Horace Spencer Fiske’s odes to Daniel Chester French’s Columbian Exposition sculptures

The great sculptural works of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition have been memorialized in photographs, paintings, and prose. Poetry, too, honors some of the famous sculptures from the Fair. Horace Spencer Fiske (1859–1940) taught English at Beloit College and Wisconsin State Normal School before a long career on the faculty and administration of the University of Chicago beginning in 1894. He stablished the John Billings Fiske Prize in Poetry (in honor of his father) for University students in 1919 [...]

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 [...]

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

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

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 [...]

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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