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Fountain of Energy
Central Group, South Gardens

Fountain of Energy

The Fountain of Energy in the place of honor within the main entrance gives the keynote of the Exposition - a mood of triumphant rejoicing. The proud bearing of the equestrian group, the wide sweep of water when the fountain is in play, the sportive movement of the figures in the basin, all express the joy of achievement. In the conception of the sculptor, A. Stirling Calder, this was fitting tribute to the completion of the Panama Canal which the Exposition celebrates.

The fountain has a double significance. In the first aspect it records the conquest by Energy of the labors of the Canal. In the second it proclaims the approach of the Super-Energy of the future. Both interpretations are detailed upon the following pages. On the globe supporting the horseman are indicated the sun's course North and South and the evolution of mankind from lower to higher forms of life. That of the strenuous Western hemisphere is connoted by a bullman; the quiet East by a cat-human. Great oceans and lesser waters revel in the fountain-bowl. A garland of merfolk join globe to base with great sculptural beauty.

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