Existing comment:
Marketing the "Main Picture": The Art of John Ross Key:
"[T]his Fair presents a variety of vistas. It will please you at the end of a week better than it will please on the first day; and better at the end of a fortnight than at the end of a week."
Visitors to the "Main Picture" of the fairgrounds marveled at the many stunning views that unfolded during even a casual walk. Guidebooks offered itineraries, ranging form a day to two weeks, for navigating the fairground. This fascination with the classically inspired architecture and sculpted landscape generated a market for souvenir pictures, and talented artists traveled to St. Louis to capitalize on the opportunity.
John Ross Key was one of the artists whose paintings of the World's Fair found wide distribution. Key worked with a printing company in Chicago to publish his painting as color prints in special Sunday supplements of the St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat.
Reaching thousands of readers, Key's color prints were often frames to decorate the home. |