The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art

Written by Julie Greiner

The Smart Museum is a focal point for the visual arts in Chicago. The Museum is located on the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus at 5650 South Greenwood Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. The Smart Museum houses a collection of over 8,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of artistic creation. Featured at the museum are exhibits of modern, contemporary, decorative and East Asian art as well as works of the Old Masters. The permanent collection combined with critically acclaimed special exhibitions, research and teaching by University of Chicago scholars and nationally recognized education programs for adults, children and families makes the Smart Museum one of the city's most dynamic and innovative educational institutions in the visual arts. In other words... the Museum is a must see for all of those who come to Chicago.

History of the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago

The Smart Museum was founded in 1974, with a one-million-dollar contribution from the Smart Family Foundation. The Museum was named after David Smart, the founder A View of the Contemporary Galleries at the Smart Museum of Art

A View of the Contemporary Galleries at the Smart Museum of Art

of Esquire Magazine and his brother Alfred. The Museum's initial collection consisted of a consolidation of works of art from a variety of periods and cultures given to the University since the time of its founding by John D. Rockefeller in the 19th century. Following the museum's founding, it was the recipient of a number of important gifts and collections, including Renaissance and Baroque paintings and sculpture from the Samuel Kress Foundation, the Joel Starrels, Jr. Memorial Collection of late 19th- and 20th- century sculpture and drawings, and furniture by Frank Lloyd Wright from the Robie House. Since 1974, the Museum has steadily expanded its collections through gift an purchase, with particular emphasis on the areas of Asian art, graphic arts and 20th-century paintings, sculpture and decorative arts.

Exhibits of the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago

Critical Mass explores current critical art practice in Chicago through Jean Metzinger (1883-1956) Soldier at a Game of Chess c. 1915-16 , Smart Museum of Art Permanent Collection

Jean Metzinger (1883-1956) Soldier at a Game of Chess c. 1915-16 , Smart Museum of Art Permanent Collection

new commissions from locally based artists. Critical Mass demonstrates the potential energy that can be generated by a convergence of elements. The Exhibit of Nature, Myth, Allegory will explore how 19th-century artists and their audiences drew on views of the natural world. Included in the exhibition are a neoclassical marble statue of the mythic Roman youth Narcissus by English sculptor Richard Wyatt and a large canvas depicting the ancient Greek poet Homer painted by French Symbolist Emile Rene Menard.

New Hyde Park Arts Fest

This summer, Chicagoans and visitors will have the chance to explore the broad range of cultural opportunities in Hyde Park and on the University of Chicago campus. The first annual Hyde Park - University of Chicago Arts Fest will take place. The Smart Museum collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets works of art for the benefit of the University community and other general audiences and the scholarly world at large. The Museum Gift Shop features unique items including jewelry, exhibitions catalogues, postcards, art magazines, journals and books. The Museum Cafe offers a light fare of refreshments including coffee, pastries and sandwiches. For further information on tours and hours call 773-702-0200 or logon at http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu.