A Fair to Remember
Posts about the history of
the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago
John Singer Sargent at the World’s Columbian Exposition
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) was one of the most talked-about American artists whose works were displayed at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. “Mr. Sargent easily leads the portrait painters,” wrote Ernest Knaufft in his review of art at the Exposition. “We should dislike to pick out any separate example, but taking him in the aggregate, he becomes the ideal painter for painters.” Another contemporary review of the Columbian Exposition [...]
Velasco’s Valleys and Volcanos: Paintings of Mexico at the 1893 World’s Fair
An exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art this summer features the early artistic involvement and influence of Mexican immigrants in Chicago, beginning with the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. Arte Diseño Xicágo: Mexican Inspiration from the World's Columbian Exposition to the Civil Rights Era runs through August 19, 2018, in the Main Gallery. Arte Diseño Xicágo Mexican Inspiration from the World's Columbian Exposition to the Civil Rights [...]
Fireworks over the Grand Basin
"It was something gorgeous and deafening while it lasted, and it lasted an hour. At one time the lake shore for half a mile was fringed with intense magnesium fires, which threw a white, unnatural light over the dense, immovable thousands. When the people looked at the fires the press of humanity had a dark, somber shade. When a rocket went up and the faces were lifted, a sudden [...]
Cephalopod Week Visits the 1893 World’s Fair
“Cephalopod Week” on NPR’s Science Friday celebrates the “amazing, adaptive, and sometimes creepy” family of sea creatures that includes the squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus. Among the wonders of the 1893 Word's Fair lurked several tentacled delights. Armed with sucking disks on its tentacles Visitors to the 1893 World’s Fair could view cephalopods inside Henry Ives Cobb’s beautiful Fisheries Building. Trumball White and William Igleheart’s World's Columbian Exposition Chicago [...]
Opening Day, addendum: Fate of the Key
Fate of the Key This addendum concludes our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. “Electric Button” stereoscope card photograph. [Image (colorized) from the New York Public Library Digital Archive.] An advertisement for Kirk’s American Family Soap, showing Director-General Davis, the Duke of Veragua, and [...]
Opening Day, Part 13: The Greatest Crowd
The Greatest Crowd This is Part 13 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. They saw a beautiful sight When the Opening Day ceremonies were over, visitors had time to look around the fairgrounds. They saw a beautiful sight: a forest of great buildings decorated [...]
Opening Day, Part 12: Tour of the Fairgrounds
Tour of the Fairgrounds This is Part 12 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. After the “Banquet of Nations” luncheon, President Cleveland and his entourage embarked on a whirlwind tour of the Columbian Exposition grounds and buildings. They departed from the north entrance of [...]
Opening Day, Part 11: The Banquet of Nations
The Banquet of Nations This is Part 11 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. Pushing the button that launched the great transformation scene to open the 1893 World’s Fair was not the end of the duties of the President of the United States on [...]
Opening Day, Part 10: The Great Transformation Scene
The Great Transformation Scene This is Part 10 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. As the last words fell from his lips at the conclusion of his short address, President Grover Cleveland placed his finger on the telegraph key. With his hand touching the [...]
Opening Day, Part 9: President Grover Cleveland’s Address
President Grover Cleveland's Address This is Part 9 of our series “Opening Day of the World’s Fair,” which explores the events of May 1, 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The full series can be found here. Scarcely had Director-General George R. Davis finished his address, when President Cleveland slowly arose from his seat. He swept his eyes first over the occupants of the platform and then [...]