These grand exhibitions featured pavilions showcasing art, industry, technology, manufacturing, and more. Though visitors expected to encounter a variety of displays, world’s fairs were especially important venues for the presentation and development of decorative arts. To prepare for a fair, artists and designers selected their newest and most innovative creations for presentation. Elaborate displays immersed the viewer in the finest artistic triumphs of the day. Some exhibitors, like Louis C. Tiffany’s companies, showed their own wares, while others, like German-French art dealer Siegfried Bing (1838–1905), exhibited curated installations of inspiring decorative arts and design. Fair Views recreates such a curated display with important examples of furniture, textiles, pottery, glass, and objets d’art from the turn of the twentieth century. Some objects on view were displayed at various world’s fairs and exhibitions and are denoted with hand-lettered cards.
Vignette: Fair Views
Ongoing
Bringing together exhibitors from across the globe, world’s fairs were an international tradition intended to highlight the achievements of participating nations.
Resources:
Covered jar, before 1900
Enameled copper
Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, New York City, 1892–1902
Marks: S1161
H. 6 1/2 in; D. 7 in.
(2022-015:8)