The most admired and the most criticized of the sculpture at the 1893 World’s Fair

Daniel Chester French’s Statue of the Republic … “was the most admired and the most criticized of the sculpture at the World’s Fair—admired because of its magnificent proportions and criticized by many artists because they claimed to see nothing artistic in a female figure with both arms raised. Its fate as a work of art was sealed when some unkind critic saw in the rear elevation of the figure the semblance of a washerwoman hanging out clothes.” Ouch. [...]

By |2024-02-21T15:52:49-06:00February 21st, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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149. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Statue of Plenty

THE STATUE OF " PLENTY."—The pieces of statuary which stood beside the portals of the great buildings or bridge approaches, or on pedestals overlooking the Grand Basin and canals and lagoons, had all definite names fitted to the idea of their conception. What Kemeys and Proctor did with wild animals Potter and French did with domestic ones, introducing them in statuary with fine effect. The Statue of " Plenty " was well conceived in the female figure leaning carelessly [...]

By |2023-03-09T17:41:36-06:00March 10th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Death of the Republic: The fiery end to the golden colossus of the 1893 World’s Fair

They toppled the Republic at dawn on August 28, 1896. As the first rays of the sun spread across Lake Michigan and into Jackson Park, a funeral pyre lit inside the colossus began to spread up the structure. A flash of light soon appeared in her raised left arm. On a pedestal in the lagoon, the ghostly goddess stood with impassive dignity as muffled cracking within her heralded impending doom. A halo of yellow light formed about her head, [...]

By |2022-12-09T11:20:09-06:00August 28th, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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1893 World’s Fair Replicas in Chicago Parks

The Chicago Public Library Blog post "World’s Fair Replicas in Chicago Parks" offers a brief review of four replica sculptures from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition that can be seen today in various Chicago Parks. These include Daniel Chester French's Statue of the Republic (1918 replica) in Jackson Park, George Wade's Fountain Girl (2012 replica) in Lincoln Park, and Edward Kemey's Prairie King and Sound of the Whoop bison (1911 replicas). Other statues from the 1893 World's Fair grace [...]

By |2021-04-02T11:12:23-05:00March 13th, 2021|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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Chicago Statues from the 1893 World’s Fair Under Scrutiny

The City of Chicago has announced the beginning of a process to review forty-one statues, monuments, murals, and plaques in the city that have been “identified for public discussion.” The list includes four statues that have a direct connection to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago: The Republic by Daniel Chester French https://chicagomonuments.org/monuments/the-republic This 1918 smaller replica of the original 1893 Statue of the Republic by Daniel Chester French is an enduring icon of the World’s Fair in [...]

By |2021-04-02T11:14:54-05:00February 21st, 2021|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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Echoes of the White City Part 3: “Fourteen Villages and a Jail”

Entering Battery D Armory, visitors to “Echoes of the White City” faced a replica in miniature of one of the greatest attractions of the 1893 World’s Fair

By |2022-12-10T10:10:12-06:00November 20th, 2019|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment
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New Biography of Daniel Chester French

Today we’re celebrating the birthday of Daniel Chester French, born on April 20, 1850, and sculptor of The Statue of the Republic and other works for the 1893 World’s Fair. Author's Voice “Virtual Book Signing” video series recently posted the latest episode of “A House Divided” (Season 3, Episode 2). Host Harold Holzer of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop interviews author Dan Weinberg on his new biography of the sculptor, titled Monument Man: The Life & Art of Daniel Chester [...]

By |2019-04-19T16:02:06-05:00April 20th, 2019|Categories: NEWS|Tags: , |0 Comments
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THE LADY OF THE LAKE by Julian Hawthorne Part I: Sculpture in the Grand Basin

Julian Hawthorne (June 22, 1846 – July 21, 1934) was the only son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and himself a journalist and author. Julian Hawthorne’s biographer notes that “as an author, he far exceeded the literary production of his famous father, composing no less than twenty-six novels and romances, over sixty short stories, almost a hundred essays, and several lengthy works of history, biography, and autobiography.” [Bassan, Maurice Hawthorne’s Son: The Life and Literary Career of Julian Hawthorne. Ohio [...]

By |2019-02-03T10:31:16-06:00February 2nd, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |2 Comments
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Wishing our readers a plentiful Thanksgiving!

THE STATUE OF "PLENTY" from Picturesque World's Fair (W. B. Conkey, 1894). The pieces of statuary which stood beside the portals of the great buildings or bridge approaches, or on pedestals overlooking the Grand Basin and canals and lagoons, had all definite names fitted to the idea of their conception. What Kemeys and Proctor did with wild animals Potter and French did with domestic ones, introducing them in statuary with fine effect. The Statue of "Plenty" was well conceived in [...]

By |2018-03-11T10:15:43-05:00November 23rd, 2017|Categories: NEWS, REPRINTS|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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