Art for which the idea (or concept) behind the work is more important than the finished art object.&nbsp;

Conceptual / Performance

<h3>Developed during the Italian Renaissance, primarily for aesthetics or beauty, the highest art was that which allowed the full expression and display of the artist's imagination.</h3>

Fine Prints & Painting – Pre 18th Century

<h3>Graphic Art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional. It includes calligraphy, photography, painting, typography, computer graphics, and bindery.&nbsp;</h3>

Graphic Art

Works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects.

Artists' Books

The exploration of video art and music or sound set, including visual music, abstract film, audiovisual performances and installations.

Video / Sound

The objects produced by shaping pieces of clay that are then hardened by baking, or the skill of making such objects.

Ceramics

An artistic form in which hard or plastic materials are carved, modeled, casted, and constructed into a three-dimensional art object.&nbsp;

Sculpture

The process of creating artworks by printing, typically on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints that have an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting.

Printmaking

<h3>Something made in an earlier period that is collected and considered to have value because it is beautiful, rare, old, or of high quality.</h3>

Antiques and Artifacts

Imagery where the subject matter centers around a view or depiction of Chicago.&nbsp;

Chicago Scenes & Regionalism

Old Masters refer to any painter of skill who worked in Europe before about 1800.

Old Masters

Socio-Political art is used to help the public understand a particular social or political issue.

Socio-Political

<h3>The attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, or implausible, exotic, and supernatural elements.</h3>

Realism

<h3>Artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real objects and is representational.</h3>

Figurative

<h3>Individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. Glass art ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces, to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glass jewelry and tableware.</h3>

Glass

<h3>Artwork that often deals with Rococo, the Enlightenment, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism.</h3>

Fine Prints & Painting – 18th & 19th C.

From the Tate Museum's website: Modernism refers to a global movement in society and culture that from the early decades of the twentieth century sought a new alignment with the experience and values of modern industrial life. Building on late nineteenth-century precedents, artists around the world used new imagery, materials and techniques to create artworks that they felt better reflected the realities and hopes of modern societies.

Modernism

<h3>Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that continue to challenge boundaries.</h3>

Fine Prints & Painting – Contemporary

<h3>Art that is concerned with the design and decoration of objects that are chiefly prized for their utility, rather than for their purely aesthetic qualities including, ceramics, glassware, metalware, furniture, textiles, clothing, and more.</h3>

Furniture & Decorative Arts

<h3>Emerging art is work by artists who are still building their artistic careers and have not yet reached a more established and widely recognized status.&nbsp;</h3>

Emerging

<h3>Fiber art refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labour on the part of the artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over utility.</h3>

Fiber Arts / Textiles

The quality of dealing with ideas rather than events. Freedom from representational qualities in art.

Abstraction

<h3>Art by African-American artists.</h3>

African-American

<h3>The art and science of designing and making buildings, or the style of a building.</h3>

Architecture

<h3>Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, an emphasis on light and its changing qualities, and inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience.</h3>

Impressionism

From the Tate Museum's website: Abstract expressionism is the term applied to new forms of abstract art developed by American painters such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning in the 1940s and 1950s. It is often characterized by gestural brush-strokes or mark-making, and the impression of spontaneity.

Abstract Expressionism

Numismatics

Relating to Africa or people of African descent.

African

Eastern European art is a product of recent history. It can be traced to the division of Europe into the Western and Soviet spheres of influence of the allied victory over Germany in World War two.

Eastern European

Considered one of the most influential periods of art, featuring movements including Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism.

Early 20th Century

Skill and experience, especially in relation to making objects by hand.

Craft

<h3>The skill of making plans, drawings, or arrangements to show how a building or product is made.</h3>

Design

Asian art is diverse and rich, spanning thousands of years and dozens of countries. It is known for its ritual bronzes, beautiful ceramics, calligraphy, jades, textiles, painted landscapes, garden design, pagodas and stupas, and woodblock prints.

Asian

<h3>An artistic genre of three-dimensional works that often are site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space.</h3>

Installations

An art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance.

Performance

Some of the most prominent, highly influential artists, who challenged preconceptions and pushed the limits of visual art, shaping the art world of our time.

Modern Contemporary Masters

Created in accordance with the vision of the artist as a photographer, using photography as a medium to bring something to life that only lives in the artist's mind.

Photography

The design movement in interior, product, graphic design, architecture, and urban development from roughly the 1930's to 1965.

Mid-Century

A movement in art and literature that flourished in the early 20th-century. Surrealism aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free from conscious rational control.&nbsp;

Surrealism

An innovative discipline which seeks to unify a large range of art forms. This is creatively achieved by combining an array of artistic insights and crafts such as film, literature, performance, music and sound, drama, visual arts, or design.

Multi-Media

<h3>The depiction of landscapes in art—natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composition.</h3>

Landscape

Plein air is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look.

Plein-air

Printed 2-D artwork which is designed to be affixed to a vertical surface, may consist exclusively of images, or images and text.

