With the landmark World’s Columbian Exposition, held in 1893, Chicago established its position as a "Window on the West": an economic and cultural hub that, following the closure of the frontier, linked the traditions of the East with the resources of the West. Between 1890 and 1940, Chicago's citizens experienced the city's tremendous population growth, pioneered numerous technological advances, and contributed to the development of artistic modernism. Recognizing a moment of unprecedented opportunity, a diverse number of important patrons—politicians, businessmen, museum directors—sought to shape and enhance Chicago’s identity, and foster a uniquely American style, by supporting local artists who depicted the West and Southwest.

This publication accompanied a pathbreaking exhibition that centered on the Art Institute’s permanent holdings, and also draws on public and private collections in the Chicago area. Both exhibition and publication show that, while powerful Chicagoans shared a common interest in the West, the art they commissioned and collected took many forms, encompassing a broad array of media and styles, including the naturalistic scupture of Frederic Remington and Hermon Atkins MacNeil, the colorful Taos paintings of Walter Ufer and Victor Higgins, and the modernist abstractions of Georgia O’Keeffe. A unique contribution to the history of American art and culture,Window on the West explores how Chicago's artists and patrons helped shape a number of visual languages for depicting the American West, resulting in works of art that both reflected and influenced the nation’s perspective on its land, history, and people.

The Art Institute of Chicago and Hudson Hills, 2003
Hardcover; 9 1/2 x 12; 184 pages, approximately 200 illustrations
$50.00 ISBN 0-86559-199-7
$34.95 ISBN 0-86559-199-7, Special Art Insititute Retail Price

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This book is available to booksellers at wholesale prices from Hudson Hills.

Related exhibition: Window on the West: Chicago and the Art of the New Frontier, 1890–1940