The Court of Palms is directly opposite the Palace of Horticulture, between the Education and Liberal Arts Palaces, and adjoins the Court of the Four Seasons. The charming sunken garden and simple pool reflect the colored colonnade, arches and towers with a sense of rest that is a relief and stimulant after walking miles of exhibit halls. Although really nearly two acres in area, the court seems small and intimate. The proportions are good, and the planting particularly fortunate.

The architecture is Renaissance, and is suggestive of the interior courts of the palaces of the Italian nobles. The colonnade columns are Ionic. The high attic story or frieze above the colonnade is remarkably rich, with its orange brown panels garlanded with green and red fruits, and decorated with Caryatid pilasters. It is worthy of study for the way in which architect, sculptor and color director have co-operated. The Italian Towers, terminating the colonnades, are among the finest bits of architectural design in the whole building group. Though only a fraction of the height of the Tower of Jewels, they convey much better the impression of reaching high into the heavens, of aspiration and uplift. They are more satisfying, too, in their combination of architectural forms, and they carry out notably well the delicate but luxuriant color scheme of the court. The unusual repeated pattern which fills the large wall panels of the towers is worthy of attention.

The architect of the court was George W. Kelham.

Sculpture. The only really important statue in the court is that which stands at the opening on the Avenue of Palms-called The End of the Trail. An Indian, bowed at last under the storm, sits astride a dejected horse utter weariness, discouragement, lost hope, expressed in every line of man and animal. Some see in the statue only the abject despair of a horse and rider when the consciousness finally comes that the trail is definitely lost in the wilderness; and it is notable enough as an expression of this tragic theme. But others, remembering the history of the Indian, see here an eloquent and pathetic reminder of a race that has seemingly come to the end of its trail. As a portrayal of this racial tragedy the group is even more remarkable than as an expression of the hopelessness of a lost man and horse.

The statue is hardly in key with its architectural surroundings; but its comparatively isolated position prevents it from seeming an intrusive element in the court. Considered alone it is more individual, more expressive of independent and deep moving thought, than any other sculpture in the grounds. There is far more of real earnestness here than is usual in exposition sculpture. The thing is significant, too, for the native note. It is worthy of serious study as indicating one of the most important tendencies of American sculpture when not tied to the purely decorative. The sculptor was James Earl Fraser.

The minor sculptures in this court consist of the Caryatides by John
Bateman and A. Stirling Calder; the spandrels, by Albert Weinert; "The
Fairy," by Carl Gruppe, which crowns the Italian Towers; and the classic
vases at the portals.

The mural paintings in this court are disappointing. Two are surprisingly poor, considering the high reputation of the artists, and the third is badly placed. The tympanum in the portal at the east side of the court is filled by Charles W. Holloway's panel, The Pursuit of Pleasure. This is a conventional treatment of the subject, in which a number of youths and maidens turn lackadaisically to a winged figure of Pleasure. There is a pleasing lightness of touch, and the bright reds and blues are in keeping with the spirit of the court-but the thing is, somehow, insipid. This panel is more pleasing under illumination. In the opposite portal is Childe Hassam's painting, Fruits and Flowers. This again is a conventional treatment, showing very obviously vegetable and human fruits and flowers. The arrangement is tediously symmetric, the coloring is rather weak, and there is a wooden stiffness about the figures. The panel makes a pleasant spot of color, but is by no means up to the standard of the canvases in Hassam's room in the Palace of Fine Arts.

The panel over the main doorway, at the north end of the court, is by Arthur F. Mathews, and is far superior to the other two, though unfortunately placed in a dark spot. It is called by the artist A Victorious Spirit. The central figure, gorgeously suggesting the Spirit of Enlightment, protects Youth from the discordant elements of life from materialism and brute force, as represented by the rearing horse and militant rider. Youth is attended by the peace-bringing elements of life, by Religion, Philosophy or Education, and the Arts. The symbolism here is sound, the composition and drawing unusually good, and the coloring quite wonderful-especially in the orange-yellow robe of the Spirit. The full deep colors are in sharp contrast with those of most of the Exposition murals.

No one should leave this court without first pausing to enjoy the vista through the north doorway, showing Albert Jaeger's spirited Sacrificial Bulls on the Agriculture and Food Products Palaces, the long colonnade of the Court of the Four Seasons, and the bit of bay and hills beyond.