North America · United States
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago's great museum, guarded by two bronze lions, holds some of the most famous paintings in America: Seurat's dotted Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Hopper's Nighthawks and Grant Wood's American Gothic. Its Impressionist collection is one of the best outside Paris.
History of the museum
The Art Institute started in 1879 as a school and exhibition space for artists, and its current Beaux-Arts building on Michigan Avenue opened in 1893 for the World's Columbian Exposition. Wealthy Chicagoans, like Bertha Palmer, bought French Impressionist paintings early, before they were famous, and gave them to the museum. The Modern Wing, designed by Renzo Piano, opened in 2009. The bronze lions out front have been there since 1894, and they are dressed up in team gear when Chicago teams make the playoffs.
Top pieces
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A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte Georges Seurat, 1886 -
Nighthawks Edward Hopper, 1942
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American Gothic Grant Wood, 1930
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Paris Street; Rainy Day Gustave Caillebotte, 1877 -
The Bedroom Vincent van Gogh, 1889
In our gallery from here (16)
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande JatteGeorges Seurat · 1884
Paris Street; Rainy DayGustave Caillebotte · 1877
Two SistersPierre-Auguste Renoir · 1881
At the Moulin RougeHenri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1892
The Child's BathMary Cassatt · 1893
The Basket of ApplesPaul Cézanne · 1893
Crucifixion of ChristFrancisco de Zurbarán · 1627
The Millinery Shop by Edgar DegasEdgar Degas · 1879
Jacques and Berthe LipchitzAmedeo Modigliani · 1916
The Races at LongchampÉdouard Manet · 1866
The Beach at Sainte-AdresseClaude Monet · 1867
The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of SandAlfred Sisley · 1875
Portrait of Madame Adélaide PastoretJacques-Louis David · 1791
Equestrienne (At the Cirque Fernando)Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1888
Day of the God (Mahana no Atua)Paul Gauguin · 1894
The DreamerJean-Antoine Watteau · 1713