About This Print
One of a number of prints designed by Chikanobu showing the Second National Industrial Exhibition, many of which were bird's eye views of the whole compound or panoramas of the grand plaza area. [Also see this collection's print IHL Cat. #1222.] This print is set in the courtyard in front of the Art Museum in Ueno Park, built by the British Architect Josiah Conder (1852-1890) in 1881. People are shown in a mixture of traditional and western style attire strolling in the front courtyard and around the Shōjō Fountain.1 A number of prints with similar compositions were created by other artists, such as the print pictured below by Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842–1894).The First National Industrial Exhibition was held in 1877 and attracted nearly half a million visitors. The Second National Industrial Exhibition was even larger and open to the public on March 1, 1881. Such fairs followed European and American examples where the newest manufactures from Japan and abroad could be displayed.
The Art Museum
Source: “Styling Japan: The Case of Josiah Conder and the Museum at Ueno, Tokyo,” Alice Y. Tseng, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Dec., 2004), p. 472.In 1881, as visitors to the Second National Industrial Exhibition in Tokyo proceeded along the central axis of the fairgrounds in Ueno Park, they were ultimately confronted by a monumental building. In one of the printed guides to the exhibition, they read the following description of this prominent visual marker: “The art gallery is the brick building standing in the center of the grounds behind the middle gate. Its height is over 45 shaku [45 feet], its length is over 354 shaku [352 feet], and it covers over 724 tsubo [25,700 square feet]. Twin round towers add to the impressive height and beauty of the façade. This structure was built to the design of a professor at the Imperial College of Engineering, the Englishman Mr. Conder…The solidity of this building is for sure matched by no other [in Japan].” The publication also informed visitors that after the exhibition closed, the building would become the permanent home of the national museum collection, its debut here being a preview of its long-term function.
Reference Images
at the Second National Industrial Exposition
Hiroshige III, April 1881
PowerPoint Presentation Notes from 1-31-2017 Presentation
Illustration of the Second National Industrial Exposition in Ueno Park, 1881 This print is set in the courtyard infront of the Art Museum in Ueno Park, built by the British Architect JosiahConder (1852-1890) forthe exhibition.As visitors proceededalongthe central axis of the fairgrounds, they were confronted by a monumentalbuilding. A description from a printed guide to the exhibition states: “The artgallery is the brick building standing in the center of the grounds behind themiddle gate. Its height is over 45 shaku [45 feet], its length is over 354shaku [352 feet], and it covers over 724 tsubo [25,700 square feet]. Twin roundtowers add to the impressive height and beauty of the façade. This structurewas built to the design of a professor at the Imperial College of Engineering,the Englishman Mr. Conder…The solidity of this building is for sure matched byno other.”
Most prints of the 2nd National Industrial Exposition featuredthe English architect Josiah Conder’s art museum, a prime example of thesuccessful implementation of European technology using Japanese workers andcraftsmen. While a printed guide to theexposition noted ”the solidity of this building,” it was to be turned to rubbleby the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
Print Details
IHL Catalog #105 Title or Description Illustration of the Second National Industrial Exposition at Ueno Park
Ueno hakurankai no zu 上野博覧会之図Series Artist Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912) Signature Seal Publication Date 1881 Publisher
right side: publisher's name followed by address 出版人 浅野栄蔵
left side: artist's birth name followed by address 画工 橋本直義Impression excellent Colors excellent Condition good – panels pasted together, album backing, vertical fold next to the left seam, five worm tracks (1/2 inch) on the sky. Genre ukiyo-e; kaika-e Miscellaneous Format vertical oban triptych H x W Paper 13 3/4 x 28 in. (34.9 x 71.1 cm) Literature Collections This Print Edo-Tokyo Museum 90209699, 700, 701
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