Highlights

The Art Institute’s holdings of late 19th-century French art are among the largest and finest in the world and feature some of the most well-known and well-loved works in the museum. The works included here are highlights from our wide-ranging collection.

The Art Institute boasts an outstanding collection of American Art—fitting for a classic American city. Find some of the icons below.

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.

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.

Get to know the ambitious and forward-thinking artist known simply as El Greco with this exhibition audio tour exploring his complex life and career.

Let your imagination take over on this journey through the Thorne Rooms—miniature and, as generations of Art Institute visitors have found, wonderfully transporting.

Today El Greco is revered as one of the greatest of the greats, but during his lifetime—despite his relentless determination and vision—his successes were often challenged artistically and financially.

The Surrealists were fascinated by dreams, desire, magic, sexuality, and the revolutionary power of artworks to transform how we understand the world. Learn more with this tour of our internationally renowned collection of Surrealist art.

Comprising works spanning five millennia and all of the continent’s major artistic traditions, the Art Institute’s collection of Asian art is especially wide-ranging. Enjoy a few highlights from this spectacular collection.

The Art Institute’s collection of Korean art spans more than 2,000 years of artistic production and includes exquisite celadon ceramics, striking ink paintings, and contemporary works that carry the artistic heritage of Korea’s past into the present day.

Delve deeper into the first exhibition to explore Chicago’s pioneering connection to the great Impressionist artist with insights from curators, conservators, and collectors.

Monet and Chicago is the first exhibition to trace our city’s unique and early embrace of the beloved Impressionist’s work. This overview introduces you to the many themes explored in the exhibition galleries.

Responding to disproportionate racial and gender representation within Chicago’s modern and contemporary art scene in the 20th century, women seized the gap by forging their own spaces throughout the city. Learn about the history of placemaking in Chicago art spaces through selections from the Research Center’s Libraries and Archives.