The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition - A. Stirling Calder

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Art Crowned by Time Court of the Four Seasons



In this calm and classic panel, "Art Crowned by Time," the sculptor has done honor not only to the Fine Arts but also to those artistic crafts that fulfill the perfect combination of use and beauty. In the center of the panel stands Art, a superb, regal figure, serenely indifferent to the wreath of appreciation with which she is being crowned by the hand of Time. She is surrounded by her attendants, the Useful Crafts: Weaving, with her distaff; Glasswork, holding carefully a delicate example of her skill; Jewelry, a beautiful youth severely garbed, bearing an ornate casket; Pottery, with a finished vase upon her knee; Smithery, carrying in his strong arm a piece of armor; and Printing, cherishing in both hands a beautiful clasped book. The panel has a fine Olympian dignity and an ornateness that becomes simplicity through grace of handling, and does not mar the correct mural flatness of surface. In spite of the gracefully composed grouping each figure has individual, almost statuesque, distinction. The treatment of the draperies is interesting.