Poster / Lithography

<h3>A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.</h3>

Portraits / Portraiture

<h3>These works are often stunningly beautiful, and encourage the viewer to engage with the rich history of research and experimentation that led to the piece’s conception.</h3>

Scientific

<h3>The Art of the American West is defined by geographical subject, consists of historic and contemporary works of art which focus on varying expressions of individuals, landscapes, ideals, and myths of the American West.</h3>

Western (The American West)

<h3>Borrowed from Wikipedia: In visual arts, music, and other mediums, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, Dan Flavin, Robert Morris, Anne Truitt, and Frank Stella. It derives from the reductive aspects of modernism and is often interpreted as a reaction against abstract expressionism and a bridge to postminimal art practices.</h3>

Minimalism

<h3>Occupying the space between fine art and the everyday, functional art refers to aesthetic objects that serve utilitarian purposes. The genre is remarkably inclusive, it encompasses everything from furniture and lighting to dishes and even books.</h3>

Functional Art - Jewelry / Fashion

A range of artistic practices encompassing both historical approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and politically motivated types of works.

Wildlife / Nature

Watches & Timepieces

Sports Collectibles

3-Dimensonal

Rare Books / Manuscripts

Western European art represents a continuous, though disrupted, tradition from antiquity until the present time. Until the mid-19th century it was primarily concerned with representational and Classical modes of production. After the mid-19th century modern, abstract and conceptual forms gained favor.

Western European

<h3>Artistic expression of Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, as well as Latin and Hispanic Americans living in other regions. Latin American art has roots in the many different indigenous cultures that inhabited the Americas before European colonization in the 16th-century.</h3>

Latin American and Hispanic

Comics

Large Scale (over 6')

Visual art created in public locations, usually unsanctioned artwork executed outside of the context of traditional art venues. Common forms and media include spray paint graffiti, stencil graffiti, poster art, sticker art, street installations, and sculpture.

Pop / Street Art / Graffiti

Medieval / Renaissance 

Non-Western

<h3>Art produced by self-taught or naïve art makers. Typically, those labeled as outsider artists have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasy worlds.</h3>

Folk / Outsider / Self Taught

American Regionalism

Literary Arts

Mosiac

Includes manuscripts, prints, drawings, collages, and paintings on paper.

Works on Paper

Prints and Drawings

Founded in 1940, South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) is the nation’s first Black art institution, dedicated to amplifying the voices of contemporary Black artists. SSCAC is a dynamic cultural space where Black art, thought, and radical creativity thrive on Chicago’s South Side. Here, we embrace art as a living, evolving language, one that speaks to resilience, imagination, and the complexities of Black identity in our time. SSCAC is both a platform and a sanctuary—a place where emerging creators stand shoulder-to-shoulder with seasoned visionaries, and where every exhibition, workshop, and performance is an invitation to explore and challenge. Our commitment is to showcase bold, current perspectives that resonate with the realities of today while honoring the legacy that brought us here. Join us as we nurture the future of Black art, creating space for innovation, dialogue, and profound cultural expression. January 2025–March 2029: Beyond Frames: Black Women Collectors Shaping&nbsp;Cultural Heritage in Chicago Image: South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC), the nation’s first Black art space, forging the future on Chicago’s South Side.&nbsp;Design: Jada-Amina / Photo Credit: Lennell Davis, Jr.

South Side Community Art Center

Seven years after launching her namesake gallery in Seattle, Mariane Ibrahim moved their space to Chicago in 2019. In September 2021, the gallery opened their inaugural European space in Paris and in February 2023 opened a location in Mexico City. The gallery has hosted acclaimed exhibitions, with a founding focus on the African diaspora, from leading and emerging artists. The gallery has worked with global renowned institutions and have had an international presence at art fairs with acclaimed and prize-winning presentations. In 2021 Ibrahim was awarded The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and the Letters) on behalf of the Ministry of culture in France. Notable prizes and appointments include the Prize Winner from Presents Section, The Armory Show 2017, current Selection Committee, The Armory Show, current Visionaries Committee, Performa Arts and member of the Art Dealers Association of America. Image: Sol Kordich, Coming back to the one. Installation View. Courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim.

Mariane Ibrahim

DePaul Art Museum (DPAM) is a world-class museum located in the heart of Lincoln Park on DePaul University’s campus. DPAM is open to the public and presents three to five temporary exhibitions per year with a permanent collection of nearly 4,000 objects with strengths in international modern and contemporary art, particularly highlighting the voices of marginalized artists and communities. DPAM enriches the university’s commitments to excellence, diversity and social concerns by connecting people through art and ideas that explore the vast range of human experience and expression. We provide an inclusive platform for innovative artistic voices with a program that bridges local and global concerns. Image: Christina Fernandez, Lavanderia #1, 2002. Archival pigment print. From the series Lavanderia. Courtesy Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ralph M. Parsons Fund

DePaul University Art Museum (DPAM)

