Studio: international art (72.1918)

THE STUDIO

RECENT DECORATIVE WORK OF
FRANK BRANGWYN, A.R.A. BY
ARTHUR FINCH.

I. MURAL PAINTINGS IN THE PANAMA-
PACIFIC EXPOSITION.

BY that section of the British public—
alas, all too few !—who have learned
to enjoy the simplicity and breadth
of design evidenced in the decorative
compositions of Frank Brangwyn, it should be
a cause for regret that his greatest effort was
commissioned for the United States of America.

What England lost, however, the world, in
this instance, gained. The choice of this artist
for the decoration of the ambulatory in the
Court of the Ages, officially designated “ The
Court of Abundance,” the most beautiful and
harmonious architectural work in the Panama-
Pacific International Exposition, was, indeed, a
happy one, and points to the fine discernment
of Mr. Jules Guerin, the Director of Colour,
with whom rested the selection of the band
°f mural painters to decorate the Exposition
Courts.

The fortunate choice of the Exposition
authorites, so far as the decoration of the
arcades of the Court of Ages was concerned,
was eclipsed by the affinity between the archi-
tect, Mr. Louis Mullgardt, and the artist. To
understand the symbolism underlying Brang-
wyn’s eight masterpieces, and harmony of
colour in relation to the Exposition itself, I
can do no better than relate the main ideas
which the gifted architect sought to express.
A combination of many architectural styles,
it typifies, as it were, the world’s progressive
march from its nebulous state, out of which
came the elementary forces of nature, symbo-
lized in water by a basin, two columns on either
side of the Tower represent Earth and Air,
and Fire is depicted in the braziers and caul-
drons. The upward advances, through the ages,
are seen in decorative motifs on the columns
to represent the movement of the animal
kingdom from its preceding plant life. Then
the Stone Age is indicated by means of pre-
LXXII. No. 295.—October 1917

historic types in nature mounting the arcade,
within which are Brangwyn’s murals set against
an orange ground. Man next plants his feet
on the altar tower, though he is seen engaged
in fierce combat to withstand the onslaughts
of the Powers of Darkness. The blazing torches
above symbolize the Dawn of Understanding,
and in the finials are set chanticleers, to herald
the Dawn of Christianity. Man soars upward
to his goal, represented by the central figure
in the highest part of the tower, embodying,
however ironical it may seem to Europeans,
“ Peace on Earth, goodwill toward Men.” It
is accompanied by Learning and Industry, with
Thought close by; and, near at hand, in the
form of masks are Intelligence and Ignorance.

For an artist of little imaginative power to
have attempted a scheme of mural paintings
on the enormous scale required would have
ended in failure. Success necessitated that the
mural painter, whilst expressing his individu-
ality both in colour and subject, should conform
to the limitations imposed by the medium, so
that the designs would fit in with the archi-
tectural scheme. Frank Brangwyn possessed
to the full these essentials.

The artist’s robust mind sought a more diffi-
cult, yet more vital, theme than the mere
rendering of work, which made possible the
Panama Canal. His large, creative, restless
brain directing the artist’s brush and his colour
vision stopped at nothing less than the repre-
sentation of the dynamic forces of nature in the
four elements—Air, Earth, Fire, and Water,
each symbolized in two panels. In the sub-
limity of the conception, and the powerful
execution, his work finds a worthy place in the
architectural masterpiece of Mullgardt.

To grasp the magnitude of the undertaking,
it is sufficient to say that the pastel drawings,
from which the two colour illustrations are
reproduced, measured, approximately, 4 feet
in length, whilst the completed canvases each
measured 25 feet by 12 feet.

Viewed as the complete expression of a great
and moving idea, the designs are striking in
their simplicity of subject; yet the symbolism

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