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Close-up photograph of a large hanging textile made up of many woven squares and rectangles in shades of blue, gray, and white separated by multiple neutral-toned ropes woven together at their junctures.

Anatomy of a White Dwarf: On Life, Home, and Weaving

For artists María Dávila and Eduardo Portillo, the world of each textile contains multitudes.

Perspectives
Dancing with Cecilia Beaux

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

A black-and-white photo shows the artist crouching next to his partner, Françoise Gilot, and smiling at their 4-year-old daughter, Paloma, who sits in a small wheelbarrow smiling back at her parents while their 6-year-old son, Claude, sits on a tricycle on the other side of father, smiling at the camera.

Inside the Exhibition
Inspiring Picasso

Meet a few of the people—a friend, a printer, an art dealer, a romantic partner, and two children—who impacted the artist and his work.

Leaders of Tomorrow
Curious about Curating? Your First Stop: The Andrew W. Mellon Summer Academy

Collection Spotlight
Man of Sorrows by Marion Perkins

“This head of Christ,” the artist said, “is an acid test of American democracy.”

Photograph in a gray art gallery of a large glass case with two large vessels in orange and black inside it, a podium with an iPad display at right.

Behind the Scenes
What’s in a Case?

Curator Lorien Yonker goes beyond the glass to share some of the unseen ways our cases help protect the art within them.

From the Conservation Studio
The Cycle of Destruction and Repair: Conserving a Thanjavur Painting

After undergoing extensive as well as inventive conservation, this beautiful rendering of Shiva Nataraja and his attendants is now ready for public view.

FAQs
Museum FAQs: Are the Artworks Real?

This is the first in a series where we apply an answer to one of your many FAQs.

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Inside an Exhibition
Four Chicago Artists Walk into a Museum

And what they find helps to develop and refine their personal artistic visions.

A drawing in blue ink on cream paper consists of abstract three-dimensional shapes suggestive of a city full of buildings, streets, elevated roads, sidewalk, and rivers.

Curatorial Conversation
Creative Chicago

Curators Yechen Zhao and Stephanie Strother discuss our city’s dynamic artistic atmosphere as revealed in two very different current exhibitions.

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.

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