Art Institute of Chicago
Lesson Plan: A Writer’s Odyssey
Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...
Art Institute of Chicago
African Myths and Stories
Young historians discover African stories associated with a royal altar tusk from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, read myths illustrated on the tusk, and write a story about the life of an oba using figures depicted on the tusk.
Art Institute of Chicago
Urban Space
The use of perspective is clear in Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. Pupils study and discuss this example, marking the vanishing points and horizon line of a photocopy of the piece. They then create their own urban scene...
Art Institute of Chicago
Color Combinations
Explore color through an examination of pointillism and light. Class members view Georges Seraut's famous painting on a computer, zooming in and out to see the details and effects of the technique. They then cover how light and color are...
Art Institute of Chicago
Send a Postcard
Using Claude Monet's On the Bank of the Seine as inspiration, young artists create their own postcards. During the lesson, learners discuss the techniques used in Monet's painting, as well as the woman in the painting, and learn how to...
Art Institute of Chicago
Act It Out
Examine two works of art and use these pieces as inspiration for dialogues. The whole class discusses Renoir's Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Toulouse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge. Then, in groups of either three or ten, pupils...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Art Access
The Art Institute of Chicago's Art Access website, which links to selections of global art drawn from the institute's collection. Selections grouped by region and include lesson plans, activities, maps, and glossaries.
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence Anxiety and Myth
From the landing page of a past exhibit introduction, use links to learn about Edvard Munch and the themes in his work. View selected works and the tools and techniques he used to create his art. A chronology of his life and additional...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: The Divine Art: Four Centuries of European Tapestries
From the landing page, learn about tapestries, their function, and creation, including the production of dyes used to produce colors. Tapestries in the the Art Institute's collection are highlighted as the history of tapestries is...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Benin: Kings and Rituals: Court Arts From Nigeria
Learn about the history of the royal art of the Benin Kingdom in Africa. An overview of the art is provided and with further explanation given according to themes. View maps and selected works of art. A video, charts, glossary, and a...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Girodet Romantic Rebel
A wonderfully detailed exhibition site, developed by the Art Institute of Chicago, devoted to this gifted French painter, whose work is often viewed in opposition to the prevailing neoclassical style of his time. With a career that...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Manet and the Sea
This site is a preview to a live exhibit in Chicago, these pages explore the theme of seascape as perceived in the late 19th century. Includes a great deal about Manet and other artists of the period plus plenty of images of famous works.
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Art Access: William M. Harnett
View nineteenth-century American trompe o'eil still life "For Sunday's Dinner" by William Harnett, with context and analysis.
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Art Access: Modern and Contemporary Art
The Art Institute's collection of modern and contemporary art is one of the most comprehensive of any museum and includes two icons of 20th-century American art: Grant Wood's American Gothic and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. The museum has...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Art Access: Renaissance and Baroque Art
Art of the Baroque period of the 17th century embodied a dynamic energy that mirrored the restless spirit of its age. In painting, dramatic images of faith driven by the Catholic Church's Counter-Reformation contrast with lively...
Art Institute of Chicago
Quick Facts: Gustave Caillebotte
"Paris Street; Rainy Day," Caillebotte's masterpiece shown here, is accompanied by a paragraph of explanatory text.
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago: Revealing Picasso
Using new technology related to examining artwork, The Art Institute of Chicago was able to uncover unknown details about one of Picasso's most famous works, "The Old Guitarist." Fascinating discoveries and technological processes make...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913 1917
Exhibition of Matisse's paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, from a pivotal period in the artist's career. With a numerous examples of the artist's work, biographical notes, compositional analysis, and video of Matisse at work.
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
At the online home of the Art Institute of Chicago, browse the full scope and focus of the museum's collections of French impressionism, photography, architectural drawing, European decorative arts, American art, textiles, African art,...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Technical Glossary of Watercolor Terms
Learn about the art of watercolor painting with this technical glossary of watercolor terms from the Art Institute of Chicago.
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Van Gogh and Gauguin
The Art Institute of Chicago examines the friendship of the postimpressionists Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh during the period from 1887 to 1889.
Art Institute of Chicago
Alfred Stieglitz Collection: The Photo Secession
This article explains the Photo-Secession movement which sought recognition for photography as an art form. There are more than sixty identified photographs by a number of members of the Photo-Secession movement, with links to more...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: The Gates of Paradise
This online exhibit showcases one of Florence's most well known art treasures, The Gates of Paradise. These relief panels decorate the entrance to Grace Cathedral. See detailed images of the panels that are on display in Chicago and...
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago: Charles Sheeler
This exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago is presented in a preview format which includes an overview of the work of Charles Sheeler's life, information on his works, and a sampling of the exhibition's themes.