No. 217MARCH 1915VOL. LV .

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INTERNATIOSTUDIO

R... at U. S. Pat. 011.

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INTERNATIO· STUDIO •

VOL. LV. No. 220 Co/lflrigllt.1915 bll Jolin Lane ComPanll JUNE, 1915

THE SAN DIEGO AND SAN FRAN­

CISCO EXPOSITIONSBY CHRISTIAN BRINTON

EDITOR'S NOTE.-It was Dr. Christian Brinton's wishto have the two ~"positions run concurr~ntly in this iss~

but considerati01JS of space hafJe necessitated our resmJingSan Francisco for the month of July. This wiU enableus to iUustrate the articl~s more fuUy. Other conJributionsby the same writ~r wiU follow in d~ course giving specialheed to the painJings and statuary.

I. SAN DIEGO

IT MUST be confessed that the congenitalweakness for hyperbole which obtains west ofthe Mississippi leads one to be cautious notalone of the Grand Canyon but of the eloquentlyexploited expositions at San Diego and San Fran­cisco. Superlatives not unwarrantably make forsuspicion, yet in none of these instances is there

occasion for undue conservatism. Like thethumb-print of God pressed into the surface of theearth so that man may forever identify His handi­work, the Canyon transcends the possibilities ofverbal or pictorial expression. Although by nomeans so ambitious as its competitor, or, rather,its complement, farther northward along the his­toric Camino Real, the Panama-California Exposi­tion has scant reason to fear comparison with thePanama-Pacific. Restricted in area yet rich insuggestion the San Diego Exposition is a synthe­sis of the spacious Southwest. It seems to havesprung spontaneously from the soil and the vividrace consciousness of those who inhabit this vastand fecund hinterland. Regional in the sense thatthe recent Baltic Exposition at Malmo and theValencian Exposition of 1<)09 were regional, it isat once more concentrated and more characteristic

Pa",,-.etll'!ona'a EJrpo.ilitm. Sa" Di.,oACIlOSS THE ESPLANADE ARCHITECT, FRANK P. ALLEN, JR.

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The San Diego and Sail Francisco Expositio1ls

than either of those memorable displays.Though you may have seen many expositionsyou have encountered none like this red-tiled,white-walled city set amid luxurious semi-tropicalvegetation and flanked on one side by a deeplyincised arroyo, and on the other by the azureexpanse of the sea. On crossinK the majesticPuente Caballo you enter the Plaza de California,or California Quadrangle, the architecture ofwhich furnishes the keynote of the exposition.To the left is the California Building, which exem­plifies the cathedral type, to the right is the FineArts Building, which conforms to the better-

It is impossible not to respond to the seductiveflavour and opulent fancy of such an offering asconfronts one at Balboa Park. Climatic condi­tions royally concur in assisting the architect tothe utmost. Almost every conceivable flower.plant and tree here attains unwonted magnifi­cence. The sun is brilliant but does not burn.and the close proximity of the sea softens andfreshens the atmosphere without undue prepon­derance of moisture. Proceed along the acacia­lined Prado which constitutes the main axis of theKeneral plan, stroll under the cloisters, linKer inthe patios, or follow one of the countless ca/cadas

Pa"a",a-California Expo.•ilinn. San Di,~n

nEW FRO!ol THE L.\GlTNA DE CABALLO

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known Mission style. These structures are per­manent, and are not only a credit to the e}.-positionand the municipal authorities, but reveal in newand congenial light the varied talent of theirdesigner, Mr. Bertram G. Goodhue. At SanDiego you have in brief something that at oncestrikes a picturesque and appropriate note. Theremaining buildings which, with the exception ofthe Music Pavilion, are the creation of Mr. FrankP. Allen, Jr., all continue the Spanish-Colonialmotif with conspicuous success. Xone of themis in the least out of harmony with the general en­semble, and there is not one 'that does not displayuncommon capacity for the assimilation and adap­tation of this singularlyeffectivearchitectural style.

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or pathways skirting the crest of the hill, and you"ill e}.-perience the sensation of being in the gar­dens of a typical Mexican mission. The mindindeed travels even farther back-back to theAlcazar of Sevilla, the Generalife, and to remoteand colourful Byzantium. Unlike most of itspredecessors, the San Diego Exposition does notconvey an impression of impermanency. Theluxuriance of the floral and arboreal accompani­ments, of course, help to dispel any such feeling.Yet behind this is a distinct sense of inevitabilitywhiCh derives from the fact that here is somethingwhich is at one with the land and its people-avisible expression of the collective soul of theSouthwest.

