First published 2004
Chicago's visual artists step out from behind the city's famous architecture in this comprehensive survey of the city's artistic golden age. Schulman examines how the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 brought impressionism to Chicago, sparking fierce local debates that mirrored controversies in New York and Paris. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago embraced modernism in its curriculum despite resistance, training artists who would experiment with and transform major international art movements. The book traces Chicago painters as they adapted impressionism in the 1800s through social realism and surrealism in the 1930s and 1940s, developing a distinctive regional artistic identity. Multiple art scholars contribute essays exploring how these artists carved out unique positions within transformative global movements, using experimental techniques to build regional consciousness. This lavishly illustrated catalog served as the companion to the Terra Museum of American Art's final major exhibition before closing.
Genres: art, historical-fiction, 20th-century, art-history
Vibes: emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: experimental-techniques, regional-consciousness
Setting: Chicago, New York, Paris
Period: 1893-1945
176 pages · Paperback · Terra Foundation For American Art