Palace of Fine Arts – Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

The Myth of Marble: A Roman Statue of “Minerva” at the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
The Myth of Marble: A Roman Statue of “Minerva” at the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

The Myth of Marble: A Roman Statue of “Minerva” at the 1893 World’s Fair

Chicago is abuzz about “Myth and Marble,” a fabulous new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago running from March 15 to June 29, 2025. On display are fifty-eight magnificent sculptures of gods and goddesses, emperors and funerary monuments. All come from the Torlonia Collection of Rome, one of the world’s finest private collections of Greco-Roman antiquities. The artwork has been out of the public view for most of the past century. Statue of Athena from the Torlonia [...]

By Scott|2025-03-18T13:49:35-05:00March 21st, 2025|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Minerva, Palace of Fine Arts, sculpture, staff, W. D. Richardson|0 Comments

Jackson Park Prints to Support Block Club Chicago
Gallery
Jackson Park Prints to Support Block Club Chicago

NEWS, PRODUCTS

Jackson Park Prints to Support Block Club Chicago

Block Club Chicago—a nonprofit news organization dedicated to delivering reliable, nonpartisan, and essential coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods—has two gorgeous poster prints depicting remnants of the 1893 World’s Fair. The 6-by-20-inch limited-edition prints by Steve Shanabruch print are premiums for donors who purchase, gift, or upgrade a Block Club subscription by December 31, 2024. The poster for Hyde Park shows a lovely vista of the Wooded Island and the original Palace of Fine Arts. The Woodlawn neighborhood poster features [...]

By Scott|2024-12-30T08:29:46-06:00December 30th, 2024|Categories: NEWS, PRODUCTS|Tags: Daniel Chester French, Palace of Fine Arts, Statue of the Republic, Wooded Island|0 Comments

25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair

REPRINTS

25 Impressions of the 1893 World’s Fair

Toward the close of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, The Critic invited twenty-five notable scholars, writers, and leaders of the day to offer their brief impressions of the World’s Fair. At such a monumental event with so many novelties … what impressed them the most? It is interesting how frequently these contributors sing the same notes as they rhapsodize about the fairgrounds at night and the illumination of the Court of Honor, praise (except for Henry Fuller!) [...]

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque
Gallery
The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque

REPRINTS

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque

Continued from Part 1 [Note: This text includes names and descriptions now considered culturally disparaging. Please see our statement on “Potentially Offensive Text and Images.”] THE FAIR AS A SPECTACLE. How it seemed to a visitor—Strolling and dreaming by day and by night. By Charles Mulford Robinson Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque But in that brief view a lesson was also taught you which you took to heart at once. It was that the charm of the [...]

By Scott|2023-07-02T13:10:12-05:00July 1st, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Mulford Robinson, Christopher Columbus (statue by Lawrence), Columbian Guard, Court of Honor, Golden Door, gondolas, Ho-o-den, Japanese Tea House, MacMonnies Fountain, Palace of Fine Arts, rolling chairs, Transportation Building, Woman's Building, Wooded Island|1 Comment

The Making of the White City (Part 2)
Gallery
The Making of the White City (Part 2)

REPRINTS

The Making of the White City (Part 2)

[Continued from Part 1] A great stage decked with ambitious scenery Perhaps the first thing that would strike a stranger entering the World’s Fair grounds in the summer of 1892 would be the silence of the place, the next the almost theatrical unreality of the impression by the sight of an assemblage of buildings so startlingly out of the common in size and form. When I speak of the silence, I mean the effect of silence. There are seven [...]

