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Maps, Guides, and Apps

The Art Institute offers almost a million square feet to explore! Take a look below at our maps, guides, and apps to help you navigate and explore the museum during your visit.

Pathfinder

Explore the museum using Pathfinder, our interactive floor plan. Discover and locate artworks and exhibitions currently on view as well as events and visitor amenities.

 

Floor Plan

Planning your visit? Download our floor plan. This information can also be found in the printed Visitor Guide at the museum.

Looking for a fun introduction to the Art Institute or a new way to explore the collection? Download our FREE Art Institute Tours app, available for Apple and Android devices, and enjoy 50 personalized tours of the collection that make use of the museum's free Wi-Fi and indoor positioning system to provide step-by-step directions from one artwork to the next.

Or, browse 80 different themed mini-tours and download a PDF for your next visit.

Our audio guides offer you complete flexibility when you're touring the galleries. Visitors can begin with any artwork marked with the audio guide icon and go through the galleries in any order they prefer. 

  • Audio guides are available in English, French, and Spanish.
  • The commentary is presented in a conversational tone appealing to all listeners.
  • Guides include special exhibition tours when available.

Renting an Audio Guide

  • Guides can be rented for $7 per person ($5 for members). They are free for visually impaired visitors and their escorts.
  • They can be purchased with admission tickets or at the audio guide counter in the Michigan Avenue or Modern Wing lobbies.
  • Guides can be returned to their original rental location and picked up later the same day with a receipt if breaks are taken for lunch or other plans.

Currently Available Tours

 Lions Trail Family Tour

The Lions Trail tour is designed for children ages 5 to 10 for an informative, dramatic, and fun tour of the collection. Listen in English or Spanish. This tour has 32 stops.

 Collection Highlights

Listen to informative commentary on works representing 5,000 years of artistic achievement. Collection highlights include art from the following areas: China, Japan, Korea, India, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, ancient Egypt and the Near East, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and Europe (Renaissance to Modern). In the Modern Wing, hear about 20th-century and contemporary works—in some cases, from the voices of the artists themselves.

Listen to selected collection highlights:

Claude Monet's Haystack Series

Gloria Groom, David and Mary Winton Green Curator of 19th-Century European Painting and Sculpture

Pablo Picasso's Mother and Child and The Red Armchair

Douglas Druick, President and Eloise W. Martin Director

Marc Chagall's White Crucifixion

Stephanie D'Alessandro, Gary C. and Frances Comer Curator of Modern Art

On Kawara's Oct. 31, 1978 (Today Series, "Tuesday")

James Rondeau, Dittmer Chair and Curator, Department of Contemporary Art

Richard Serra's Weights and Measures

Richard Serra

Guide Audio en Français

Venez découvrir en français une sélection d'œuvres, du 16ème au 20ème siècle, et principalement de la période impressionniste, commentées par le directeur du musée et ses conservateurs. Apprenez comment des mécènes de Chicago ont fait l’acquisition de peintures impressionnistes françaises à partir de la fin du 19ème siècle, réunissant ainsi l’une des plus importantes collections impressionnistes et post-impressionnistes des Etats-Unis, dont des œuvres majeures telles que Un Dimanche Après-midi à l’Ile de la Grande-Jatte de Seurat et Au Moulin-Rouge de Toulouse-Lautrec. L’aile moderne, quant à elle, présente des chefs-d’œuvre du 20ème siècle, du Cubisme au Surréalisme.

Ecoutez un extrait du guide audio en Français.

Renoir, Deux Soeurs (Sur la terrasse)

 

Gauguin, Le jour du dieu

 

Dalí, Visions d'Eternité

 

Audioguía en Español

Escuche información sobre obras de artistas españoles y de arte de todo el mundo desde la escultura griega y romana a la pintura Impresionista y obras maestras de El Greco y Dalí. También puede explorar obras de las antiguas civilizaciones de Meso- y Sudamérica, obras maestras de la Edad Media y Renacimiento, escultura asiática, arte de África y atrevidas instalaciones contemporáneas. La colección incluye dos de las obras más famosas del arteamericano: Nighthawks de Edward Hopper y American Gothic de Grant Wood.

Escuche las partes más destacadas de el audioguía en español.

El Greco, Assumption of the Virgin

 

Goya, José Manuel Romero

 

Rivera, Weaver

 

Whether you're looking for some help navigating the museum's thousands of works on view, want to delve into the world-renowned Impressionist collection, or simply want to carry some of your member benefits on your phone, we have an app for you!

 

Wifi Tour App

Art Institute Tours—NEW!

There’s no need to feel overwhelmed by the treasures of the Art Institute of Chicago! Use our new free app to follow your own individual interests, learn about art, and enjoy one of the world’s greatest art museums. The FREE app offers:

  • 50 personalized tours, each featuring 6 to 10 works of art, with brief entries that explain each work's connection to a theme or its significance in the history of art
  • Several different types of tours:
    • Collections: explore most of the museum’s major collections such as Impressionist art, contemporary art, or African art.
    • Themes: focus on topics such as Chicago artists, self-portraits, children in art, or the architecture of the museum.
    • Time or Occasions: choose tours by the amount of time you have—an hour, two hours, a full day—or by occasion, such as relaxing on your own or impressing your out-of-town guests.
  • Step-by-step directions from one artwork to the next, available both as guided maps through the museum’s galleries and simple listed instructions
  • Information on and directions to the museum’s current special exhibitions
  • Access to explore the collection further through our online database where you can see multimedia resources or search for other artworks close by or for works by the same artist

The app is available for Apple and Android devices.

French Impressionism

Explore one of the most renowned collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in the world! Our French Impressionism at the Art Institute app gives you the expertise of museum curators in the palm of your hand. The app offers:

  • High-resolution images of 100+ iconic works
  • Informative and engaging entries on each painting by the museum's curators
  • Biographies of the 22 artists whose works are represented
  • Videos related to the artworks and the history of the collection
  • Narrated virtual tours of select Impressionist galleries at the museum
  • A photo-rich history of the development of this magnificent collection
  • Exclusive detailed descriptions not available in the galleries

The app includes works by Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Gustave Caillebotte, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Georges Seurat.

This app is available for Android and iOS devices.

 

Member Card App

In the first app of its kind, the Art Institute of Chicago Member Card app makes it possible for members to carry their member cards on their iPhones rather than in their wallets or purses. Members need only to enter their member number once to download the card and then enjoy all the benefits the museum has to offer—from special exhibition viewing hours to exclusive programs and entry into the Member Lounge. The member card features a selection of images from the permanent collection and a barcode that can be scanned at entrances to the museum and special exhibitions.

This app is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

 

Member Magazine App

The Art Institute of Chicago brings select content from its long-standing and award-winning member publication, Member Magazine, to iPad users. Visit the iPad app Newstand to download articles on the permanent collection and special exhibitions as well as the full calendar of programs. And become a member today to receive the full-print version every other month!

This app is available only for the iPad.

© Chris Lake

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