East Asian Art in the Wake of the Vienna World’s Fair of 1873

The Vienna World’s Fair of 1873 surpassed its London and Paris predecessors not just in size and ambition, but also in its determination to include countries of Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The spectacular Chinese and Japanese galleries were greeted by the Viennese public with particular enthusiasm. No such sizeable and comprehensive display of East Asian art, crafts, and products of industry had ever been shown in Europe before. This book gives an insight into the Chinese and Japanese displays at the Vienna World’s Fair. It traces the far-reaching impact the exhibitions had on practices of collecting East Asian art, and investigates the networks of collectors and the fate of collections in and beyond the Austro- Hungarian Empire.