By Scott|2025-07-23T10:15:53-05:00February 13th, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Agricultural Building, Daniel Burnham, Electricity Building, Fisheries Building, Francis Millet, Frederick Law Olmsted, Golden Door, Henry Codman, Henry Ives Cobb, Horticultural Building, Illinois State Building, illumination, Jenny, Karl Bitter, lagoon, Machinery Hall, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Mines and Mining Building, Palace of Fine Arts, Peabody & Stearns, Philip Martiny, Richard Hunt, Solon S. Beman, staff, Statue of the Republic, telephone, U.S. Government Building, Van Brunt & Howe, William Le Baron Jenney, Woman's Building|0 Comments

Childe Hassam painting of the 1893 World’s Fair sells for $44,000
Gallery
Childe Hassam painting of the 1893 World’s Fair sells for $44,000

ANTIQUES, NEWS

Childe Hassam painting of the 1893 World’s Fair sells for $44,000

American impressionist painter Childe Hassam (1859–1935) created several paintings of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition fairgrounds. He visited Chicago for the first time in 1892 to prepare his works that depicted what the World’s Fair would look like when open the following year. He also exhibited five oil paintings and five watercolors in the Palace of Fine Arts. An original 1893 World’s Fair painting by Hassam sold for $44,000 in the Heritage Auctions American Art Signature Auction #8099 on [...]

By Scott|2025-01-30T08:37:05-06:00November 13th, 2022|Categories: ANTIQUES, NEWS|Tags: Childe Hassam, Illinois State Building, Indiana State Building, Palace of Fine Arts|0 Comments

Singles Night at the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
Singles Night at the 1893 World’s Fair

REPRINTS

Singles Night at the 1893 World’s Fair

In the era before dating apps, how were singles to meet? One Chicagoan in 1893 proposed a special day on the fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition for not-so-young-and-still-unattached visitors. The October 21, 1893, issue of the Chicago Inter Ocean carried the following Letter to the Editor, signed “A. LS.” (presumably one of the “autumn lassies” mentioned in the letter?). Although the Fair held many “special days”—for groups ranging from North Dakotans to Nicaraguans, French Engineers to Fishermen—the author’s [...]

By Scott|2022-10-12T12:11:30-05:00October 30th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Palace of Fine Arts, W.W. Denslow|0 Comments

Did the Art Institute of Chicago lions come from the 1893 World’s Fair? (Pt 2)
Gallery
Did the Art Institute of Chicago lions come from the 1893 World’s Fair? (Pt 2)

HISTORY

Did the Art Institute of Chicago lions come from the 1893 World’s Fair? (Pt 2)

The pair of lion sculptures by Edward Kemeys that stand in front of the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) are not cast from sculptures at the 1893 World’s Fair. This misinformation, which appears to have originated in the late 1980s, now permeates descriptions of these iconic Chicago mascots in institutional, popular, and scholarly sources. A set of sixteen lion sculptures stood at the entrances to the Palace of Fine Arts at the World’s Columbian Exposition (WCE), and numerous contemporary sources credit their authorship to A. Phimister Proctor and Theodore Baur (not Kemeys). More importantly, the designs of Kemeys’ AIC lions clearly do not match any of the WCE lions.

By Scott|2022-07-14T06:22:03-05:00July 14th, 2022|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Alexander Phimister Proctor, Art Institute of Chicago, Charles Hutchinson, Edward Kemeys, Julian Hawthorne, Marshall Field, Palace of Fine Arts, Theodore Baur|2 Comments

Did the Art Institute of Chicago lions come from the 1893 World’s Fair? (Pt 1)
Gallery
Did the Art Institute of Chicago lions come from the 1893 World’s Fair? (Pt 1)

HISTORY

Did the Art Institute of Chicago lions come from the 1893 World’s Fair? (Pt 1)

The pair of lion sculptures by Edward Kemeys that stand in front of the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) are not cast from sculptures at the 1893 World’s Fair. This misinformation, which appears to have originated in the late 1980s, now permeates descriptions of these iconic Chicago mascots in institutional, popular, and scholarly sources. A set of sixteen lion sculptures stood at the entrances to the Palace of Fine Arts at the World’s Columbian Exposition (WCE), and numerous contemporary sources credit their authorship to A. Phimister Proctor and Theodore Baur (not Kemeys). More importantly, the designs of Kemeys’ AIC lions clearly do not match any of the WCE lions.

