The French are generally acknowledged to have been the leaders in organizing
exhibitions in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and the idea of an
international exhibition was current in France in the 1840s. Then came Prince Albert's lightning
attack: the Great Exhibition was organized
in 1850, and for the first time invitations
to exhibit really were dispatched worldwide. Its legendary success effectively
raised the stakes in the exhibition game, setting in motion a huge and
interationally competitive schedule of shows that would continue until the
present day, although the fifty years between 1851 and 1900 must be accounted something of a golden
age. The following is a mere selection: | | 1851 London, Great Exhibition of the Works of
Industry of All Nations -- The floor area of the Crystal Palace was almost
exactly the same as that of the the recent Millennium Dome.
1853 Dublin, Great Industrial Exhibition
1853/4 New York, Exhibition of the Industry
of All Nations
1855 Paris, Exposition
Universelle des Beaux-Arts
1862 London,
International Exhibition -- This was larger and attracted more people than the
1851 exhibition, but is now largely unremembered. The building in South
Kensington (where the Natural History Museum is today) was undistinguished.
Described as a 'shed', it seems to have been the ancestor of today's out-of-town
DIY stores.
1867 Paris, Exposition
Universelle
1871 London, First Annual
International Exhibition -- This event continued for some years.
1873 Vienna, Weltausstellung 1873 -- Held on
the Prater, later to become a fairground (and backdrop for the film The Third
Man). For the first, but not the last, time there is a huge dome.
1876 Philadelphia, United States Centennial
International Exhibition
1878 Paris,
Exposition Universelle
1879 Sydney
International Exhibition
1880/81
Melbourne International Exhibition
1885
Antwerp, Exposition Universelle d'Anvers
1889 Paris -- Centennial of the French
Revolution. The Eiffel Tower was built for this show, despite protests from
intellectuals and others. Facilities included an automatic photo portrait booth.
1891 Prague, Jubilee Exhibition
1893 Chicago, World's Columbian Exposition --
Included a giant Ferris wheel accommodating 1440 passengers, and an early
cinema.
1895First Venice Biennale -- exposition mechanics
of 'national pavilions' etc adapted to a specifically arts show.
1900 Paris, Exposition Universelle -- A
surprising statistic: 17% of the people attending brought portable cameras.
1901 Buffalo, Pan-American Exposition
1901 Glasgow, Glasgow International
Exposition
1902 Turin, Exposizione
Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna
1915 San Francisco, Panama-Pacific
International Exposition |
Unlike the Great Exhibition, many of
these shows did include paintings. And there is little doubt that they helped to
form public taste. However, a gradual slide towards the theme park is
noticeable.
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