Chicago Modern 1893-1945: Pursuit of the New

About this book

Chicagos fine arts have long languished in the shadow of the citys architectural riches but their time has finally come most prominently as the focus of the final major exhibition at Chicagos Terra Museum of American Art. The attendant catalog of the Terra Museums fall 2004 exhibition "Chicago Modern 1893-1945: Pursuit of the New" is the first-ever survey by a major art museum of early American modernist works created by Chicago artists. At the opening of the twentieth century Chicago was regarded as the quintessential modern city that would provide fertile soil for a new national art. The debut of impressionism at the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893 bore early witness to this expectation as it marked the arrival of modern art in Chicago. In the midst of great local controversy and echoing debates raging at the time in New York and Paris the School of the Art Institute of Chicago incorporated modernism into its curriculum a move that led Chicago-trained artists to experiment in and reinterpret the prominent art movements of their time. Here for the first time this work is showcased. This volume focuses on the rich body of artistic work produced during the citys artistic golden age the period from the 1893 Exposition through the end of World War II. Noted art scholars contribute to the volume with essays that explore how Chicago painters created a unique niche in these transformative international art movementsfrom the impressionism of the 1800s to the social realism and surrealism of the 1930s and 1940sand forged a regional consciousness through experimental means. This detailed and lavishly illustrated catalog examines the larger issues and concerns that shaped art in Chicago during this period offering a new and valuable addition to regional American art scholarship and a fitting farewell for one of Chicagos most beloved art museums. Contributors: Wendy Greenhouse Elizabeth Kennedy Daniel Schulman Susan Weininger