Home -> Paul Elder - > The Sculpture and Mural Decorations of the Exposition - Water

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Water
Fountain Motive, Court of Ages

Water

As the Earth panels are luxuriant, teeming with a sense of plentitude, and the Fire panels are moving with the grace of rising smoke, those that represent the phases of Water are moist and lush. In the one here shown, "The Fountain," people have come through the damp grasses, bearing their bright vessels to fill them with water that flows downward from a spring in a long, fine, curving bow. The beautiful grouping, the pose of the figures and the graceful lines of the vessels are unforgettable. The air is fluid; great white clouds stretch across the sky, which has the same liquid beauty as the water in the background. Water-birds and dewy flowers add life and color. The grateful use of water for man's thirst is beautifully told. In the other water panel, "The Net," hardy fishermen, standing in the water-reeds and blossoming flag-lilies, haul in the last catch of the brightly dying day. Others bear on their heads baskets heavy with the success of earlier castings. Heavy sea-clouds are tinted by the late afternoon sunshine.

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