By Scott|2025-01-30T08:39:03-06:00July 14th, 2022|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Alexander Phimister Proctor, Art Institute of Chicago, Caesar (Statue), Edward Kemeys, Francis Millet, Julian Hawthorne, Moses P. Handy, Palace of Fine Arts, Theodore Baur, W. D. Richardson, W.W. Denslow|1 Comment

137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building
Gallery
137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building

REPRINTS

137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building

NORTH AND WEST FROM THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING.—From the dome of the Government Building the prospect north and west afforded as much variety as could be had from any point of observation of the Fair Grounds, since in other directions the view was either much shorter or was cut off by the huge department structures. The illustration shows the Fisheries in the foreground, the details of the south façade of the main building outlined very clearly at such short distance. [...]

By Randy|2022-04-24T13:28:09-05:00April 24th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Brazil Building, Café de la Marine, California State Building, Fisheries Building, Guatemala Building, Illinois State Building, Merchant Tailors' Building, Michigan State Building, New York State Building, Ohio State Building, Palace of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania State Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Spectatorium, Swedish Building (Sweden), U.S. Government Building, Venezuela Building, Washington State Building, Wooded Island|0 Comments

When Miss Inquisitive Poked Hercules at the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
When Miss Inquisitive Poked Hercules at the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

When Miss Inquisitive Poked Hercules at the 1893 World’s Fair

For six months in 1893, much of the world’s greatest artworks were on exhibit in the Art Place at the World’s Fair in Chicago. Not everyone in town knew how to behave themselves around it. The Palace of Fine Arts by Childe Hassam. Within weeks of the opening of the Columbian Exposition, one oil painting was nearly damaged by an overly enthusiastic visitor to the galleries. Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestes was one [...]

By Scott|2023-04-09T09:01:06-05:00January 25th, 2022|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Palace of Fine Arts|0 Comments

124. Picturesque World’s Fair – State Buildings Looking South
Gallery
124. Picturesque World’s Fair – State Buildings Looking South

REPRINTS

124. Picturesque World’s Fair – State Buildings Looking South

STATE BUILDINGS—LOOKING SOUTH.—The city of State Buildings at the north end of the Fair Grounds afforded many interesting bird's-eye views, of which one of the prettiest is given in the accompanying illustration. The view taken is from an elevated point at the northern extremity of the inclosed area, and very nearly at the center east and west. In the foreground, at the right, appears the log-built chalet of Idaho, beyond which is the Maryland Building, the gable of that [...]

By Randy|2021-08-23T05:12:58-05:00August 23rd, 2021|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Connecticut State Building, Delaware State Building, Guatemala Building, Illinois State Building, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Maryland State Building, Massachusetts State Building, New Jersey State Building, New York State Building, Palace of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania State Building, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Rhode Island State Building, U.S. Government Building, Vermont State Building, Virginia State Building|0 Comments

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 3
Gallery
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 3

HISTORY

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 3

Continued from Part 2 Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in 1880. Charmed with the wonders of the White City As Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi prepared to depart Chicago, he was leaving behind his name with the son of a new friend, and he was leaving behind his statue of Washington and Lafayette with an uncertain future. Although Bartholdi reportedly had planned for only a two-week sojourn in Chicago, he had stayed for three. On the afternoon of Sunday, September 24, [...]

By Scott|2024-08-18T14:50:15-05:00July 7th, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Gorham Manufacturing Company, Palace of Fine Arts|1 Comment

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 2
Gallery
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 2

HISTORY

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s Visit to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Part 2

Continued from Part 1 Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in 1880. “I come to see the American side of the Fair” On September 10, 1893, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and his wife Jeanne-Émilie arrived in Chicago and settled into the Hotel Metropole. This hotel stood on Michigan Avenue at 23rd Street, just south of the tony Prairie Avenue District called home by many of Chicago’s elite citizens, including Marshall Field, George Pullman, Ferdinand ("Ferd") W. Peck, and John Jacob Glessner. [...]

