The Electric Light

J. Carroll Beckwith's architectural study for the World's Columbian Exposition depicts a classical female figure as personification of electric light, a marvel of modern technology. The composition employs careful geometric construction—visible in the underlying grid and perspective lines—to position the allegorical figure triumphantly above a spherical light source. Rendered in ink with cross-hatching for volume, the drawing demonstrates the academic training that shaped American Beaux-Arts sculpture and public monuments during the Gilded Age. The study reflects how architects and artists translated industrial progress into elevated artistic and symbolic form for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.