The Artist 



site was created by Mr. Olmsted ; in dis- 

 posing it he determined the grouping of 

 the chief buildings ; and the result of his 

 and our architects' skill is a Fair which is 

 not only comparable to the great Parisian 

 one of 1889, and not only equal to it, but 

 greatly superior. 



Its excellence, moreover, has not been 

 achieved by the imitation or even the adap- 

 tation of any precedent, but upon entirely 

 new and original lines. Man had here to 

 conquer Nature in one of her most recalci- 

 trant moods — to undo her work, controvert 

 her intentions, and produce something for 

 which, in an artistic sense, she had not pre- 

 pared. But, having conquered her, the 

 result is more admirable as v^^ell as more 

 individual than has been any analogous re- 

 sult won by a less desperate struggle. It 

 seems a miracle that an architectural pano- 

 rama of such size and splendor can have 

 sprung into life in the short space of two 

 years, and it is impossible to think that 

 another spectacle of equal beauty will be 

 created in our lifetime ; for in no other 

 city will the designers of an exhibition 



355 



