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AIC: American Art (Bot)

@aicamerican.bsky.social

Sharing artworks from the Art Institute of Chicago's American Art department. Automated thanks to @andreitr.bsky.social and @botfrens.bsky.social

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AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 5h ago

Settee https://www.artic.edu/artworks/38866/

Gift of the Antiquarian Society through the Mrs. Burton W. Hales Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 8h ago

Pair of Convex Mirrors https://www.artic.edu/artworks/76827/

Gift of the Antiquarian Society through the Jessie Spalding Landon Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 9h ago

Necklace https://www.artic.edu/artworks/90916/

Gift of the Antiquarian Society through the William C. Bannerman Foundation

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 13h ago

Self-Portrait of My Sister https://www.artic.edu/artworks/198809/

At first glance, Self-Portrait of My Sister appears to be a relatively straightforward representation of a young woman. It was painted by the Chicago Surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie but seems to lack the mysterious imagery of her landscapes and interior scenes. Further examination, however, reveals subtle touches of her dark aesthetic, beginning with the title itself. Self-Portrait of My Sister is an enigmatic reference to a sister who did not exist, for the artist was in fact an only child. However, Abercrombie initially referred to this painting as “Portrait of Artist as Ideal,” a phrase that reveals her underlying meaning. Abercrombie’s work was invariably self-referential; as she put it, “It’s always myself that I paint, but not actually, because I don’t look that good or cute.” Her reference to a fictitious, prettier sister hints at her desire to be a different person, a longing she satisfied through self-portraiture.
Here, the artist exaggerated and idealized her appearance, depicting herself with an extraordinarily long, slender neck; vivid blue eyes; and sharpened features. She portrayed herself wearing black gloves and a flat-brimmed hat trimmed with a bunch of grapes, all motifs that recurred with some frequency in her paintings and acted as symbols of her presence. Such inclusions helped shape her individual variant of Surrealism, which she felt was based in realism. “Surrealism is meant for me,” she remarked, “because I am a pretty realistic person but don’t like all I see. So I dream that it is changed. Then I change it to the way I want it. It is almost always pretty real. Only mystery and fantasy have been added. All foolishness has been taken out. It becomes my own dream.”

Gift of Powell and Barbara Bridges

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 16h ago

"Saracenic" Coffee Pot and Sugar Bowl https://www.artic.edu/artworks/238832/

This coffee pot, with its spherical base, narrow neck, and elongated spout, is based on Islamic vessels. Tiffany and Company first incorporated Islamic elements into their wares at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1867. Edward C. Moore, the chief silver designer, drew inspiration from his own collection of Middle Eastern art objects and design books, appropriating such elements as thin, sinuous forms and intricate, repeating patterns. The undersides of these objects are engraved Florence Pullman, a Chicagoan who was the daughter of George Pullman of the Pullman Car Company, which was famous for labor strikes by workers and the formation of the first African American labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

Mary Swissler Oldberg Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · yesterday

Jug https://www.artic.edu/artworks/73411/

Bequest of Elizabeth R. Vaughan

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · yesterday

Carl Van Vechten https://www.artic.edu/artworks/49041/

Gift of Mr. Carl Van Vechten

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · yesterday

Wineglass https://www.artic.edu/artworks/135265/

Bequest of Pauline Seipp Armstrong

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 2d ago

World's Columbian Exposition Commemorative Presentation Medal https://www.artic.edu/artworks/135386/

Hutchinson Ryerson Medal Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 2d ago

Stickpin https://www.artic.edu/artworks/186069/

Restricted gift of Neville and John Bryan; through prior acquisition of various donors

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 2d ago

Shelf Clock https://www.artic.edu/artworks/203811/

An alternative to expensive tall case clocks, shelf clocks were more affordable in the early 19th century. On this piece, Benjamin Torrey used a technique called eglomise, in which paint is applied to the back of a glass pane so that the reverse image is visible to the viewer. The romanticized pastoral scene and the decorative motif that borders both the upper and lower cases evince the design possibilities in use during the Neoclassical period. This particular clock is rare in that it retains both its original glass and its striking mechanism. A prized possession, it remained in the Torrey family until the Great Depression.

