Mystery and Mischief
6 artworks from 6 artists across 5 galleries
The tour is ordered to begin from the Michigan Avenue entrance. If you are starting in the Modern Wing, simply do your tour in reverse order.
Discover some witchy ways, gruesome ghouls, and diverting disguises in this Halloween-themed tour of artworks.
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Spice Box Shaped as a Skull
Gallery 238, second level, Arms and Armor Galleries
This tiny pendant—under an inch tall and wide—is also a complicated spice box. The top button opens the skull to reveal two sections, the back one divided into four compartments, and a panel engraved with the names of four aromatics: Negal (cloves), Muscha (nutmeg), Canel (cinnamon), and Schlag (schlagwasser, a mixture of brandy, primrose petals, and violets, thought to be a cardiac stimulant)."The perforations in this macabre pendant—the eye sockets and missing teeth—allowed the fragrances of the spices to waft out and work their medicinal magic, possibly warding off evil spirits or foul odors thought to breed disease."
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Murder Mystery
Margo Hoff
Gallery 263, second level, Arts of the Americas Galleries
In Murder Mystery, a reader sits in bed with his head buried in a book, captivated by a presumably gruesome, suspenseful tale. Chicagoan Margo Hoff created a cocoon-like domestic space for her reader with allover decoration of patterns and blocks of color. Hoff’s interest in abstraction is visible in these details; later in her career she turned more fully to a nonobjective vocabulary."Hoff was skilled at highlighting the eeriness in images of domestic intimacy. Yet rather than focusing on the macabre or the sensational, she was able to bring out the quietly uncanny nature of everyday life."
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Picture of Dorian Gray
Ivan Albright
Gallery 263, second level, Arts of the Americas Galleries
Chicago artist Ivan Albright executed this horrific work for the 1945 movie adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. In Wilde’s tale, the youthful and attractive Gray sells his soul in order to stay young. In his stead, a portrait of the young hedonist decays, recording his moral corruption in paint as he leads an increasingly wayward life."Renowned as the 'master of the macabre,' Chicago native Ivan Albright was famous for richly detailed paintings of ghoulish subjects. Albright was the ideal choice to create such a horrific image that both attracts and repulses its viewers."
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Statue of a Young Satyr Wearing a Theater Mask of Silenos
Ancient Roman
Gallery 150, first level, Arts of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Worlds Galleries
This playful marble sculpture depicts a young satyr—a creature that is part human and part horse or goat and often represents the untamed elements of human nature. The satyr thrusts his hand through the mouth of a theater mask in a gesture both mischievous and menacing. The ancient Roman work is the only free-standing depiction of a masked child satyr known to exist today."In ancient Greek mythology, satyrs are described as mischief-makers and tricksters. This satyr statue is believed to have been part of a pair, with this little rascal likely attempting to frighten his partner either jokingly or seriously."
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Kylix (Drinking Cup)
Ancient Greek
Gallery 151, first level, Arts of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Worlds Galleries
This vase honors Dionysos as the god of both wine and the theater. When used, raised to a drinker's mouth, it doubled as a mask, with the handles serving as ears and the circular hollow a mouth. The round, wide eyes might have symbolized the intoxicating effects of the drink, the wine god’s gaze, or both. Drinking vessels decorated in this manner are called eye cups."Halloween's origins have been connected to Anthesteria, an ancient Greek festival dedicated to the god Dionysus. Perhaps today's practice of wearing masks at Halloween was inspired by these eye cups."
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Still Life Reviving (Naturaleza muerta resucitando)
Remedios Varo
Gallery 396, third level, Modern Galleries
This painting—Remedios Varo’s last—transforms the quietude of a traditional still life into a supernatural scene. Set in a Gothic tower, a table for eight begins to levitate. Above it, apples, peaches, pomegranates, and strawberries orbit like planets in a solar system, while below, the fruits' dropped seeds are already growing into new life."Varo was a student of what she called the 'true practice of witchcraft'—she felt she could perceive 'relationships of cause and effect quickly and beyond the ordinary limits of common logic.' What supernatural force might be at work in this scene?"
