The colors and the details are beautiful, a story of different religions, arts and parts of American life all intertwined. The Windows are in a superb location now, as they glow softly from the natural light coming in behind them. The windows were presented with great fanfare at a formal unveiling, hosted by the Auxiliary Board of the Art Institute, on May 15, 1977. Daley, a great supporter of public art projects (he died December 1976). Because Chagall admired Chicago and its strong commitment to public art during the 1960s and 1970s, he chose to dedicate the work to the late Mayor Richard J. They paint a romantic picture of the American Dream, the idea that we can achieve anything we want in this country. The resulting six-panel work, with three main themes, celebrates the country as a place of cultural and religious freedom, giving details of the arts of music, painting, literature, theater, and dance. During the next three years plans were clarified, and Chagall decided that the windows would commemorate America’s bicentennial. One of these included Mark Chagall’s mosaic The Four Seasons installed outside Chase Tower in 1974, which in turn inspired America Windows.īecause the city was so enthusiastic about his work and the Art Institute gave him great support, Chagall offered to create a set of stained-glass windows for the museum. It initially inspired controversy, but soon started a cultural resurgence fueled by public and private investment in the arts. It was Chicago’s first major installation of the new styles of 20 th century modern art (see my post on this here ). The roots of this can be traced to 1967, the year Pablo Picasso’s monumental sculpture was unveiled. It’s interesting that the history of America Windows is interwoven with the history of Chicago and its rich tradition of public art, which continues strongly today. Here we can see models and maquettes of some of the important large pieces in the story of Chicago’s modern public art. But, they returned in 2010 to a new location as the stunning centerpiece of a new presentation on Chicago’s other modern public art at the east end of the museum’s Arthur Rubloff building (as you go down to the café). Conservation treatment and archival research.
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