Quinn E. Delaney and Vance American Art funds

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 2d ago

Pitcher https://www.artic.edu/artworks/58404/

Restricted gift of Glen Ellyn Wheaton Associates of the Woman's Board

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 2d ago

Rooster https://www.artic.edu/artworks/74471/

Bequest of Elizabeth R. Vaughan

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 3d ago

Cathedral Clock Case https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148111/

Gift of Harold Allen

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 3d ago

Pan https://www.artic.edu/artworks/76747/

Emily Crane Chadbourne Decorative Arts Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 3d ago

Three Medals Depicting Lincoln https://www.artic.edu/artworks/789/

Gift of H. H. Zearing

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 3d ago

Bowl https://www.artic.edu/artworks/35685/

Bessie Bennett Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 3d ago

Compote https://www.artic.edu/artworks/58409/

Gift of Mrs. Murray Wolbach in memory of Elsie Flexner Loseser

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 3d ago

The Interpreter Waved at the Youth https://www.artic.edu/artworks/97887/

George F. Harding Collection

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 4d ago

Jewelry Segment https://www.artic.edu/artworks/186322/

Restricted gift of Neville and John Bryan; through prior acquisition of various donors

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 4d ago

A Silver Morning https://www.artic.edu/artworks/110561/

Edward B. Butler Collection

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 4d ago

Portrait of Marevna https://www.artic.edu/artworks/7021/

Early in his career, Diego Rivera enjoyed a brief but sparkling period as a Cubist painter. After years of rigorous art training in Mexico City, he traveled throughout Europe from 1907 to 1910. In l9l2 Rivera settled in Paris, where he befriended other emigré avant-garde artists, such as Amedeo Modigliani and Piet Mondrian. During World War l, he became a leading member of a group of Cubists that included Albert Gleizes, Juan Gris, and Jean Metzinger.
The subject of this portrait is Rivera’s lover at the time, Marevna Vorobëv-Stebelska, a Russian-born painter and writer. Photographs of the sitter, which show her distinctive bobbed hair, blond bangs, and prominent nose, reveal Rivera’s gifts of observation. Seated in an overstuffed armchair, she turns away from the book she holds in her lap, as if momentarily—perhaps angrily—distracted. Vorobëv-Stebelska is stylishly dressed in a gold-brocade bodice, white sleeves, and a dress whose shape hints at a pair of crossed legs. To her right appears a green, faux-marble form that may be a fireplace, and behind her is a schematically rendered window and shutters. In this Synthetic Cubist composition, Rivera used color to suggest spatial recession, making the planes meant to be closer to the viewer brighter than those at further remove. The painting’s somber and rich color harmonies recall the palette of Gris.
Following World War I and the Russian Revolution, Rivera, like many other artists in Paris, rejected Cubism as frivolous and inappropriate for the new age. In 1921 the painter returned to Mexico, which itself had emerged from a decade of revolutionary struggle. There, adopting monumental forms that suited the country’s new political reality, he began to produce work for which he is acclaimed today: paintings, graphics, and, above all, murals depicting Mexican political and cultural life.

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, gift of Georgia O'Keeffe

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 4d ago

Portrait of Fred Adelbert Haywood https://www.artic.edu/artworks/61112/

Gift of the Estate of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 5d ago

Center Table https://www.artic.edu/artworks/102294/

Dr. and Mrs. Dudley Phelps Sanford and Charles F. Montgomery Sales Proceeds funds, and George Mason Memorial Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 5d ago

Pair of Cuff Links and Three Studs https://www.artic.edu/artworks/69563/

Gift of Ivy Ross and Robert Ebendorf

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 5d ago

Bowl https://www.artic.edu/artworks/203275/

The American glass industry began in the Northeast, but it migrated to the Midwest as people moved westward during the early 19th century. Cleveland connoisseurs Dr. George and Alice Perry Follansbee, important early collectors of American glass, once owned this bowl. They undoubtedly delighted in the irregularity and large size of this handmade, freely blown vessel.

Robert McCormick Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 5d ago

Armchair https://www.artic.edu/artworks/50282/

This chair was made by an English or Irish cabinetmaker who had emigrated to Philadelphia. The style of the chair successfully blends the Philadelphia Quakers’ preference for elegant simplicity and functionality with decorative flourishes that were stylish in English work of the period. Some of the decorative elements that embellish the chair are also found on a small group of early Philadelphia-Baroque, “fiddleback-splat” chairs, so named for the curve on the side of the back splat reminiscent of the shape of a violin.

Gift of the Antiquarian Society through the Jessie Spalding Landon Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 5d ago

"Westward Ho!/Pioneer"pattern pitcher https://www.artic.edu/artworks/148063/

Gift of Harold Allen

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 5d ago

Tankard https://www.artic.edu/artworks/105292/

Mrs. John Graham Fund

AIC: American Art (Bot)@aicamerican.bsky.social · 6d ago

Side Chair https://www.artic.edu/artworks/120394/

Designs for American furniture of the colonial period were usually based on European precedents, whether from an exact prototype, from designs in pattern books, or from the memory of an immigrant craftsman. In the case of this chair, the craftsman based the design on both an English chair that was imported into Boston sometime around 1750 and on a design plate from Thomas Chippendale’s pattern book, The Gentleman and the Cabinetmaker’s Director, published in 1762. With its delicate proportions and crisp carvings, this chair is one of the boldest expressions of the Boston Rococo style.

Helen Bowen Blair Fund