| Home -> Paul Elder - > The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition - Mermaid Fountain | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Mermaid Fountain
Festival Hall, South Gardens |
|||
 |
|||
|
|
|||
| Long, quiet mirror pools flank the great Fountain of Energy, giving balance and calm to the entrance plaza, or South Gardens. They are oblong in shape with the farther ends curving into a graceful convex. The pools are surrounded by formal flowerbeds planted to correspond to the beds surrounding the central fountain, thus giving continuity to the whole. These beds are enclosed by a decorative fence which follows the outline of the pools; the entering paths, emphasized at the outer ends by flower urns, at the inner by sculptural light standards. The curved ends of the pools are marked by Arthur Putnam's beautiful Mermaid Fountain, in duplicate. The crowning figure is by no means the conventional mermaid. She is free, full of grace, charmingly poised. The bifurcated tail is original and gives sculptural distinction as well as greater human appeal. The figure is instinct with a spirit of play but is not boisterous. Arthur Putnam is a Californian who has greatly influenced the development of art in the West. |
|||
|
|
|
|