'Time' Marches On
A sweet near-miracle has taken place in Washington Park in recent years: the restoration of Lorado Taft's stellar Fountain of Time monument near 60th and Cottage Grove, just beyond the western edge of the Midway Plaisance. Built in 1922, the 102-ft long concrete sculpture depicts a procession of humanity marching before the unblinking eye of Father Time. The sculptor even cast himself as one of the figures. Taft orignally planned this work in granite. Architect John Vinci told me years ago that Taft considered bronze. But concrete was cheaper--a shame when you see the amount of detail Taft envisioned, judging by his plaster casts. Fountain of Time has an unbuilt companion piece, Fountain of Creation, planned for the eastern edge of the Midway. Here's another view of the model.
For decades, Fountain of Time looked like hell, to put it plainly. The concrete was soiled and pitted; the features hard to read; and the Howard Van Doren Shaw-designed reflecting basin--the cloaked figure of Father Time gazes across the basin--was dry and barren. The restoration led by sculptor Andrzej Dajnowski and a team of conservators brought back the subtlety and power of Taft's work. In my photo above, look at the muscularity in the man's arm or the bridge of the woman's nose. These details had seemed long lost until now. I heard word the basin, now restored, would be filled with water again. I'll return with color photos once that happens.(photo by Lee Bey)
