Giving Picasso And Pollack A New Home At The Art Institute Of Chicago

In the heart of the city, there’s a revolutionary piece of architecture that's made a name for itself as one of Chicago’s top cultural institutions—the Art Institute of Chicago. The museum, founded in 1879, welcomes more than 1.5 million people a year.² As a long-standing supporter of some of Chicago’s great institutions, we saw an opportunity to help one of its most prominent icons continue to grow. So, when the Art Institute decided to undertake its largest expansion in 100 years, we donated $5 million as the founding civic sponsor.

Completed in 2009, the Modern Wing not only increased the size of the museum by 33 percent², but many have also said that architect Renzo Piano’s glass, steel and limestone structure was truly transformational for Chicago’s landscape. By uniting old and new, the wing artfully puts a fresh twist on a historic building, while providing visitors a pristine vantage point of Millennium Park and the Chase Promenade.

Today, the new extension houses more than 2,000 of the world’s preeminent modern and contemporary works of art.² Pieces such as Picasso's Old Guitarist and works from Jackson Pollack add to the Institute’s notoriety, and bring new guests and economic growth to the area. Our support of programs like 2013’s Impressionism, Fashion,and Modernity exhibition is another aspect of our commitment to help the museum bring art to the community.

For more information about the Art Institute, visit www.artic.edu

1. Art Institute of Chicago, 2014 http://www.artic.edu/aic/ collections/exhibitions/modernwing/overview

2. Rebecca Baldwin, Art Institute of Chicago, 2014.