Featuring

"Finding Solace" 

Bernard Maybeck envisioned the Palace of Fine Arts 

as an emotionally resonant space—more art 

than architecture. Designed as a reflective contrast 

to the grandeur of the Panama-Pacific International 

Exposition, it was meant to evoke nostalgia, calm, 

and quiet beauty. Maybeck saw it as a 

“decompression chamber” —guiding visitors from 

sadness to solace. He described its mood as “Sadness 

modified by soothing beauty ” likening it to the comfort 

of a mother calming a child’s final sob. 

This will be featured in the Filoli Exhibit the last weekend in July.