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.
Painting For Out-DoorsSome concern was felt by the painters on account of their lack of experience in painting for out-of-doors.There was no telling, even by the most careful estimate, how their canvases would look when in place.
Color and design impressive in a studio might, when placed beside vigorous architecture, become weak and pale.Besides, in this instance, the murals would meet new conditions in having to harmonize with architecture that was already highly colored.Furthermore, no two of the canvases would meet exactly the same conditions and, as a result of the changes in light and atmospheric effects, the conditions would be subject to continual change.Finally, they were obliged to work without precedent.
It was true that the early Italians had done murals for the open air, but no examples had been preserved.
That the painters were able to do as well as they did under the limitations reflected credit on their adaptability and good humor.The truth was they felt the tremendous opportunity afforded their art by this Exposition.They believed that in a peculiar sense it testified to the value of color in design.It represented a new movement in art, with far-reaching possibilities for the future.That some of them suffered as a result of the limiting of initiative and individuality, of subordination to the general scheme, was unquestionable.Some of the canvases that looked strong and fine when they were assembled for the last touches in Machinery Hall became anaemic and insignificant on the walls.Those most successfully met the test where the colors were in harmony with Guerin's coloring and where they were in themselves strong and where the subjects were dramatic and vigorously handled.The allegorical and the primitive subjects failed to carry, first because they had little or no real significance, and secondly because the spirit behind them was lacking in appeal and, occasionally, in sincerity.
In one regard Frank Brangwyn was more fortunate than the other painters.
His murals, though intended to be displayed in the open air, were to hang in sequestered corners of the corridors running around the Court of the Ages, the court, moreover, that was to have no color.Besides, there were no colors in the world that could successfully compete against his powerful blues and reds.
The LightingThe lighting of the Exposition, it was determined, should be given to the charge of the greatest expert in the country.Several of the leading electric light companies were consulted.They agreed that the best man was Walter D'Arcy Ryan, who had managed the lighting at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration and at the Niagara Falls Exposition.Mr.Ryan explained his system of veiled lighting, with the source of the light hidden, and made plain its suitability to an Exposition where the artistic features were to be notable, and where they were to be emphasized at night, with the lighting so diffused as to avoid shadows.
After his appointment as director of illuminating he made several visits to San Francisco, and a year before the opening of the Exposition, he returned to stay till the close.His plan of ornamenting the main tower with large pieces of cut glass, of many colors, to shine like jewels, created wide-spread interest on account of its novelty.It was generally regarded as a highly original and sensational Exposition feature.
Watching the GrowthAs the building went on the San Franciscans gradually became alive to the splendor.Each Sunday many thousands would assemble on the grounds.
About a year before the date set for the opening an admission fee of twenty-five cents brought several thousands of dollars each week.On the Sundays when Lincoln Beachey made his sensational flights there would often be not less than fifty thousand people looking on.
The Walled CityIf there were any critics who feared that the walled city might present a certain monotony of aspect they did not take into account the Oriental luxuriance of the entrances, breaking the long lines and making splendid contrast of design and of color.Those entrances alone were worth minute study.Besides being beautiful, they had historic significance.
Furthermore, the long walls were broken by artistically designed windows and by groups of trees running along the edge.Within the walls, in the splendidly wrought courts, utility was made an expression, of beauty by means of the impressive colonnades, solid rows of columns, delicately colored, suitable for promenading and for protection against rain.
From the hills looking down on the bay the Exposition began to seem somewhat huddled.But the nearer one approached, the plainer it became that this effect was misleading.On the grounds one felt that there was plenty of room to move about in.And there was no sense of incongruity.
Very adroitly styles of architecture that might have seemed to be alien to one another and hostile had been harmoniously blended.Here the color was a great help.It made the Exposition seem all of a piece.
The WarIn the summer of 1914 the Exposition received what for a brief time, looked like a crushing blow in the declaration of war.How could the world be interested in such an enterprise when the great nations of Europe were engaged in what might prove to be the most deadly conflict history?
