Magic City
The Panama-pacific International Exposition of 1915 celebrates its 105th anniversary at Spencer Helfen Fine Arts in Beverly Hills, California
“It was intended to replace in the eyes of the world the image of a destroyed San Francisco.”
Art dealer Spencer Helfen has spent his career collecting art and ephemera celebrating the 1915 Panama-pacific International Exposition of 1915.And, despite all his efforts, there was one thing that continually eluded him: an original poster of the event in good condition.
Now, however, he can check that off the list as one has emerged.the poster, with an image of Hercules ripping open the Culebra Cut to forge the Panama Canal, was created by Perham Wilhelm Nahl in 1913.
“It’s a truly wonderful image of the Greek God spreading apart the Culebra Cut to create the Panama Canal,” says Helfen. “I’ve been looking for an example like this for three decades. We’ve had curators tell us that this one we have for the exhibition is the best they’ve ever seen.they are just so rare and of course highly coveted.”
Nahl depicted the task as the 13th labor of Hercules, a modernist addition to the classical 12.
“Certain of his adventures became known as the ‘Twelve Labors,’” says Helfen.“in Nahl’s image, Hercules is performing his 13th labor, the splitting open of rock to create the navigable canal.the waterway can be seen at the bottom of the image together with a gleaming ‘city’ in the distance, possibly symbolizing the PPIE.”
President William Howard Taft along with Congress passed legislation in 1911 to make San Francisco the host of the World’s Fair.thus, the Panama-pacific International Exposition of 1915 was born.the exposition was named as such to celebrate three things: the opening of the Panama Canal in August of 1914; the 400th anniversary ofvasco Nunez de
Balboa’s 1513 crossing of the Isthmus of Panama, which made him the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean; and San Francisco’s recovery from the
earthquake and fires of 1906, which leveled large swathes of the city. To celebrate the arts of both Europe and America, the city created the Palace of the Fine Arts, which is now the only building of the 1915 exposition that still stands.the art exhibited included examples of European modernism and was, according to Helfen, the West Coast’s version of the groundbreaking 1913 Newyork Armory Show.
The Palace of Fine Arts was designed by architect Bernard Maybeck. “there has been no better rendition of this Beaux-arts edifice than that created by William Howell bull in his 1915 oil painting,” says Helfen. “bull portrayed the venue at night and included stars in the sky as well as the alluring lighting created to enhance the beauty and serenity of this San Francisco landmark. The artwork is an important and historical reminder of the existence over 100 years ago of the magical PPIE.”
American artists included in the original exposition included Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, James Mcneill Whistler, John Sloan, Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham. California artists such as Anna Althea Hills and Isabel Hunter were also represented in the displays.
Helfen has discovered Hills painting, Court of the Italian Building, San Francisco Exposition-1915, to include in this current exhibition.
“She exhibited in the Panamacalifornia Exposition in San Diego in 1915, winning a bronze medal, and also painted scenes of the 1915 Panamapacific International Exposition in San Francisco, which included this graceful and vibrant portrait in oil of the Court of the Italian Building,” says Helfen.