Palaces and Courts of the Exposition - Juliet James

The Color Scheme

Jules Guerin, probably the greatest man in his particular line in the world, has had complete charge of the Exposition coloring.

He has used only five colors, but of course these colors are not all the same tone.

All walls are pastel pink or a sunset shade, as seen in the Court of the Ages. All niches are the same shade.

All ceilings and shells are ultramarine blue, with two exceptions. The Court of the Ages is a pastel blue, and that of the Court of Palms is fawn-color.

The domes of the Fine Arts Palace, and the Court of the Universe, are burnt orange, or, as one writer has expressed it, "sea-weed washed with brine."

The other domes are an oriental green, approaching copper-green.

The capitals when colored are burnt orange, with either an ultramarine-blue or an Indian-red ground. Columnettes and a few decorative bands are of turquoise-green.

There is a unity, a balance, a color beauty all unto itself. You see it in the architecture, sculpture, and painting, in the arrangement of the decorations, in the courts. Then over it all hangs the spirit of romance such as surrounds the days of old Castile.

A mediaeval beauty and splendor bring longings for the pageants that would add a world of interest.

There is a Graeco-Roman appeal in the long colonnades, the porticoes, the fountains, the courts.

The Orient is strongly marked by the domes, the minaret suggestions, the elephants, and minor details.

It is an Arabian-Nights-Tale - not a thousand and one nights, but two hundred and eighty-eight.

Siena marble is used mainly at entrances and for pedestals. The travertine is pinkish, grey and cream. Doorways in shadow are of lattice green. Flag-poles are colored Spanish red. Lighting standards are green, ochre, or eucalyptus blue. Banners are ochre and cadmium.

The world has never seen such an Occidental-Oriental harmony as in this Exposition.

The traditions of the olden days are so strongly worked into these palaces and courts that one feels more than he can tell when wandering in this world of beauty; and we the laymen owe a debt of gratitude to the architects, sculptors, painters, horticulturists, financiers, engineers and the workmen who have given us this dream city of 1915.

Home -> Other California History Books -> Palaces and Courts of the Exposition -> Color Scheme





The Color Scheme Jules Guerin, probably the greatest man in his particular line in the world, has had complete charge of the Exposition coloring. He has used only five colors, but of course these colors are not all the same tone. All walls are pastel pink or a sunset shade, as seen in the Court of the Ages. All niches are the same shade. All ceilings and shells are ultramarine blue, with two exceptions. The Court of the Ages is a pastel blue, and that of the Court of Palms is fawn-color. The domes of the Fine Arts Palace, and the Court of the Universe, are burnt orange, or, as one writer has expressed it, "sea-weed washed with brine." The other domes are an oriental green, approaching copper-green. The capitals when colored are burnt orange, with either an ultramarine-blue or an Indian-red ground. Columnettes and a few decorative bands are of turquoise-green. There is a unity, a balance, a color beauty all unto itself. You see it in the architecture, sculpture, and painting, in the arrangement of the decorations, in the courts. Then over it all hangs the spirit of romance such as surrounds the days of old Castile. A mediaeval beauty and splendor bring longings for the pageants that would add a world of interest. There is a Graeco-Roman appeal in the long colonnades, the porticoes, the fountains, the courts. The Orient is strongly marked by the domes, the minaret suggestions, the elephants, and minor details. It is an Arabian-Nights-Tale - not a thousand and one nights, but two hundred and eighty-eight. Siena marble is used mainly at entrances and for pedestals. The travertine is pinkish, grey and cream. Doorways in shadow are of lattice green. Flag-poles are colored Spanish red. Lighting standards are green, ochre, or eucalyptus blue. Banners are ochre and cadmium. The world has never seen such an Occidental-Oriental harmony as in this Exposition. The traditions of the olden days are so strongly worked into these palaces and courts that one feels more than he can tell when wandering in this world of beauty; and we the laymen owe a debt of gratitude to the architects, sculptors, painters, horticulturists, financiers, engineers and the workmen who have given us this dream city of 1915.