RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
Claude Monet’s paintings at the 1893 World’s Fair
Irises, water lilies, and poppies can be spotted around Chicago this winter, colorful images promoting the exhibition Monet and Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago through June 14, 2021. The show explores Chicago’s early connection to Claude Monet, whose canvases began arriving in this city around the time of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition because of a few visionary collectors. Monet paintings adorned the walls of Bertha and Potter Palmer’s “castle” in Lincoln Park, Martin A. Ryerson’s mansion in Kenwood, and joined the art collection of the Union League Club of Chicago. One hundred and forty years later, [...]
111. Picturesque World’s Fair – A group of Arabs, Turks and Bedouins
A GROUP OF ARABS, TURKS AND BEDOUINS.—If there be a region in the world where caste and race distinctions are forgotten where the religion is the same, it would appear to be in northern Africa, for the people at the Fair from that continent seemed utterly devoid of prejudice as regarded each other. The group here represented should have the addition of some swarthy Nubian chief, to convey a full idea of the good fellowship which prevailed, but, as they sit thus together, they afford a contrast as interesting as it is certainly not very strong. The Turk and [...]
As the Fairgrounds Bern …
CHICAGO, Ill., January 23, 2021 — Our internet service provider has informed us that worldsfairchicago1893.com is obligated to contribute to the meme of the week. Here you go.
Jan. 18, 2021: “Black History and Arts in Chicago” (Hyde Park Book Club online)
The Hyde Park Book Club of the Hyde Park Historical Society will host an online discussion of books relating to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition at their next meeting honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On Monday, January 18, 2021, at 7:30 PM the Club will offer "Black History and Arts in Chicago with Richard Courage and Christopher Robert Reed" and discuss “All the World is Here!” The Black Presence at White City by Christopher Robert Reed, Roots of the Black Chicago Renaissance: New Negro Writers, Artists and Intellectuals, 1983-1930 by Richard Courage and Christopher Robert Reed (University of [...]
This brilliant architect and designer, John Wellborn Root
January 15, 2021, marks the 130th anniversary of the death of architect John Wellborn Root in 1891 at the age of 41. As Consulting Architect to the 1893 World’s Fair with his partner Daniel Burnham, Root’s invaluable contributions are recorded by Harriet Monroe in her chapter “The World’s Columbian Exposition” in John Wellborn Root: A Study of His Life and Work (Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1896), reprinted here. On January 20, 1891, the Committee on Grounds and Buildings of the Exposition adopted the resolution reprinted below (from Johnson, Rossiter, History of the World's Columbian Exposition Held in Chicago in [...]
110. Picturesque World’s Fair – Javanese Sweethearts
JAVANESE SWEETHEARTS.—The flavor of soft sentiment and romance almost civilized which pertained to the village of the gentle Javanese crystallized in one instance very prettily. Never, probably, did two Javanese before make so long a bridal tour as a couple who were at the Fair, for it extended from Chicago to their home in Java. Had they but fallen in love and wedded a little earlier they might have made the journey twice as long, including the round trip. Not very imposing but very pleasant personages were the small couple in whose espousal hundreds of thousands of people felt [...]
Christmas in the Palace of Fine Arts of the 1893 World’s Fair
More than a dozen works of art depicting Christmas themes adorned the halls of the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Edwin H. Blashfield's oil painting Christmas Bells (1891). [Image from Hitchcock, Ripley The Art of the World Illustrated in the Paintings, Statuary, and Architecture of the World's Columbian Exposition. D. Appleton, 1895.] An oil painting titled Christmas Bells (1891) by Edwin H. Blashfield hung on the north wall in Gallery 1 of the United States section. “Three substantial angles ringing the great bronze bells in the church tower are given a good deal [...]
December 24, 1890: An Invitation to all the Nations of the Earth to Exhibit at the World’s Columbian Exposition
One hundred and thirty years ago today, the President of the United States extended an invitation to the nations of the world to come together for a World’s Fair in Chicago. President Benjamin Harrison. [Image from Campbell, James B. Campbell's Illustrated History of the World's Columbian Exposition, Volume I. M. Juul & Co., 1894.] December 24, 1890 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation WHEREAS satisfactory proof has been presented to me that provision has been made for adequate grounds and buildings for the uses of the World's Columbian Exposition, and that a [...]
Some Recent Podcasts about the 1893 World’s Fair
Listen up! Several new podcasts discuss a wide variety of interesting topics about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, from the Ferris Wheel to a Beer War. Grab your ear buds and check them out. If you know of other recent 183 World's Fair podcasts, let us know or post a link in the Comments below. Engines of Our Ingenuity 1968 “Vignettes From the Fair” (Dec. 13, 2020) Everything, Ranked “S1E2 - Biscuits+Gravy, Dinos, The 1893 World's Fair” [Note: Adult language!] (Nov. 4, 2020) Windy City Historians “Episode 18 – The Year 1893” (Oct. 29, 2020) Wendy City Podcasts "Episode [...]
Tiffany & Co. Silver Yachting Cup from the 1893 World’s Fair Sells for $62,500
A yachting trophy designed by Tiffany & Company and exhibited in their pavilion at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition sold for $62,500 at Heritage Auctions’ Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu Signature Auction on November 17, 2020. According to Heritage, Ogden Goelet commissioned two cups for the races that would be held during New York Yacht Clubs Annual Cruise in 1892. The following year the cup was on display in the Tiffany Pavilion at the Columbian Exposition along with three other Goelet Cups. They describe the piece: “The urn-form trophy with acid etched victory scene of war ships and [...]