Art Institute of Chicago

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Dualities have defined the history of the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), a museum and school (The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, or SAIC) in ambivalent relationship with one another and their host community. AIC's iconic Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge building on Michigan Avenue, erected on debris from the great fire of 1871, first served the Columbian Exposition, whose congresses it housed in 1893 before AIC occupied it at year's end. This nearly windowless structure on the edge of the frenetic central Loop served as a refuge from urban disorder. Yet like the surrounding noise, filth, and labor conflict, AIC was a by product of railroad development, meat processing, and other forms of commerce that fueled Chicago's growth.

In 1866 sculptor Leonard W. Volk and other artists formed the Chicago Academy of Design. Partly as a result of losses caused by the fire, the academy encountered financial difficulties and solicited help from business leaders. Employing some sleight of hand, these businessmen created in 1879 a new organization, the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, renamed The Art Institute of Chicago in 1882. Its charter provided that it be "privately administered for the public benefit by a Board of Trustees." Under the leadership of the grain merchant and banker Charles L. Hutchinson, president of that board from 1882 to 1924, AIC's art school became the nation's best enrolled and its museum, with a half-million visitors by 1899, developed the largest membership. In addition to moving AIC to its permanent home in 1893, Hutchinson attracted distinguished faculty, including sculptor Lorado Taft, and enlarged the museum's collections. Major donors included Martin A. Ryerson and Bertha Honoré Palmer, who with painter Mary Cassatt's advice acquired a superb collection of nineteenth-century French paintings.

Along with others who followed Hutchinson, museum directors Daniel Catton Rich (1938–1958) and, in the decades after 1980, James Wood, strengthened curatorial areas such as Prints and Drawings, Architecture, and African and Amerindian Art and museum education, and brought square footage to more than ten times its 1893 total. Expansion occurred in every decade except the 1930s and 1940s. Examples of growth include the Ryerson Library (1901); the Ferguson Building (1958), whose funding with monies designated for commissioning "statuary and monuments" drew legal challenges; new facilities for the SAIC (1977); and several wings and buildings over the following quarter century. The museum developed outstanding collections in numerous areas, such as Impressionism, Flemish and Italian painting, and—with the help of the Buckingham family—prints and drawings and Asian art.

Although conservative aesthetic and social impulses guided many of the trustees, the institution helped expand definitions of what constituted significant art, as in its 1895 exhibition of works by Claude Monet and Édouard Manet, and in the 1906 purchase of Assumption of the Virgin (1577) by El Greco, then a largely neglected master. Amid great controversy, AIC in 1913 presented a distillation of New York City's Armory Show, which gave tens of thousands of Chicagoans their first encounter with Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, and other avant-garde artists. Only a few modernist works entered the collection in the next fifteen years. However, with gifts such as those from Frederic Clay Bartlett, which included Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grand-Jatte (1884) in 1926, Arthur Jerome Eddy's 1931 bequest of Expressionist works by Wassily Kandinsky, and others, AIC developed a major modern collection, which also included important American paintings, some by former SAIC students such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Archibald J. Motley, and Grant Wood. Appointment in the 1940s of the innovative gallery owner Katherine Kuh as a curator indicated increased commitment to exhibiting challenging contemporary work.

In 2001 the museum's ten curatorial departments included some with continuity to the founding era, and others such as Photography that reflected the broadened definition of museum-worthy art. Changes in cultural perceptions led in 1956 to formation of a Department of Primitive Art, later renamed the Department of African and Amerindian Art. Some areas diminished in importance. Plaster reproductions of classical works, considered an important aspect of the collections in the 1880s, had been removed from display by the 1950s. The museum achieved a higher level of professionalism when a comprehensive exhibition held in conjunction with the 1933–1934 Century of Progress Exposition suggested the wisdom of arranging AIC's collections in a systematic, integrated manner rather than displaying together all works given by one donor.

Although trustees assumed a less direct role in curatorial and curricular decisions as the museum became more professional, a seat on AIC's board continued to be one of the highest distinctions available to Chicago's social and economic elite. Support from large corporations such as Kraft General Foods and Ameritech became increasingly important. In 2001 the largest sources of support were gifts and endowment income and school revenues, mostly from tuition. Other sources were museum admissions and memberships; and public funds, which became available when AIC's building was erected on Chicago Park District Land in 1893 and were later supplemented by state and federal programs.