By Scott|2026-02-22T10:01:26-06:00July 6th, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Art Institute of Chicago, Buffalo Bill, Carter Harrison, Columbian Liberty Bell, Eugene Field, Ferd Peck, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, George Washington, Gorham Manufacturing Company, Harry G. Selfridge, Palace of Fine Arts, Philip Armour, Union League Club of Chicago|2 Comments

THIS IS A LOAN from Isabella Stewart Gardner
Gallery
THIS IS A LOAN from Isabella Stewart Gardner

HISTORY

THIS IS A LOAN from Isabella Stewart Gardner

A new Netflix documentary This Is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist reveals the grievous but fascinating story of a 1990 art theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Two paintings from the collection (thankfully not stolen!) were loaned by Mrs. Gardner to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and exhibited in the Palace of Fine Arts. Hanging in the Swedish display in Gallery 70 was Anders Zorn’s Omnibus (1892). Mrs. Gardner purchased this 49 [...]

By Scott|2021-04-25T11:09:28-05:00April 25th, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Harlow Higinbotham, Palace of Fine Arts|0 Comments

Claude Monet’s paintings at the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
Claude Monet’s paintings at the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

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 [...]

By Scott|2021-12-09T04:58:43-06:00January 31st, 2021|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Claude Monet, Palace of Fine Arts|0 Comments

Christmas in the Palace of Fine Arts of the 1893 World’s Fair
Gallery
Christmas in the Palace of Fine Arts of the 1893 World’s Fair

HISTORY

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 [...]

By Scott|2022-12-09T11:19:45-06:00December 25th, 2020|Categories: HISTORY|Tags: Charles S. Reinhart, Edwin Blashfield, J. Alden Weir, Julian Hawthorne, Palace of Fine Arts|0 Comments

“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 15: The Palace of Art
Gallery
“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 15: The Palace of Art

REPRINTS

“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 15: The Palace of Art

Halcyon Days in the Dream City by Mrs. D. C. Taylor Continued from Part 14 What is "Art?" Perhaps we are not qualified to say, but to us, “It” is “Truth.” Not merely truth of detail in drawing; though that is necessary to a finished picture, not merely truth of coloring; though that also, must be had, but truth in its highest sense. When a man stands near to the great heart of all, when he sees the meaning [...]

By Scott|2021-04-02T11:19:43-05:00November 27th, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Palace of Fine Arts|2 Comments

Dec. 2 2020: “Building Chicago’s Public Spaces with Julia Bachrach” (online)
Gallery
Dec. 2 2020: “Building Chicago’s Public Spaces with Julia Bachrach” (online)

EVENTS (past)

Dec. 2 2020: “Building Chicago’s Public Spaces with Julia Bachrach” (online)

The Chicago Public Library, in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Center, will host an online presentation on "Building Chicago’s Public Spaces" by Chicago parks historian Julia Bachrach. The talk on Wednesday, December 2, from 6-7 pm, is free but registration is required: https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/events/5f9c4a02e085ab5c2caf057d Bachrach will highlight two major architectural themes in park history: the Museum of Science and Industry—built as the Palace of Fine Arts for the World’s Columbian Exposition—and the fieldhouse, an influential building type invented in Chicago. She will [...]

By Scott|2023-01-12T20:31:15-06:00November 12th, 2020|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: Charles Atwood, Daniel Burnham, Jackson Park, Palace of Fine Arts|0 Comments

THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 8)
Gallery
THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 8)

REPRINTS

THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 8)

THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)

By Scott|2025-11-14T10:00:50-06:00December 29th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Columbian Liberty Bell, Florida State Building, Forestry Building, Illinois State Building, Krupp Gun, Liberty Bell, Machinery Hall, Massachusetts State Building, Palace of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania State Building|0 Comments