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Looking to get creative? Our collection is a perfect place to find inspiration.
Hear personal stories and insights from Art Institute staff as they tell you all about their favorite works from the collection in this series.
From celebratory statues to intricate mosaic panels, art was created for a wide variety of functions and contexts during the centuries that the Roman Empire reigned. Explore a few highlights from the Art Institute’s collection of ancient Roman art here.
Whether a painting, photograph, print, or sculpture—a portrait is often thought of as capturing a physical likeness of an individual.
The Art Institute was the first museum in the United States to assemble a significant collection of modern art and to put it on permanent display. Today these holdings are among the finest in the world—enjoy highlights from this pioneering collection.
Explore the ways LGBTQ+ artists have expressed gender, sexuality, and identity in the vast world of queer culture.
These portraits represent a remarkable fusion of Egyptian culture, Roman citizenship, and Greek self-identification.
These mummy portraits serve as an important reminder of the human needs to be creative and idiosyncratic.
Learn more about the artist who called her life a “short, intense celebration.”
Meet Kenneth Sutherland, Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Scientist at the Art Institute of Chicago.
A beautifully illustrated introduction to Bisa Butler’s innovative portrait quilts
An eye-opening presentation of largely unknown figurative drawings by a renowned pioneer of abstraction
A pioneering artist who subverted conventions in her depictions of the nude, self-portraits, and still-lives. An iconoclast in her own time, Modersohn-Becker is today considered an icon of modernity.
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.
Charles Wilbert White depicted the dignity of rural labor with two powerful figures. The contours of scythe, hat brims, and forearms echo the curves of the horizon and clouds, portraying these workers in harmony with the landscape.
Take a deep dive into artworks, classroom activities, and more.
Featuring six artworks from the Art Institute’s collection, each video from SmartHistory can be used as a resource in your teaching or shown in your classroom.
