NEWLY OPENED EXHIBITION
Onchi Koshiro (Japanese, 1891-1955), Impression of a Violinist, 1947, color woodblock print, 21 3/8 × 15 7/16 in. (54.3 × 39.2 cm)
Modern Japanese Portraits in Print
January 23 – April 14, 2025
Gallery 107
The 1940s and 1950s were a pivotal time for Japan’s creative print movement, known as sōsaku hanga.
Just after World War II, artists who had primarily trained in oil painting turned to woodblock prints to portray the people around them, using the medium’s power and immediacy to capture a disappearing traditional world.
This exhibition features the work of four sōsaku hanga artists: Onchi Kōshirō (1891–1955) and his followers Sekino Jun’ichirō (1914–1988), Saitō Kiyoshi (1907–1997), and Kitaoka Fumio (1918–2007). Onchi was the movement’s main advocate, and his name is synonymous with the group. From 1939, sōsaku hanga artists met at his home on the first Thursday of every month, where they received the encouragement they needed to flourish.
The portraits of this postwar movement are melancholic, and Onchi often cited the abstract and expressive portraits of Modernist European artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Edvard Munch as inspiration. Accordingly, the emotionally charged pieces he and his contemporaries printed during this era imbued their subjects with psychological nuance and depth.
Modern Japanese Portraits presents 24 groundbreaking portraits, including many rare editions, from the Art Institute’s collection.
To learn more, click here.
Plum Vase (Maebyeong) with Clouds, Cranes, and Children Motifs, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), late 12th century, stoneware with red and white slip and celadon glaze, h: 13 1/8 in. (33.5 cm); Gift of Mr. Russell Tyson
New Gallery for the Arts of Korea
Ongoing
Ggallery 130
This fall, we unveiled a newly imagined and installed gallery for the arts of Korea—our first space fully dedicated to this cultural region.
The new installation presents a wider range of objects than previous displays—extending from ceramics to textiles and painting and spanning 2,000 years from the Three Kingdoms period (about 57 BCE–676 CE) until today. Intentionally located between the Chinese and Japanese art galleries, the thoughtful display offers insight into how these artworks both reflect the religious and material culture of Korea and how they relate to the arts of Korea’s influential neighbors, China and Japan.
Six themes introduce Korea’s long and rich history as well as its religious, political, and material cultures. The first section introduces objects that were made to help understand and spread the teachings of the Buddha. The centerpiece, an 18th-century Buddha statue, is on view for the first time since its acquisition after extensive conservation treatment. A section devoted to celadon and tea culture provides a glimpse into the practice of tea ceremonies during the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), and objects grouped around the idea of symbolism illustrate how beautiful embellishments represent desired outcomes, such as a blissful marriage, career advancement, and long life.
The remaining three sections focus on how material culture responded to a major ideological, political, and cultural shift during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897) as evidenced in the creation of the earthy grey stoneware known as buncheong, elegant white porcelain, and scholars’ objects. The new installation also includes select contemporary works that meaningfully engage with traditional forms and materials.
To mark the gallery’s opening, the space presents two stunning gold objects—a crown and pendant as well as a belt from the Silla kingdom period (about 57 BCE–676 CE). These objects have been designated as Treasures by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea and are on loan from the National Museum of Korea through early February 2025. Further enhancing the visitor experience are an interactive feature and video that offer deeper insight into two objects’ symbolism and function.
To learn more, click here.
GALLERY COLLECTION DISPLAY
Affirmation of Stone and Metal
January 30, 2025 – May 19, 2025
Korean Ceramics: Tradition as Inspiration (w.t.)
April 24, 2025 – November 3, 2025
To learn more about our collection, click here.
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.
To learn more, click here.
