Saturday, July 27, 2024
One-Shot Wonders: The Naval Exhibit, 1893
Here's a cover from the Chicago Inter-Ocean's Illustrated Supplement, the first newspaper to print in four colour on a high-speed newspaper press. The Inter-Ocean invested in this marvel of technology in honour of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition, sort of a precursor to the World's Fairs of the 20th century. Until the exhibition opened, many of the Illustrated Supplement covers offered humorous or editorial cartoons, but once the exhibition opened the favorite subjects were scenes from the event.
This particular issue from May 28 1893 offers an array of vignettes from the Naval Exhibit. The main attraction was the U.S.S. Illinois, a mockup full size battleship constructed on site.
This cover is unusual in that Jules Gaspard and Williamson (possibly W.G. Williamson) usually worked alone on these realistic Exposition scenes, but here they share credit. The two artists draw so realistically and without stylistic flourish that when they don't sign I would not hazard a guess as to which of them is responsible for what here.
Labels: One-Shot Wonders