A MISSION PATIOSOUTHERN COU:-.iTIES BUILDING

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The San Diego and Sail Francisco ExpositionsI

It need scarcely be assumed, however, that thisradiant city which smiles down from its green­capped acropolis came into being over night, as itwere. Behind this symphony of beauty is a back­ground of solid endeavour and serious researchalong widely divergent lines. Mr. Goodhue'sCalifornia Building is a succ£ssful adaptation toexposition exigencies of the impressively ornatecathedral at Oaxaca. Mexico. The New MexicoState Building, with its more severe silhouette andmassive weathered beams protruding from theoutside walls, is a free amplification of the famousadobe mission of the Indian pueblo of Acoma, the"sky city," dating from 1699. The essentiallycomposite character of Spanish architecture isnowhere better illustrated than in these variousstructures, where you are confronted by turns withdetails Roman and Rococo, late Gothic andRenaissance, Classic and Chirugueresque. Still,despite this manifest complexity of origin and in­spiration, the ensemble achieves the effect of com­plete unity. The very flexibility of the style em­ployed is its greatest asset when it comes to solv­ing problems of such a nature. You, in sr.ort,witness here in San Diego the actual revival ofSpanish-Colonial architecture, and you willscarcely fail to agree that as a medium it is asperfectly adapted to the physical and social con­ditions of the Southwest as is the English-Colonial,or Georgian, to the needs of the East. Had thePanama-California Exposition accomplished noth­ing else, this rehabilitation of our Spanish-Colonial

heritage would have amply justified its existence.The same consistency of aim and idea which

characterizes the architectural features of theexposition obtains in other fields of activity. Ithas been the intention of those in charge to showprocesses rather than products, and nowhere isthis more significantly set forth than in the Cali­fornia Buildin~, which enshrines examples of thestupendous plastic legacy of the Maya ckiJiza­tion, and in the Indian Arts Building, whiFh isdevoted to displays of the craftsmanship of thepresent-day Indian of the Southwest. To beginwith the deep-rooted substratum of primitiveeffort which stretches back into dim antiquity, andto follow its development down to modern daysentails no small amount of labour and scholarship.For this task the exposition authorities were for­tunate in securing the services of Dr. Edgar L.Hewett and a corps of competent assistants fromthe Smithsonian Institute, Washington. Dr.Hewett is one of that rapidly increasing numberof scientists who feel the indissoluble connectionbetween ethnology and resthetics. Nothing finerhas thus far been accomplished than his installa­tion of the several exhibits in this particular sec­tion. The collections of pottery, rugs, basketsand domestic utensils, and the detailed seriesof drawings illustrating that graphic symbolismwhich is an inherent element in all aboriginalartistic expression, are as extensive as they arestimulating. On comparing these latter with thecanvases devoted to native type and scene by :Mr.

P4>14",a-CtJli/ornia Expositio". Sa" Di'fOCOMMERCE AND INDCSTRIES Bt:lLDINGS

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ARCHITECT, FRASK P. ALLEN, JR.

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FA~ADE OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE BUILDINGARCHITECT, BERTRAM G. GOODHUE

TIle San Diego and San }t~ranc£sco ExjJositz"ollsI

Robert Henri, 'Mr. Joseph H. Sharp, and others inthe Fine Arts Building, one is forced to concludethat the capacity for pictorial representation hasdiminished rather than increased with the adventof our latter-day art schools and academies.

You can hardly expect perfection, even in suchan exposition as that at San Diego, and it is in thechoice of paintings for this same Fine Arts Build­ing that one may point to a certain lapse from anotherwise consistently maintained standard. Itis not that Mr. Henri and his cOterie are notadmirable artists. It is simply that they do not

gleaming little city perched upon its green-crestedmesa teaches anything, it teaches that the mostprecious things in life and in art are those that lienearest the great eloquent heart of nature. Thesubtle process of interaction which forever goessilently on between man and his surroundings, theidentity between that which one sees and feedsupon and that which one produces, are facts whichyou find convincingly presented at the San DiegoExposition. It is more than a mere show-windowof the Southwest. Alike in its architecture andits specific offerings it typifies the richness and

Panama-Califarnia E"posilion, SaN Vi,go

ENTRASCE TO THE VARIEDISDl'STRIES BUILDING

fit into what appears to be and in other respectsmanifestly is a carefully worked-out programme.San Diego is so rich in the fundamental sources ofbeauty and feeling that had there been no paint­ings on view one would have had scant cause forcomplaint. The welcome absence of the custom­ary flatulent and dropsical statuary, which is sucha happy feature of the exterior arrangements,might well have been supplemented by the exclu­sion of the pretentious and sophisticated canvas.

Intensive rather than extensive in appeal, bas·ing itself frankly upon local interest and tradition,conscious of its inheritance and looking with con­fidence toward the future, the Panama-CaliforniaExposition stands as a model of its kind. If this

ex

ARCHITECT, FRANK P. ALLEN, JR.

romance not alone of New Spain but of immemo­rial America.

ARTHUR HOEBER

FOLLOWING closely upon the death ofF. Hopkinson Smith, so famous in the triple roleof author, artist and engineer, it is our sad task torecord the loss of that genial writer and artist,Arthur Hoeber, who for many years has been acontributor to our columns and an ever welcomefriend inside and outside of the office. Hewas a landscapist of merit and the kindliestcritic that ever sat in judgment upon the workof others.

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