The provocations of contemporary art, in conjunction with identity politics, sparked controversies in the 1980s and 1990s that threatened but did not end this public support. As always, balancing the goals of building an international art collection and serving the needs of a local arts community presented challenges and some resentments, as when in the 1980s AIC abandoned its Chicago and Vicinity show, once a regular event. Increased emphasis in the contemporary art world on work that responded to the concerns of particular communities, some outside the traditional arts audience, created new possibilities for collaboration and conflict.

Bibliography

Chicago History 8, no. 1 (spring 1979). Special issue on The Art Institute of Chicago.

Gilmore, Roger, ed. Over a Century: A History of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1866–1981. Chicago: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1982.

Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz. Culture and the City: Cultural Philanthropy in Chicago from the 1880s to 1917. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Prince, Sue Ann. The Old Guard and the Avant-Garde: Modernism in Chicago, 1910–1940. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

—George H. Roeder Jr.

Art Institute of Chicago
Established	1879; in present location since 1893
Location	111 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, USA
Visitor figures	1,441,000 (2006)
Director	James Cuno
Website	www.artic.edu/aic

The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) is an encyclopedic fine art museum^[1] located in Chicago, Illinois's Grant Park. The Art Institute has one of the world's most notable collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in its permanent collection. Its diverse holdings also include significant Old Master works, American art, European and American decorative arts, Asian art and modern and contemporary art. It is located at 111 South Michigan Avenue in the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. The museum is associated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is overseen by Director and President James Cuno. At one million square feet, it is the second largest art museum in the United States behind only the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.^[2]

Contents 1 The Museum’s Collection 1.1 The Terra Collection 2 The Art Institute Building 2.1 Libraries 2.2 Modern Wing 3 Notable holdings 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

The Museum’s Collection

Georges-Pierre Seurat, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte 1884 – 1886

Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942

The collection of the Art Institute of Chicago encompasses more than 5,000 years of human expression from cultures around the world and contains more than 260,000 works of art. The art institute holds works of art ranging from as early as the Japanese prints to the most updated American art.

Today, the museum is most famous for its collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and American paintings. Included in the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection are more than 30 paintings by Claude Monet including six of his Haystacks and a number of Water Lilies. Also in the collection are important works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir such as Two Sisters (On the Terrace) and Henri Matisse's The Bathers, Paul Cezanne's The Basket of Apples, and Madame Cézanne in a Yellow Chair. At the Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is another highlight, as are Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte and Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street; Rainy Day. Non-French paintings of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection include Vincent Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles and Self-portrait, 1887. Among the most important works of the American collection are Grant Wood's American Gothic and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.

In addition to paintings, the Art Institute offers a number of other works. Located on the lower level are the Thorne Miniature Rooms which 1:12 scale interiors showcasing American, European and Asian architectural and furniture styles from the Middle Ages to the 1930's (when the rooms were constructed).^[3] Another special feature of the museum is the Touch Gallery which is specially designed for the visually impaired. It features several works which museum guests are encouraged to experience though the sense of touch instead of through sight as well as specially designed description plates written in braille.^[4] The American Decorative Arts galleries contain furniture pieces designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles and Ray Eames. The Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman galleries hold the mummy and mummy case of Paankhenamun, as well as several gold and silver coins.

The Terra Collection

Since April 2005, approximately fifty paintings originally from the Terra Museum (now the Terra Foundation) collection have been on loan to the Department of American Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. The collections of the Terra and the Art Institute are located in a new suite of galleries, and together provide one of the nation’s most comprehensive presentations of American art. The foundation’s collection of American works on paper are housed in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute.

The Art Institute Building

Art Institute of Chicago Building North Lion

Main article: Art Institute of Chicago Building

The current building at 111 South Michigan Avenue is third address for the Art Institute. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge of Boston, Massachusetts^[5] for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition as the World's Congress Auxiliary Building with the intent that the Art Institute occupy the space after the fair closed.

