Smart Museum of Art University of Chicago

Exhibitions

• Current Exhibitions
• Upcoming Exhibitions
• Archived Exhibitions

Collection Galleries

• Modern Art & Design
• Asian Art
• European Art
• Contemporary Art
• Sculpture Garden & Reception Hall

European Art

Edward A. and Inge Maser Gallery

The Smart Museum's European collection ranges from antiquity to the nineteenth century and includes painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts. Special strengths include Renaissance and Baroque works, as well as works on paper from the earliest days of the print medium through the beginning of the industrial age.

The works on view explore key themes, movements, and artistic approaches in traditional European art. Works are divided into thematic clusters that mix paintings with sculptures, prints, and the decorative arts. Within a broad swath of history and geography, the groupings open deeper lines of inquiry into the devotional art of the Counter-Reformation, the role of war and nationalism in the visual arts, the durability of classical aesthetic ideals and mythology, and the real and allegorical representation of nature.

Current highlights include paintings by Luca Cambiaso, Louis Dupré, and Henri de Valenciennes.

The gallery also features an ongoing display that pairs Francisco de Goya's Disasters of War with a plate from Jacques Callot's Large Miseries of War.

Art History 101

In keeping with the Smart Museum's commitment to the academic mission of the University, a portion of the gallery is made available, on request, to serve the curricular needs of faculty from any department.

A small area of the gallery is dedicated to works selected as part of Art 101, the introductory art history course offered at the University of Chicago. The course introduces students to a range of artistic traditions and, accordingly, this display crosses disparate geographic and temporal boundaries.

This quarter’s instructors decided to focus on the twentieth century, selecting examples in a variety of media: painting, drawing, photography, and collage. The presentation includes works by Lester Johnson, Hans Hoffman, George Grosz, Karel Lodr, Oskar Nerlinger, and Nathan Lerner.

Top: Installation view of the Smart Museum's European galleries, showing Luca Cambiaso's painting Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Benedict (c. 1562) at right.