''The Spirit of Spanish Music'' is a sculpture by

Burt William Johnson Burt William Johnson (April 25, 1890 – March 27, 1927)Moore, Nancy Dustin Wall. ''Dictionary of Art and Artists in Southern California Before 1930''. Los Angeles: Privately printed, 1975, p.130 was an American sculptor. Biography Johnson was b ...

(25 April 1890—27 March 1927). It was commissioned by the

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...

class of 1915 www.pomona.edu/ and placed in the Lebus Court of the Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music at

, one of a group of buildings conceived for the expansion of Pomona College and built in the mid-1910s by architect

Myron Hunt Myron Hubbard Hunt (February 27, 1868 – May 26, 1952) was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California and Evanston, Illinois. Hunt was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Archi ...

using details of the "ornamental Spanish style". This style, and the fact that the building where it stands was intended for 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'' p.13 (photograph, p.8) and ''Youth''''Country Life'', Volume 41, November 1921, p.69). The figure itself, a boy in "classic contrapposto stance" playing an elongated flute, was influenced by the 15th century Florentine sculptor Desiderio da SettignanoGorse, George L. "'Little Bridges', Lebus Court 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 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpyeDrJgwOM - remarks regarding the ''Spanish Music'' sculpture are between timemarks 52:17 and 54:29. Retrieved 29 September 2017 It reflects the overall "Arcadian" theme Hunt intended for Pomona's south campus. The sculpture's harmony with the building surrounding its courtyard setting was 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 beautiful temple of music it is to adorn.", Volume LXVI, Number 46, 1916, page 9. Retrieved 29 September 2017 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 characterizes the sculpture as "Vergilian 'Arcadia' . . . absolutely Vergilian." 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 in Lebus 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 A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the hu ...

. 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., arthistory.pomona.edu, 17 August 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2017

Gallery

File:Johnson spanish music 1916 1.jpg, The sculpture and fountain after the 2015 restoration File:Johnson spanish music 1916 2.jpg, Close-up of the sculpture File:Johnson spanish music 1916 4.jpg, View looking into the court File:Johnson spanish music 1916 inscriptions.jpg, Inscriptions on the pedestal File:Johnson burt spanish music 1916 5.jpg, A small group of women and men view the sculpture, File:spanish music 1916-02-10 1.jpg, Studio snapshot of plaster working model of the sculpture

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading