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Past Exhibitions

Expanding Narratives: The Figure and the Ground

April 24–December 16, 2018

Expanding Narratives uses the formal relationship between the figure and the ground in art history as a conceptual springboard into discussions around visual representation, the museum space, and the role of the Smart Museum’s collection in fostering the exchange of diverse perspectives.

Félix Buhot, A Landing in England, 1879, Etching, drypoint, aquatint, and stipple engraving, state 4 of 5, proof impression (1 of 20). Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Purchase, The Paul and Miriam Kirkley Fund for Acquisitions, 2010.115.

Expanding Narratives: Theme and Variations—The Multiple Sorceries of Félix Buhot

April 24 to July 22, 2018

As part of Expanding Narratives, this presentation explores how printmaker Félix Buhot dissolved classic distinctions between figure and ground in ways that challenge the limits of the etching medium.

Into the City: Art in Chicago

April 3–July 22, 2018

Presented in connection with a University of Chicago course, this exhibition samples a selection of themes that have defined artmaking in Chicago.

Art in Seventeenth-Century France

April 3–July 22, 2018

This intimate display serves as primary source material for an Art History course and includes the entirety of Jacques Callot’s portfolio The Large Miseries of War.

Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: Greene Myth, 1954

The History of Perception

January 9 to April 22, 2018

This exhibition explores questions of perception and bodily sensation in connection to a course offered through the University of Chicago.

Resurgence and Innovation: Artists’ Inspiration in Nineteenth-Century France

December 12, 2017 to March 18, 2018

Organized by several UChicago students, this exhibition explores the eclectic range of sources and precedents that served as inspiration for nineteenth-century artists in France. 

Selections from a History of Modernism

December 12, 2017 to March 18, 2018

This exhibition of abstract paintings and works on paper from the 1940s and 1950s serves as a primary source for a University of Chicago Art History course.

Olga Chernysheva, March (2005). Courtesy: Diehl, Berlin; Pace, London; Foxy Production, New York.

Revolution Every Day

September 14, 2017–January 28, 2018

Presented on the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, this exhibition immerses visitors in the distinct textures and speeds of everyday life that arose—and have lingered stubbornly—in the wake of revolutionary upheaval.

The Hysterical Material

September 14, 2017–December 17, 2017

This exhibition investigates the emotional possibility of material in works by Auguste Rodin and Bruce Nauman.

Installation view of Radical [Re]Constructions

Emmanuel Pratt: Radical [Re]Constructions

September 12, 2017–December 30, 2018

Emmanuel Pratt blends art, architecture, and urban agriculture to transform the Smart Museum's threshold.