| Home -> Paul Elder - > The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition - Lesson of Life | |||
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Lesson of Life
A Panel, Fountain of Earth |
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| In the panel of "The Survival of the Fittest" the battle of life is at its height. The men are in a furious struggle of strength and prowess. The interplay of human passions, the contests of wills and capacities, has developed. The women, too, are taking a conscious part in life, one weeping and shrinking from the fray, the other extending a restraining hand. In the last and noblest panel, called "The Lesson of Life," we see the spiritualized and intellect-guided emotions. A helmeted man and pure-browed woman gaze tenderly in each other's eyes. Youth, full of impulse and fire, stays to listen to the voice of Reason. The lover keeps in touch with the guiding memory of the Mother. And the cycle is completed from animal to mental toward the higher foundation of life upon the earth. Seldom has more exaltation of thought or intensity of feeling been infused, without mawkishness or exaggeration, into a work of art. The Fountain of Earth, is deeply interpretive of the trend of modern thought. |
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