Chicago Connections
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.
Take a tour of works intrinsically linked to the Windy City, or made by artists who call or called Chicago home.
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The Song of the Lark
Jules Breton
Gallery 222, second level, Arts of Europe: Painting and Sculpture Galleries
This painting by Jules Adolphe Breton was among the first to enter the Art Institute's collection when the museum opened in 1893. It quickly became one of the most popular paintings at the museum. By the 1920s, reproductions were hanging on classroom walls across the United States. In 1934, it was named “America’s Best Loved Picture” in a contest sponsored by the Chicago Daily News."Song of the Lark is a favorite of actor Bill Murray. He claims it saved his life when he was still a struggling young comic in Chicago."
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Self-Portrait of My Sister
Gertrude Abercrombie
Gallery 262, second level, Arts of the Americas Galleries
At first glance, this painting appears to be a relatively straightforward representation of a young woman. Further examination, however, reveals subtle touches of the artist's dark aesthetic, beginning with the title itself, an enigmatic reference to a sister who did not exist; Abercrombie was an only child. Her reference to a fictitious sister hints at her desire to be a different person, a longing she satisfied through self-portraiture."Chicago artist Abercrombie initially referred to this work as 'Portrait of Artist as Ideal,' a phrase revealing her underlying meaning. Here, she idealized her appearance, depicting herself with a long neck, vivid blue eyes, and sharpened features."
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This, My Brother
Charles White
Gallery 262, second level, Arts of the Americas Galleries
Charles White believed art could be a force in promoting equality for African Americans. This painting draws its title from a 1936 novel about a rural white miner who experiences a political awakening and joins the proletarian struggle against capitalism. White transformed the protagonist into a Black man who breaks free from a mountain of rubble, a hopeful image of the possibility of social change."Like many artists of his generation, Chicagoan Charles White believed that art could be an influential force in the struggle to promote racial equality for African Americans. He stated, 'paint is the only weapon I have with which to fight what I resent.'"
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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."When Albright’s canvas was exhibited at the Art Institute after the film's release, the Chicago Tribune reported that the museum 'is having a heck of a time handling the crowds flocking to see his painting.'"
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Stamnos (Mixing Jar)
Chicago Painter
Gallery 151, first level, Arts of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Worlds Galleries
Among the first objects purchased for the museum's collection, this ancient Greek jar was originally used to mix water and wine. Painted in the red-figure style (so called because the figures remain the natural red of the clay), this vessel portrays the women followers of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine. Remarkably this millennia-old vase retains its original lid."The ancient Greek painter who painted this vase is referred to as the Chicago Painter because this work, long part of the museum's collection, showcases all the hallmarks of his style: calm, elegant figures and a soft, free form."
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City Landscape
Joan Mitchell
Gallery 291, second level, Contemporary Galleries
Although influenced by Abstract Expressionist artists in New York in the early 1950s, Joan Mitchell did not prioritize her own self-expression. Her often exuberant abstractions were “about landscape, not about me,” she once explained. Mitchell painted large, light-filled canvases animated by loosely applied tangles of bright color—here, infused with the energy of a large metropolis."Born and raised in Chicago, Mitchell is one of the few women artists recognized as part of the Abstract Expressionist movement. She completed this painting in 1955, just five years after earning her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago"