The gallery has closed to the public as of April 1, 2025. You may reach out by email or phone. Visit our website for information. Images, clockwise from top left:&nbsp;Bill Traylor; Chris Pyle;&nbsp;Ed Paschke; Henry Darger

Carl Hammer Gallery

Note: The Smart will be closed for installation&nbsp;from Monday, July 14th, through Monday, September 22nd.&nbsp;Join us this fall for&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(237, 49, 35);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=95ecf9f9e4&amp;e=a6ad3ea4a5" target="_blank">Theaster Gates: Unto Thee</a>&nbsp;and the newly announced&nbsp;<a style="color: inherit;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=3e1b8e4f6a&amp;e=a6ad3ea4a5" target="_blank">Smart to the Core: Wise to Power</a>. As the fine arts museum of the University of Chicago, the Smart Museum of Art is a site for rigorous inquiry and exchange that encourages the examination of complex issues through the lens of art objects and artistic practice. Through strong scholarly and community collaborations and a welcoming approach to its exhibitions, collections, publications, research and teaching, and public programs, the Smart Museum plays a dynamic role in expanding artistic canons, rethinking received histories, introducing new perspectives, and engaging diverse communities—locally, nationally, and internationally. The Smart Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary.&nbsp; Visit <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu" target="_blank">smartmuseum.uchicago.edu</a> for more.&nbsp; Admission to the Smart Museum of Art is always free and open to all.&nbsp; Photo by Jason Smith

Smart Museum of Art

The DuSable Museum of African American History located in the historic Hyde Park area of Chicago (57th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue) in Washington Park unites art, history and culture.Founded in 1961 by teacher and art historian Dr. Margaret Burroughs and other leading Chicago citizens, the DuSable Museum is one of the few independent institutions of its kind in the United States. The Museum was developed to preserve and interpret experiences and achievements of people of African descent. The Museum is dedicated to the collection, documentation, preservation, and study of the history and culture of Africans and African Americans. The DuSable Museum is proud of its diverse holdings that number more than 15,000 pieces and include paintings, sculpture, print works, and historical&nbsp;memorabilia. Special exhibitions, workshops, and lectures are featured to highlight works by particular artists, historical events, or collections on loan from individuals or institutions.&nbsp; Please see website for a list of hours.

The DuSable Museum of African American History

Check website for hours and opening dates and they are subject to change throughout the year. The Stony Island Arts Bank is a hybrid gallery, media archive, library and community center –&nbsp;and a home for Rebuild’s archives and collections. Designed by William Gibbons Uffendell and built in 1923, the bank at 68th Street and Stony Island Avenue was once a vibrant community savings and loan. By the eighties, the branch had closed and the building remained vacant and deteriorating for decades. Reopened&nbsp;in October 2015, the radically restored building serves as a space for neighborhood residents to preserve, access, reimagine and share their heritage – and a destination for artists, scholars, curators, and collectors to research and engage with South Side history. The Arts Bank collections include:<ul><li>Johnson Publishing Archive + Collections: Books and periodicals donated by the Johnson Publishing Company, publisher of Ebony and Jetmagazine.</li><li>University of Chicago Glass Lantern Slides: Over 60,000 slides of art and architectural history from the Paleolithic to Modern eras</li><li>Edward J. Williams Collection: 4,000 objects of “negrobilia” – mass cultural objects and artifacts that feature stereotypical images of people of color</li><li>Frankie Knuckles Records: “Godfather of House Music,” Frankie Knuckles’ vinyl collection</li></ul> For more information contact <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:info@rebuild-foundation.org" target="_blank">info@rebuild-foundation.org</a>&nbsp;

Stony Island Arts Bank

Mongerson Gallery deals in 19th and 20th century art including Surrealists Gertrude Abercrombie and Julia Thecla; Regionalists including Thomas Hart Benton, William Ashby McCloy and Robert Hodgell; American Modernism including&nbsp;Georgia O’Keeffe; and Detroit Black Arts Movement artists Charles McGee and Harold Neal. In addition, Mongerson Gallery continues to offer paintings and sculpture from the United States’ westward expansion, including works by Frederic&nbsp;Remington, Ernest Blumenschein, Charles Marion Russell, Thomas Moran, and W. R. Leigh. The gallery is happy to assist private clients by consulting on fine art appraisals, auction services, collections development and management, and authentication. Image: Frederic Remington (1861-1909), The Bronco Buster

Mongerson Gallery

At Aaron Galleries, founded in 1980, experience a world where traditional meets modern and artists push boundaries and explore new mediums. Our 20th and 21st Century Contemporary artists express themselves in new and unexpected ways, experimenting with traditional materials and refining their vision to give the viewer an exciting, contemplative experience. The same is true of our gallery’s specialty: African American masters. Discover the rich heritage and vibrant creativity of their art on our curated platform. Whether you’re a seasoned collector or just beginning your art adventure, you’ll find that we have something for everyone. At Aaron Galleries, experience the power of creativity and the magic of artistic expression. Image: Charles White,&nbsp;Sound of Silence II

African-American

Art by African-American artists.

Other Specialties

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