as is the exhibit in the French section of the
Palace of Fine Arts, the best pictures and Sculptures are shown here. In
the Court of Honor stands the masterpiece of the master sculptor of
modern times, "The Thinker," by Auguste Rodin. (p. 158.) In the
galleries are his "John the Baptist" and other important bronzes. Vast,
unique and of the greatest interest is Theodore Riviere's wonderful
group in bronze representing a triumphant band of desert soldiers
dragging captive the Moroccan pretender, secured in an iron cage. There,
too, are splendid paintings by Monet, Meissonier, Detaille, de Neuvilie,
and many other French artists approved by time. Magnificent old
tapestries adorn the walls of the great hall, with modern hangings on
the entrance stage. Two shrines hold relics of Lafayette and Rochambeau,
sent by their descendants; and busts of Washington and Franklin stand on
either side of the heroic figure of France at the entrance.
French manufacturers have sent here those commercial articles which
French taste elevates almost to the standards of Art. Exquisite products
of the jeweler, the perfumer, the milliner and the costumer, with fine
fabrics that make France famous, are shown in the wings beside the Court
of Honor. But the greater part of the French industrial exhibits are in
the Exposition palaces.
Belgium also finds her place in the French pavilion, with an exhibit of
great interest, including many admirable modern paintings, fine
panoramas of Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges, and a collection of rare old
laces that will delight the heart of every woman.
Greece.--The Greek Pavilion represents the latest addition of a foreign
nation to the Exposition family. The building was begun by the Kali
Syndikat, a German corporation, forced by the war to abandon its
undertaking. In April, 1915, the Greek government bought the building
and finished it in classic style. Its exhibits include two hundred and
fifty replicas of the most famous of ancient Grecian Sculptures.
Italy.--Though other countries have built pavilions characteristic of
their soil and people, or have lavished their money on splendid examples
of exposition architecture, it has remained for Italy to present in a
single group a summary of the best that art has produced in a national
history of two thousand years. (p. 159.) The Italian Pavilion does not
attempt to reproduce any one architectural masterpiece. It echoes many.
Therein is the triumph of the architect. Without copying, Piacentini has
suggested in this building much that is famous in the architecture of
Florence, Venice, and Rome. It is itself a masterpiece.
The Italian Pavilion is an irregular group of seven structures, all
connected by arcades except the last building to the east, a
moving-picture hall. The main entrance is at the west, where a broad low
flight of steps leads up to a plaza between two tall buildings
irregularly placed. That on the right, in Fifteenth Century style,
contains the offices of the Commission. The hall on the left,
reminiscent of the Bargello, is devoted to a splendid collection of
antique Roman, Grecian, and Italian art, shown by Signor Canessa. On
either side of the entrance is a Roman "Discus Thrower" in bronze. The
Bargello hall is connected by an arcade with a square Etruscan tower,
which in turn is similarly joined with other buildings that close the
plaza on the east. In the rectangle between the two parallel buildings
on the east, is a beautiful peristyled Venetian court, adorned with
bronzes and marbles copied from originals in the Museum of Naples. In
the center is a reproduction in stone and bronze of the well of the
Palace of Campo San Giovanni e Paolo at Venice.