The Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois · founded 1879
Founded in 1879 as both a museum and a school, the Art Institute moved into its Michigan Avenue building for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and has grown around it since, most recently with Renzo Piano’s Modern Wing in 2009. Its Impressionist collection is among the largest outside Paris, and in 2018 it released more than fifty thousand images under Creative Commons Zero.
- Works in the AIC collection
- 300,000+Works in the AIC collection
- Founded
- 1879Founded
- Admission
- TicketedAdmission
- Daily opening hours
- 11–5Daily opening hours
What to see
The Art Institute holds several of the most recognised paintings in America, and most visits are built around finding them.
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Seurat worked on it for two years; the Art Institute built a room around it.
At the museum · Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Nighthawks
Hopper’s 1942 diner, bought by the museum within months of being painted.
At the museum · Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
American Gothic
Grant Wood’s farmer and daughter, painted in 1930 and never lent for long.
At the museum · Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The Old Guitarist
Picasso’s Blue Period, painted in Barcelona in 1903.
On view at the museum
The Thorne Miniature Rooms
Sixty-eight interiors built at one inch to the foot.
At the museum · Photo by Reagle, CC BY-SA 4.0
Paris Street; Rainy Day
Caillebotte’s 1877 intersection, life-size and wet underfoot.
At the museum · Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Plan your visit
Hours
Thursday to Monday 11:00–17:00, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Confirm on artic.edu before you travel.
Getting there
111 South Michigan Avenue. CTA: Adams/Wabash, or Monroe on the Red Line.
On their own site
Public-domain images are marked CC0 at artic.edu/collection.
Put art like this on your wall
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