Don’t Miss “Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World’s Fair” at The Newberry Library Through December 31, 2018

Chromolithograph poster showing the Ferris Wheel, which debuted at the 1893 World’s Fair, Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World’s Fair, Image Credit: The Newberry Library

“Pictures from an Exposition: Visualizing the 1893 World’s Fair” is free and open to the public and will be on display at the Newberry Library through Dec. 31 at Trienens Galleries.

As the grandest international spectacle in a great age of spectacles, the World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893 captured the public’s imagination through a dazzling array of visual images, from photographs, paintings, and illustrated albums to souvenirs, guidebooks, magazine features, and popular histories. But the allure of the fair depended less on the aesthetics of single objects than upon its status as a total, unified work of art.

Featuring works of art and ephemera from the Newberry’s extensive collection of exposition materials, Pictures from an Exposition explores the fair’s tremendous power of attraction, both at the time of its presentation and through history into the present, for both those who attended and those who experienced it from afar. Opening during the exposition’s 125th anniversary year, the exhibition will pay special attention to the dynamic between fine art and popular imagery, the intertwining of aesthetic and economic imperatives, and the ways in which the exposition’s visual language reflected the important role that images played in late 19th century American history and culture.

Curator-Led Tours
Free, curator-led tours of the exhibition will be offered on the following dates:

Wednesday, October 3, 4 pm
Saturday, November 3, 11:30 am
Tuesday, December 11, 6 pm
The tour groups will gather in the lobby and then move in to the galleries.

We can’t stop thinking about the 1893 World’s Fair, as the Newberry Library’s new exhibit demonstrates, Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 10/17/18

More information at the Newberry Library Website

Chicago’s Historic Newberry Library Unveils New Look, Exhibition, WTTW Chicago, Eddie Arruza, 9/26/18 VIDEO

Newberry Library shows off new renovations, Columbian Exposition exhibit;The historic Gold Coast building is more bright, welcoming, and user-friendly than ever, Jay Koziarz, Curbed Chicago, 9/28/2018

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