Educator Resources

With its pulsating strands and slashes of bright color, this work evokes memories of bustling cities that Mitchell recalled from her travels in the American Midwest.

Thinly and rapidly painted, Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando) (1887-88) has the confident, improvisational quality of a drawing. Its subject is the Circus Fernando, one of the first permanent circuses in Paris.

This teaching packet includes an essay, discussion questions, activity ideas, a glossary, and images of three photographs from Dawoud Bey’s first significant body of work.

This lesson plan explores Bisa Butler’s work The Safety Patrol.

Art + Science was developed by the Art Institute of Chicago to support dialogue and collaboration between art and science teachers at the middle school level, with the ultimate goal of inspiring art and science integration in the curriculum.

Inspired by the Apollo missions, Thomas’s thickly painted patches of vivid color against a white ground creates a sensation of flickering light, which suggests the mysterious beauty of outer space and inspires a sense of wonder.

To render this haunting portrait, Albright used a precise painting technique that encourages viewers to look at all the details that convey Ida’s persona, such as clothing, accessories, and setting.

In The Herring Net (1885), Winslow Homer captures the conflict between man and nature in his depiction of two fishermen hauling in a herring net amidst a stormy and powerful seascape.

This painting features the famous medieval legend of Saint George, who saved a princess about to be sacrificed to the dragon threatening her father’s kingdom.

This figure of Shukongojin looks down from his rock-like pedestal, imposing both a sense of awe and curiosity about the target of his aggressive presence.

Barbara Hepworth’s Two Figures represents the artist’s fusion of geometry and nature. The teak sculpture is composed of two vertical forms that are situated on a platform and punctuated by white-painted circular or oval concavities.

In this work, Chicago-based artist Archibald J. Motley, Jr. depicts himself as a debonair yet serious artist, vibrant palette in hand. The traditional composition and lively colors offer a glimpse into the complexity of Motley himself.

This handmade sculpture’s energetic gestures and lively facial expression suggest a strong and vibrant personality. Unearthed from an ancient tomb, the figure represents a timeless recording of history, legends, and myths.

Adriaen van Ostade’s Merrymakers in an Inn illustrates peasants of multi-generations celebrating a joyous event in a spacious and picturesque interior.

In this image, the features are greatly distorted as Pablo Picasso began to examine the subject’s facial features and characteristics as closely and specifically as possible.