The Fountain

The initial inspiration for The Fountain came from experiencing the wonderful 17th century Italian fountain located in the North Vista on the grounds of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. During my 25-year tenure there I was privileged to see the fountain often, even photographing it for the Art Museum collection during an early morning fog.

Comparing the Huntington fountain with my painting one can readily see many similarities and differences. For example, both have multiple tiers, large fish-like creatures supporting the main basin, and a stylized leaf form capping the pinnacle. In the painting I have added human figures that ride the fish, replaced the second tier structure with a man and a woman who hold basins, and placed an infant atop the pinnacle joyfully riding a stream of water.

My intent in The Fountain was not to paint a realistic depiction of the Huntington fountain. It was rather to alter it so as to creatively explore the theme of the renewal of life as it relates to the birth/life/death cycle. I selected a fountain as the primary object in the painting because fountains symbolize those ideas. The constant flow of water in a fountain represents the flow of life, and a fountain, which can be thought of as a "fountain of youth", is a potent symbol about the vibrancy of life coupled with the dread of old age and death.

The Fountain contains additional references to the renewal of life. Most notable is the pregnant woman on the second tier of the fountain. Below her three adolescent boys celebrate her pregnancy by blowing their golden horns. The sound of the horns also serves to announce the dawning of a new day. This renewal of the day is depicted by a sun rising behind a range of mountains, casting its light and glorious rays in a dramatic fan array in the sky above. The sun and its rays of light can also be seen at the bottom of the picture reflected in the tranquil waters of a lake nestled between the mountains.

In general terms The Fountain depicts a fantastical scene of a fountain floating in the sky. It hovers above an idealized landscape and is backlit by the sun's stylized rays of light. Near the top of the fountain a yellow half-domed lamp illuminates the scene. It is positioned at the center of a large circular mandala shaped structure. Its shape and the twelve radiating arms of an interlacing endless knot reference a clock and thereby symbolize both time and the inextricable entanglement we all have with time, life and the world.

With its intense blue sky and light-filled, airy space, The Fountain is an atmospheric piece. This, combined with the paintings general theme of life's renewal and the life affirming imagery, creates an optimistic and joyful work. The renewal of life is a glorious and wondrous process.

- Brian Mains, September 2021