World's Columbian Exposition Watercolor Prints, 1893

This collection contains prints of 17 watercolor paintings depicting scenes from Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair before or during construction and during the fair. All but two prints are signed by 13 different artists.

The 1893 World’s Fair was held in Chicago, IL and honored the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s expedition to the Americas through its theme as the World’s Columbian Exposition. The fair took place from May 1st to October 30th, 1893, and its grounds spanned nearly 600 acres across Chicago’s Jackson Park and featured 65,000 exhibits in total. Nicknamed “The White City” for the numerous white buildings that were illuminated in the night by General Electric, the fairgrounds were a site to display classical architectural styles as well as scientific innovations that were still new to most American audiences such as the Ferris Wheel and electricity. The fair also featured cultural exhibitions, such as the Indian Villages and the African Village, that were directed by fair officials and entrepreneurs for the purpose of exposing Americans to “exotic” people and culture. The states and territories of the United States were represented with their own State Buildings and 18 Foreign Buildings represented other countries.

All but two prints have been identified as likely being sourced from the publication World’s Columbian Exposition. The book of the builders; being the chronicle of the origin and plan of the World’s Fair by Daniel Hudson Burnham and Francis Davis Millet and published in 1894. Each print has a written description of its scene/place and measure from 19 X 35 cm up to 27 x 37 cm. Four prints depict scenes during the construction process of the site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, they display both empty landscapes prior to beginning construction as well as scenes of laborers working to construct the fairgrounds. The remaining prints depict scenes and artwork during the fair’s run. The subject of many of the prints are the buildings and architectural features of the fair grounds including the California and South Dakota State Buildings and the Caravelo la Rabrida Convent. There are also prints of murals and statues displayed at the fair such as the panel decoration “The Manufacture of Glass” in the N.E. Pair Lion Building and the Statue of the Republic. One depicts a scene of laborers erecting a statue at the Agricultural Building. There are also scenes of fair spectators and participants in varying cultural dress in pedestrian spaces and one print depicts an Egyptian wedding procession preformed through the fairground’s streets.

The provenance of this collection is unknown and was acquired prior to January 2012. The watercolors were previously housed within the Illinois and U.S. Graphics Collection.