The blossoming of Chicago
Formerly a crossing point between Canada and the Mississippi River basin, the region was occupied by Amerindians until the arrival of the first Europeans. The Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston is one of the few museums devoted to the culture and art of native Americans. During the War of Independence (1775-1783), the area was transformed into Illinois County. The Indian peoples grouped together in the Council of the Three Fires had to give up their lands. In 1833, the city officially signed its foundation and its population grew at a rapid pace. Attracted by the opportunity to work in the city's thriving slaughterhouses and ironworks, immigrants poured in from all over the world: Ireland, Germany, Poland, Italy, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Russia, and the southern United States
Commercial photography exploded in Chicago in response to requests for business cards and industrial portraits. Photographers soon turned to landscape photography, leaving behind valuable evidence of the city's growth. With the introduction of the Kodak camera in 1888, amateur photography became more popular. Chicagoans began to immortalize every aspect of their daily lives. Similarly, American painting was limited to portraits until the appearance of landscape in the 19th century, in the form of romantic scenes or vast panoramas. The painters of the time were James Whistler, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent
Innovation laboratory
In October 1871, the Great Fire of Chicago devastated the metropolis. Chicago was rebuilt on the basis of a steel skeleton that paved the way for the invention of modern towers. The parks were home to monumental sculptures donated by wealthy philanthropists. A pioneer in the field of public art, Chicago has never ceased to combine urban and artistic development
The 1893 World's Fair in Jackson Park attracted 27 million visitors. On this occasion, urban photographs published on postcards were a huge success. Their popularity lasted until the 1920s.
Birth of cultural institutions
Between 1871 and 1945, the cultural venues for which Chicago is famous came into being. The Art Institute of Chicago opened its doors in 1879 and developed an unparalleled collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. The reason is simple: at the end of the 19th century, Americans living in Paris began betting on scorned painters. At their head, Lousine Havemeyer bought his first pastel from Degas in 1874, as well as several works by Manet. She later bequeathed her collection to the Met, while Palmer Potter added to the Chicago collections. At the dawn of the twentieth century, Chicago became a cultural hotbed rivaling New York
Prohibition and the modern era
The years 1890-1935 were marked by gangs and smuggling. Al Capone "Scarface", the most famous American gangster, controlled 161 underground bars in the late 1920s. The most memorable Prohibition shooting was the Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1929.
At the beginning of the 20th century, American painting was largely dominated by the realist movement. Led by George Bellows, a pictorial current with a documentary and social vocation appeared. Contemporary Western art began to penetrate America following the prestigious Armory Show exhibition held in New York in 1913. From then on, abstract painting inspired by Cubism coexisted alongside social testimony.
The interwar period saw the emergence of the school of American regionalism, which drew its themes from provincial life in the Midwest and the South. Among them, Edward Hopper or Grant Wood drew the portrait of the Great Depression of 1929
In the same spirit, journalistic photography gradually changed the way Americans looked at their country. It reached its peak in the 1930s and 1940s through successful magazines such as Life, printed in Chicago. In the process, government agencies commissioned photojournalism to portray "the real life of Americans. The most ambitious project was initiated by the Farm Security Administration, which commissioned Dorothea Lange to document rural life, among other things. Her poignant portraits of the peasant victims of poverty, which have been elevated to the status of art, still leave their mark on people's minds. It wasn't until the 1950s that photography found its way into Chicago's art galleries and the collections of museums such as the Art Institute
Major public orders
During the Second World War, America welcomed foreign artists driven out by Nazism, including Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, André Masson, Fernand Léger, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall. The European trend was emulated by many, so much so that the country became the international home of the arts. The surrealist movement was revived. The couple Franklin and Penelope Rosemont founded the first American surrealist group in Chicago
