The Driehaus Museum in Chicago will offer an online program on “Chicago Encounters Japan: The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Dr. Janice Katz, the Roger L. Weston Associate Curator of Japanese Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, will present on the history and legacy of Japanese Ho-o-den on the Wooded Island.

Japan’s presence at the exposition of 1893 in Chicago was tactful, inspirational, and enduring. In particular, the Phoenix Hall (Hooden) situated on an island in Jackson Park showed visitors how one could live surrounded by Japanese art through its period rooms. Chicagoans such as Samuel Nickerson and Clarence Buckingham established collections of Japanese art in the wake of the fair that would decide the way Japanese art was presented to the public at Chicago’s museums. In this talk, Dr. Katz explains the many forms of Japanese art available at the fair, the early Japanese art collections formed and exhibited in Chicago, and the legacy of those collections today.

This virtual program will be presented on Zoom starting at 6:30 pm; a recording will be available to view until June 19. Tickets are $15 ($10 for Museum members) and available at https://46316.blackbaudhosting.com/46316/Chicago-Encounters-Japan-The-1893-Worlds-Columbian-Exposition

The Japanese Ho-o-den on the Wooded Island. [Image from Unsere Weltausstellung. Eine Beschreibung der Columbischen Weltausstellung in Chicago, 1893. Fred. Klein Co. 1894.]