The Art Institute's famous western entrance on Michigan Avenue is guarded by two bronze lion statues created by Edward L. Kemeys. The sculptor gave them unofficial names: the south lion is "stands in an attitude of defiance," and the north lion is "on the prowl." When a Chicago sports team makes the playoffs, the lions are frequently dressed in that team's uniform. Evergreen wreaths are placed around their necks during the Christmas season, and during that time the lions are called offense and defense named by Dan Town.

The east entrance of the museum is marked by the stone arch entrance to the old Chicago Stock Exchange. Designed by Louis Sullivan in 1894, the Exchange was torn down in 1972, but salvaged portions of the original trading room were brought to the Art Institute and reconstructed.

The Art Institute building has the unusual property of straddling open-air railroad tracks. Two stories of gallery space connect the east and west buildings while the Metra Electric and South Shore lines operate below. The lower level of gallery space was formerly the windowless Gunsaulus hall, but is now home to the Alsdorf Galleries showcasing Indian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan Art. During renovation, windows facing north toward Millennium Park were added. The gallery space was designed by Renzo Piano in conjunction with his design of the Modern Wing and features the same window screening used there to protect the art from direct sunlight. The upper level formerly held the modern European galleries, but was renovated in 2008 and now features the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries.

Libraries

"Burnham Library" - Founded 1912

Located on the ground floor of the museum is the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries. The Libraries' collections cover all periods of art, but is most known for its extensive collection of 18th-20th century architecture. It serves the museum staff, college and university students, and is also open to the general public. The Friends of the Libraries, a support group for the Libraries, offers events and special tours for its members.

Coordinates: 41°52′46″N 87°37′26″W / 41.87944°N 87.62389°W / 41.87944; -87.62389

Modern Wing

Art Institute of Chicago Modern Wing

On May 16, 2009, the Art Institute opened the Modern Wing, the largest expansion in the museum's history ^[6]. The 264,000 square foot addition, designed by Renzo Piano, makes the Art Institute the second-largest museum in the US.^[2] The Modern Wing is home to the museum's collection of early 20th-century European art, including Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, Henri Matisse’s Bathers by a River, and René Magritte’s Time Transfixed. It also houses contemporary art from after 1960; new photography, video media, architecture and design galleries; temporary exhibition space; shops and classrooms; a cafe and a restaurant, Terzo Piano, that overlooks Millennium Park from its terrace.^[7] In addition, the Nichols Bridgeway connects a sculpture garden on the roof of the new wing with the adjacent Millennium Park to the north and a courtyard designed by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol.

Notable holdings

El Greco, Saint Martin and the Beggar, c. 1597-1600	Antoine Watteau, Fête champêtre (Pastoral Gathering), 1718-1721	Édouard Manet, Seascape Calm Weather, 1864-1865	Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1876-1877
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, By the Water, 1880	Pierre-Auguste Renoir, On the Terrace, 1881	Paul Cézanne, The Bay of Marseilles, view from L'Estaque,1885	Vincent Van Gogh, Self-portrait, 1887
Vincent Van Gogh, Bedroom in Arles, 1888	Claude Monet, Wheatstacks (End of Summer), 1890-1891	Paul Cézanne, The Basket of Apples, c.1890s	Paul Gauguin, Why are you angry? (No te aha oe Riri), 1896
Edgar Degas, Woman at Her Toilette, c. 1900-1905	Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1906	Juan Gris, Portrait of Picasso, 1912	Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930

See also

• Logan Medal of the arts
• Looptopia
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Visual arts of Chicago

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Art Institute of Chicago

• The Art Institute of Chicago
• The Art Institute of Chicago: collections
• The Ryerson and Burnham Libraries
• The Terra Foundation For American Art
• A Visitor's Experience: The Art Institute of Chicago

References

1. ^ http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/79.html
2. ^ ^{a b} The New York Times
3. ^ http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/thorne
4. ^ http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/touch.html
5. ^ "1879-1913: The Formative Years". The Art Institute of Chicago. 2007. http://www.artic.edu/aic/aboutus/wip/formative/index.html. Retrieved 2007-06-20. 
6. ^ The New York Times
7. ^ "A New Kind of Institutional Dining". Zagat.com. May 27, 2009. http://www.zagat.com/Blog/Detail.aspx?SCID=42&BLGID=20948. 

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