Kitagawa Utamaro, Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from the series “Comparing the Charms of Five Beauties (Gonin bijin aikyo kurabe)”, c. 1795/96
Transitory Beauty: Japanese Fan Prints
October 17, 2024 – January 20, 2025
The most ephemeral of all Japanese prints, fans depicting popular Kabuki actors, beauties, and landscapes were common during the Edo period (1615–1868). They came in two shapes: the folding fan (ōgi) and the round fan (uchiwa). Specialized shops produced bases made of paper mounted on bamboo ribs, and then images—often in colorful designs—were printed on them. Utagawa Hiroshige, whose work appears on many of the fans on display, designed more images for this purpose than any other artist. His prolific creativity is reflected in the variety of scenes attributed to him.
These fans were often heavily handled or even worn out by their owners as part of their function. Many of the fan prints in the Art Institute’s collection survive because they were not mounted on bamboo sticks and thus were never used. Japanese print designs also commonly featured depictions of people with fans as well as fan shapes incorporated into images, so examples of both appear in this display alongside fan prints meant for conventional use.
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Visitors experience Public Notice 3 in its inaugural installation on the Woman’s Board Grand Staircase
Jitish Kallat: Public Notice 3
Sep 9, 2024 – Sep 10, 2025
Jitish Kallat’s site-specific installation, Public Notice 3, returns to the Art Institute of Chicago’s Grand Staircase this fall after a 14-year hiatus.
Initially unveiled on September 11, 2010, the work connects two significant historical events separated by 108 years: the First World Parliament of Religions which began on September 11, 1893, and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. At the earlier event, the World Parliament of Religions, held in what is now the museum’s Fullerton Hall, a young Hindu monk, Swami Vivekananda electrified audiences with a powerful speech calling for an end to religious fundamentalism, intolerance, and bigotry.
This very speech forms the basis of Kallat’s work, as the staircase risers are illuminated by Vivekananda’s words in five alternating colors—red, orange, yellow, blue, and green. These colors, borrowed from the decade-long advisory system of the US Department of Homeland Security following the attacks of 9/11, formed a spectrum denoting terrorism threat levels—from red for severe to green for low. Kallat transforms this motif of public vigilance into a radiant signal, reflecting Swami Vivekananda’s timeless and urgent plea for tolerance and universal acceptance.
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