The Spirit of Spanish Music explained

The Spirit of Spanish Music is a sculpture byBurt William Johnson (25 April 1890—27 March 1927[1]).It was commissioned by the Pomona College class of 1915[2] andplaced in the Lebus Court of the Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music at Pomona College, one of agroup of buildings conceived for the expansion of Pomona College and built in the mid-1910s byarchitect Myron Hunt using details of the "ornamental Spanish style".[3] [4] This style, and the fact that the building where it stands was intendedfor the study and performance of music, give the sculpture its name.(Other names for the sculpture sometimes are seen in various sources, including Pastoral Flutist[5] and Youth[6]).

The figure itself, a boy in "classic contrapposto stance"playing an elongated flute, was influenced by the 15th century Florentine sculptor Desiderio da Settignano[7] It reflects the overall "Arcadian" theme Hunt intended for Pomona's south campus.

The sculpture's harmony with the building surrounding its courtyard settingwas described in 1921 as "happily eloquent of the spirit of the place"."The pose is exquisite," reports another journal of the period,"and the design peculiarly appropriate to the Spanish architecture of the beautifultemple of music it is to adorn."[8] In a lecture on the occasion of the Centennial in 2015 of the statue and the building,art historian George Gorse labels the setting "A Pastoral Theatre", and characterizesthe sculpture as "Vergilian 'Arcadia' . . . absolutely Vergilian."[7]

The sculpture was cast in bronze by the Gorham Company in Providence, R.I. It is life-size, approximately 137 cm (54 in.) in height. Before being delivered to Claremont and installed inLebus Court, it was exhibited by the Gorham Company at their gallery on Fifth Avenue in New York, and at the Winter Exhibition at the National Academy.

After part of the fountain collapsed, the statue was removed in early 2015 while repairs were made.Before its return on 14 August 2015, The Spirit of Spanish Music was restored by conservator Donna Williams, including the repair of the boy's broken flute.[9] [10]

See also

Further reading

34.0969°N -117.7138°W

Notes and References

  1. Moore, Nancy Dustin Wall. Dictionary of Art and Artists in Southern California Before 1930. Los Angeles: Privately printed, 1975, p.130
  2. Web site: 1915 Pomona College timeline. 29 September 2017. 12 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150312080752/http://www.pomona.edu/timeline/1910s/1915.aspx. live. www.pomona.edu/
  3. Hunt, Myron, quoted in Elijah Wilson Lyon. The History of Pomona College, 1887-1969. Pomona: The College, 1977, p.151
  4. "The Work of Mr Myron Hunt, F.A.I.A." The Architect and Engineer of California. Volume LIII Number 1, April 1918, p.49 (photograph p.60)
  5. Web site: Pomona College 2015 Campus Master Plan. 29 September 2017. 1 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210801161931/https://www.pomona.edu/sites/default/files/pomona_master_plan.pdf. live. p.13 (photograph, p.8)
  6. Country Life,Volume 41, November 1921, p.69
  7. Gorse, George L. "'Little Bridges', LebusCourt and Rembrandt Hall: A Centennial Celebration. Pomona Faculty Publications and Research, 395,21 September 2015, http://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_fac_pub/395/ ; full lecture viewable athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpyeDrJgwOM - remarks regarding the Spanish Musicsculpture are between timemarks 52:17 and 54:29. Retrieved 29 September 2017
  8. Web site: The Pacific. 1916. 2024-02-04. 2023-11-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20231120214909/https://books.google.com/books?id=6KscAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22burt+Johnson%22+%22blaisdell%22&pg=RA6-PA9. live., Volume LXVI, Number 46, 1916, page 9. Retrieved 29 September 2017
  9. Web site: The Boy With the Flute is Back. Pohl, Frances. 2017-02-27. 2024-02-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20240204221617/http://arthistory.pomona.edu/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi. live.,arthistory.pomona.edu, 17 August 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2017
  10. News: Blackstock, Joe. Local sculptor gets his spot in the limelight again. 16 July 2017. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. 17 June 2016. en. 20 December 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220104417/http://www.dailybulletin.com/general-news/20160617/local-sculptor-gets-his-spot-in-the-limelight-again. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Spirit of Spanish Music".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.