The Quad at Stanford University is surrounded by a beautiful colonnade. Each arch on the inner Quad is decorated by the most exquisite and intricate frieze work carved of the sandstone to create an almost Moorish effect. This painting is from a photo I took in October 2018 when I was there with Jean for an alumni gathering. I love how you peek through the arches to the classrooms behind.
The master plan for the university was done by famed landscape architect Frederic Law Olmsted, who also laid out Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The quadrangle itself was designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, the firm of Henry Hobson Richardson, considered the greatest architect of his generation, who had died a year prior to the commencement of the building. The yellow sandstone was from a quarry in nearby San Jose. The inner quad was completed between 1887 and 1891 in a style called "Richardson Romanesque," a blend of Romanesque and Mission Revival architecture. The Sutter County Hall of Records (1892) is another example of this style. At Stanford, the style is characterized by rectilinear sandstone buildings joined by covered arcades formed of successive half-circle arches, the latter supported by short columns with decorated capitals. or an alumni gathering.
Juried into the 2022 WASH Open Show "Go with the Flow," August 16-Sep 10 2022. 220218. Watercolor, 14" x 20". (Private collection) |
