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An interactive sculptural artwork features wooden cutouts in various shades of brown varnish in the shapes of earth's land masses. The cutouts are affixed to a blue wooden panel with sliding tracks that allow them to merge together and come apart when manipulated.

Inside the Exhibition
Toward a Borderless Imagination

The curatorial team of Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica introduces one of Pan-Africanism’s key tenets: the idea of remapping the world.

Painting in mostly greens, blue, and yellows of a sweeping view of farmlands, fields stacked like blocks in a quilt. Small houses and even smaller animals can be found throughout. In the foreground, a man in a brown jacket leans against a tall tree.

New Acquisitions
Four Paintings by Grandma Moses

These paintings by the popular 20th-century American artist are windows into distant memories layered with imagination.

Museum History
Been There: The Charm of Souvenirs

New Acquisition
Elizabeth Catlett’s Head (Head of a Man)

This striking early-career sculpture by the artist, well-known for her distinctive prints, allows us to shine a spotlight on a second, vital facet of her practice.

Exploring the Collection
Horses in Ancient Art

Take a ride through the collection to see how horses were revered in the ancient Greco-Roman world.

A large tapestry with an ornate border featuring a man and a woman in a boat.

The Saga of the Cleopatra Tapestries

Collection Spotlight
An Extraordinary Sunday: Sondheim and La Grande Jatte

It’s Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday. Celebrate with a look at Sunday in the Park with George and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884.

From the Conservation Studio
The Subtle Power of Paper: Conserving Paula Modersohn-Becker

Conserving a delicate drawing requires a comprehensive respect for science and art combined with a healthy measure of self-knowledge.

Photo shows an elaborate gold crown in a gallery space. From the crown band various vertical elements branch organically upward. The gold appears hammered with designs, and other bits of gold and cashew-shaped beads hang from it.

Rare Loans
A Sparkling Opening to the Korean Art Gallery

Two national treasures from Korea celebrate—in dazzling fashion—the rich history and artistry of the country and the debut of our gallery devoted to Korean art.

Interpreting the Collection
Strategic Reserves of Hope: Peter Blume’s The Rock

In the devastated landscape of Blume’s world, mystery and hope strike a vibrant balance.

A woven textile in shades of brown, blue, and metallic gold. On a mud-brown background are a series of many small gridded square shapes. Each is coppery gold with a halo of blue behind it and many fine blue threads crossing the square laterally, all evenly spaced. Bisecting each square vertically is an unruly tuft of brown fiber.

Inside the Exhibition
The Alchemy of Weaving

Learn how contemporary textile artists from across the globe have advanced the ancient and seemingly magical practice of turning thread into cloth.

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Interpreting the Collection
A Voyage of Seeing: On Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Seascapes

The photographer feels “a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home,” when looking at the sea, a feeling that resonates with others who have crossed their waters.

A blond woman with her back to the viewer stands facing a white wall on which hangs four versions of Picasso's print Still Life with Lunch, one white and dark brown-red, two in the center that are black and white, and on the right that is black, white, gray, and red-brown. The print image consists of a wine bottle, a lamp, a cut ham, a glass, a cut onion, and a knife.

Inside the Exhibition
Made for the Present: The Many Styles of Pablo Picasso

Trace the major artistic approaches and themes Picasso explored at various points across his 70-year career.

A visitor uses the mobile app in the Ando gallery.

The Digital Museum
Hear It Here: The Museum’s Audio Tour Experience

The Art Institute’s podcast-style audio tours on our mobile app offer a sensory universe to explore.

Museum History
A Third Time Around for Two Carousel Horses

Thanks to some collaborative TLC, two wooden horses are back on the carousel, much to the delight of visitors.

Painting of two boys, one white and one black, standing side by side with neutral expressions against a neural background.

Perspectives
Art as Catalyst: Three Ways to Talk with Children about Race

Images can provide a starting place for introducing young children to concepts of race and difference and affirming their identities.

Photograph of a tabletop upon which rests a small woven artwork in progress made of strips of vibrant cloth. One hand pulls the center strip through threads wound around a cardboard base.

Top 10
Art-Inspired Activities for Spring

Looking for something new to do, see, or make on your next visit? This handy guide has you covered.

A photograph of artist Richard Hunt in his studio in front of his work, large-scale sculptures that twist and turn their way skyward.

Inside the Exhibition
“The Sky Is the Limit”: A Conversation between Richard Hunt and Jordan Carter

The sculptor and curator discuss artistic process, a more than 60-year career, and Hunt’s installation on the Bluhm Family Terrace.

Literature and architecture panel from the America Windows

Gallery Program
Talking about Prayer and Art in the Galleries

For some visitors to the museum, looking at art is a religious experience.

Perspectives
Dancing with Cecilia Beaux

Looking deeper into a painting can reveal more mysteries than it solves.

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