The late 1960s saw the emergence of grandiose public art with funding from associations, foundations and the City of Chicago. Commissioned in 1963 by the architects of the Daley Center, Picasso's monumental steel sculpture was erected in 1967 between the skyscrapers of the Loop. Lacking an official title, it bears the nickname "The Picasso" which reflects the mystery that surrounds its interpretation
The same year, the first collective work of street art was created in the Bronzeville neighborhood. Composed by fourteen artists, The Wall of Respect told the story of the African-American community through the portrait of some of its representatives such as Martin Luther King, Nina Simone, John Coltrane, Aretha Franklin or Malcolm X. This groundbreaking mural paved the way for public art that reflected the diversity of Chicago's population
The Picasso inaugurated a series of urban art commissions for downtown Chicago. In 1974, Marc Chagall created his Four Seasons mosaic at the base of the Chase Tower, on four walls that can be walked around to admire his countless figures, flowers, birds, fish and couples of lovers. The same year, the American Alexander Calder puts his Flamingo on Federal Plaza, a red stabile 16 meters high, ordered by the General Services Administration. Then, in 1981, it was Joan Miró's turn to install The Sun, the Moon and a Star in Brunswick Plaza. A copy of his sculpture, nicknamed Miss Chicago, is on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Jean Dubuffet erected his Monument to the Standing Beast at the foot of the Illinois state offices in 1984
Millenium Park, the artistic lung
In the meantime, the city passed the Percent for Art Act, which required a percentage of construction costs to support public art. To date, all mayors have continued the tradition of making Chicago an exceptional open-air museum.
The most symbolic place of this policy remains Millennium Park, imagined by Richard M. Daley, who was in charge of the city between 1989 and 2011. The park is home to some iconic works. Nicknamed The Bean after its bean shape, Anish Kapoor's The Cloud Gate is inspired by molten mercury. The distorted city is reflected on its silver surface. Further on, on the two giant screens of the Crown Fountain, walkers see faces that spout water like gargoyles. With this work, Jaume Plensa adds video to street art.Pilsen and Wabash
In the southwest of the city, the Pilsen district has been a popular street art area since the late 1960s. On its walls, the South American population expresses its identity in colorful frescoes inspired by Diego Rivera. The municipality has never stopped giving credits to local artists to support urban art. The 18th street metro station on the pink line, embellished by local students, is worth a visit. In Pilsen, there are also about thirty galleries run by artists between 18th and Halsted. On the second Friday of each month, they organize an open house. Pilsen is also home to the National Museum of Mexican Art, which oversees the largest collection of Mexican art in the country. Its 7,500 pieces cover Mexican art from ancient times to the modern era
Not far away, the Bridgeport and Hyde Park neighborhoods have seen the emergence of galleries dedicated to emerging artists in recent years. For contemporary art lovers, the Bridgeport Art Center and the Zhou B Art Center are housed in large warehouses on West 35th Street. In Hyde Park, local contemporary art is on display at the Hyde Park Art Center and the Logan Center
Between Hyde Park and Washington Park, the Smart Museum, located on the university campus, organizes stimulating encounters and offers free access to its original archives and four galleries of modern, European, Asian and contemporary art.
Since 2013, the Wabash Arts Corridor initiative has transformed a neglected neighborhood in the South Loop into a vast space for artistic expression where established international artists and Columbia College Chicago art students meet. Some 40 murals have been created as a result of this program to date. The WAC is committed to maintaining the momentum of this revitalization and offers events throughout the year. Darryll Schiff recently installed "Descending to Heaven," the program's first illuminated photographic mural.
River North and Milwaukee Avenue
Famous for its stores and restaurants, River North hosts its gallery tour on the first Thursday of every month. All forms of expression are represented: photography at the Project Room, impressionist and modern paintings at the Richard Nixon Gallery. On Milwaukee Avenue, between Wicker Park and Logan Square, a variety of murals follow one another, including the famous Greetings from Chicago, which plays with local clichés.
On every corner, street art tells the story of Chicagoans in all its diversity. Most of the works contain social, political or historical messages and add a singular character to each neighborhood.
Reflecting the city's forward-looking nature, the Museum of Contemporary Art served as Christo's first building wrap on American soil in 1967. In addition to its 6,000-piece collection, the MCA organized the first exhibitions of Frida Kahlo in 1978, Antoni Tàpies in 1977 and Jeff Koons in 1988.
