Faces Of Statues In The Rain: Meeting Of The Waters 3

Two days without a post. That's rare for me. New dimensions in overwork (well, not so new) and computer problems. At least the latter issue is solved. We had freezing drizzle most of yesterday so it was time to stay indoors and catch up. 

Another nice piece from the Milles Fountain. The figure looks like she might be squirting shampoo on her hair but it's just a fish. The whole grouping is on river themes. The pipe sticking out of its mouth is a water jet, now off for the winter.  

Faces Of Statues In The Rain: Meeting Of The Waters 1

There is a large group of sculptures across Market Street from Union Station called The Meeting of the Waters. It symbolizes the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and has been on this blog a number of times (here, for example).

This it the main male figure, representing the Mississippi. He looks like he could use a Kleenex. Lots of the faces in this series will look like that.             

Thoroughly Modern Milles

Okay, call the pun police. I'll surrender immediately. It was a long day at work.

Another shot from Carl Milles' The Meeting of The Waters. Milles was an important sculptor of the first half of the Twentieth Century. His specialty was fountains. Our colleague Steffe notes that there is a museum dedicated to his work in Stockholm. The statues in our fountain are both stolid and graceful. I'll go back in a few weeks when the water is turned on.                                

Two Big Rivers

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Another view of The Meeting Of The Waters fountain and statues. The male figure in the center that we saw yesterday represents the Mississippi. The female on the right is the Missouri. I've never thought about the two rivers having gender. The Mississippi is the bigger of the two at the confluence so you can read whatever you want into this.

The confluences itself is in the northern part of the metro area but it's a bit hard to get to. The view can be pretty cool depending on the weather and water level. The park at the meeting point gets flooded every year. Maybe I should head back up there for a shoot.

Meanwhile, Down the Street...

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I took some more good shots at Citygarden over the weekend. We'll get to them. However, on my way downtown yesterday I stopped at Milles Fountain. The work, by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, is called The Meeting of the Waters. It consists of 19 nude bronze figures in two facing groups, male and female. It was originally called Marriage of the Rivers, referring to the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi just north of St. Louis. Well, the statues were nekked and the title had too many conjugal implications for the local blue noses in 1940 so the name had to get changed.

The fountain sits in a plaza opposite Union Station, 10 blocks west of Citygarden. Unlike its new neighbor, it's a bit rundown. The concrete is in some disrepair and I don't think the trash gets picked up as often. Still, the fountain is gorgeous. You have to shoot it in just the right light. This is only a detail but I'll go back.

There is a new Arch photo
today on GATEWAY.
It's about time.