AMAZING LITHO COLOR PRINT 1893 CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION #1212

Description

As many of those buying and seling on Ebay, I (and my firm, The History Bank) have been deeply involved with the World's Columbian Exposition for more than four decades. Besides never-ending research and consultation for both collectors and museums re: the fair, I have written two histories, the first commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1993 for the centennial of the fair, published in both a 0 slipcased limited edition and hardcover, then released in softcover in 2002 by the University of Illinois Press.
The U of I Press published my second Columbian book, a history of the Midway Plaisance in 2017. My third book
(Columbian Rarities)
about the fair is scheduled for publication the end of this year. During that time I have written extensively (articles and in our blog, The World's Columbian Journal) and also assisted museums with both exhibition catalogs and curating special exhibits.
Along the way I have been fortunate to have sold some of the rarest collectibles from the fair, as well, including a variety of artwork. The John Kennel Collection, more than 5,000 truly amazing pieces of Columbiana, included this and similar 1893 lithos of original paintings from the fair. It also includes a series of color prints of watercolors printed by the newspaper in editions during the exposition. We will have those for sale later this year. We will also be offering a similarly produced 11x14 print of another fair scene in  the same style and format as this one.
As you can see, this is one of the most outstanding original pieces painted at the 1893 fair; the lithographically reproduced prints were produced in small quantities for sale during the fair. Several outstanding painters from around the world were at the fair, commissioned and on speculation creating wonderful pictures of the exposition. Many were watercolors which seemed well-suited to the subtle colors of the buildings, scenery and people of the fair.
This painting was done by
FELICIEN DE MYRBACH who also created paintings for and exhibited at the 1899 Paris and 1904 St. Louis world's fairs. While the Columbian Expo was chronicled by official and amateur phtographers who gave us literally tens of thousands of views of virtually every aspect of the fair, despite the quality they were still black and white.  Paintings such as this presented a stark contracts in realism to those photographs seemingly transforming the exposition grounds from an architectural wonderland to a lighter, almost floating sea of color. In this painting the artist shows the Golden Door of the Transportation Building and the bright, summery clothing favored by  the millions of those in attendance.
In my first two books about the Expo, budgets for the history and the fact that it was so well illustrated in photographs meant that they were produced primarily utilizing black and white photos;  but both books also featured a carefully selected small number of color images to provide even more realism. As all of the books I have written have been focused on American history, quality and comprehensive black and white photography was a key to success. My forthcoming book will be my firt printed entirely in color, something I could not have envisioned possible financially just a few years ago. Since only a very limited number of paintings were available from the fair, I used a carefully selected and a limited number of color images of ephemera and a handful of paintings in my first two fair books.
We will be offering additional fine lithographs such as this one for sale shortly from the Kennel Collection and from a small number I was quite lucky to acquire some 30 years ago from a friend (an art and antique dealer in Seattle where I live). He had purchased them from an estate many yeasr before that. Those I do not sell imediately will be included in our September sale of exposition material from a dozen world's fair, including rarities from the Columbian Exposition and the 1851 London Crystal Palace, among others.
In just the last two years, in great part to handling the sale of the Kennel Collection, The History Bank has sold well over 5,000 items from the Columbian Exposition. My historical interest in world's fairs in general and the Columbian Exposition in particular, led me to not only researching and writing about the Chicago fair but also to spending 40+ years collecting, buying and selling Columbiana.
If you would like details on the artwork we will be selling or about our September sale and/or the forthcoming Columbian Rarities book, please do not hesitate to conact me. I am always happy to provide answere to any questions about the Columbian Exposition and about materials we are selling.
Please note also that the paragraph description shown here was printed on a separate 11x14-in. paper to accompany the artwork when sold. I am unaware how the pritn and description were packaged and sold in 1893, but we will ensure that they are wrapped together very securely and shipped in heavy material to protect them during transit. the somewhat higher than usual postage/shipping charges reflect these material and the actualy USP cost to send them to the buyer.
Norm Bolotin
The History Bank, Woodinville WA, since 1979