Fine arts versus decorative arts: the categorization of Japanese arts at the international expositions in Vienna (1873), Paris (1878) and Chicago (1893)

Abstract

One of the great intellectual conceits of the Western world in the nineteenth century was the invention of an artistic hierarchy, with the ‘fine arts’ considered more important than the ‘decorative arts’. This article investigates how the Western preoccupation with ‘fine arts’ affected the manner in which the Meiji period (1868–1912) Japanese government exhibited its nation's rich tradition of arts at international expositions. Expositions were the great arenas for industrial and cultural competition. The categorization of many of Japan's art forms as ‘manufactures’ at expositions turned what was an academic distinction into a political and diplomatic issue. Historically there was no distinction between fine arts and decorative arts, with no words in the Japanese language to express such a distinction. However, the categorization raised the fear that Japanese civilization would be considered second rate when compared with the West. This article focuses on this issue at the international expositions in Vienna in 1873, where the position was first encountered, in Paris in 1878 where it came to a head and in Chicago in 1893 where it seemed a resolution had been reached in securing international acceptance of Japanese ‘decorative’ arts as fine arts.