Need Help So I Can Be Good At Art

April 11, 2012 8:02 PM

I'm looking for a list of all (or most) of the paintings exhibited at the 1893 Chicago Worlds' Fair, and have so far come up with nothing. Does such a list exist? And where could I find it?

I'm assuming that this list is a thing, and am trying to do a research project based on this information. Any leads whatsoever would be helpful.

Bonus points for a list of paintings from any other Worlds' Fair (not necessarily American.)
Thanks so much!

posted by DeltaZ113 to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

Revisiting the White City by Carolyn Kinder Carr et al seems to be a catalog from a museum showing of related art in 1993 (National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of American Art). This review of the exhibition by Jessica Holmes Beels in Winterthur Portfolio says that it included about 100 paintings out of 1184 American paintings that were shown at the fair; possibly the book has a more complete list?
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:23 PM on April 11, 2012

According to this page listing sources covering the fair, that book (Revisiting the White City by Carolyn Kinder Carr et al) does contain "a catalog of the original fair exhibition."

Also listed on this page are a few articles about paintings in the Women's Building which might be of interest.

Carr, Carolyn Kinder and Sally Webster. "Mary Cassatt and Mary Fairchild MacMonnies: The Search for Their 1893 Murals." American Art 8:1 (1994): 52-69.
The murals painted by the two artists along with the building in which they were housed celebrated women and their progress. Unfortunately, the two murals, Modern Woman by Cassatt and Primitive Woman by MacMonnies, cannot be found. Feminist scholarship and interest in "The White City" have recently uncovered clues that may lead to their recovery. Photographs of the murals are included.

Garfinkle, Charlene G. "Lucia Fairchild Fuller's 'Lost' Woman's Building Mural." American Art 7: 1 (1993): 2-7.
Up until recently, all of the murals of the Woman's Building were thought to be lost or destroyed. Only one, Fuller's The Women of Plymouth, has been located in New Hampshire. Includes photographs of the mural.

Hutton, John. "Picking Fruit: Mary Cassatt's Modern Woman and the Woman's Building of 1893." Feminist Studies 20: 2 (1994): 318-48.
Although Cassatt's mural, Modern Woman, was derided by critics of the time, their criticisms are testament to the way in which her depiction of women broke boundaries in the late nineteenth century. Her nontraditional use of Eve and Eden imagery has been the subject of contemporary feminist discussion.

posted by LobsterMitten at 8:36 PM on April 11, 2012

That same site has bibliographies (of publications 1994-2000) for other world's fairs too.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:49 PM on April 11, 2012

It might also be in this catalog on Google Books. It's hard to tell if all of the volumes are scanned though.
posted by interplanetjanet at 5:38 AM on April 12, 2012

Here, from the Art Institute of Chicago: Paintings, Sculptures and Other Objects Exhibited during the World's Congress
posted by Jason and Laszlo at 5:49 AM on April 12, 2012

I wonder if you contact the Museum of Science and Industry (which was the fireproof Palace of Fine Arts), if they would have a list. They do have a small number of World's Fair artifacts on display. Also, maybe try the Chicago History Museum.
This documentary doesn't have an exhaustive list, but the chapter on the Palace of Fine Arts shows many pictures of paintings and sculptures.
I'd love to see a list if you are able to find it. Good luck!
posted by Hop123 at 4:45 PM on April 12, 2012

There is a 606-page dissertation written by Elizabeth Broun from 1976 called “American Paintings and Sculpture in the Fine Arts Building of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893” that examines the 1,100 contributions of American paintings and sculptures there. (Apparently, the “World’s Columbian Exposition” is another name for that World’s Fair.) I'm not sure if it would have a list. An abstract or description of this dissertation can be found in the database “ArtBibliographies Modern (ABM)” and may also be available in other databases.

This dissertation is listed on Google Books (although the text cannot be accessed). It is available at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as well as some libraries, which are listed on WorldCat at http://www.worldcat.org/title/american-paintings-and-sculpture-in-the-fine-arts-building-of-the-worlds-columbian-exposition-chicago-1893/oclc/144603387 (follow the “Find in a library” link on Google Books and enter your zip code). If you have access to a college or university, you may be able to request it via Interlibrary Loan.

Good luck with your research!
posted by LIS652 at 11:39 AM on April 13, 2012