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aicamerican.bsky.social
AIC: American Art (Bot)
@aicamerican.bsky.social
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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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Salt https://www.artic.edu/artworks/105459/
The “checkered-diamond” pattern on this salt has been found on glass attributed to New Bremen, but diamond molding was popular on both American and European, particularly Bohemian and English, objects for many years. Thus, this piece, like many from early America, could have been made here or made abroad for use in America. American Fund
December 19, 2025 at 2:28 PM
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Locket https://www.artic.edu/artworks/76172/
Restricted gift of Mrs. Burton W. Hales
December 19, 2025 at 11:08 AM
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Fork (one of a pair with 1990.487.1) https://www.artic.edu/artworks/120106/
Restricted gift of Robert B. Merrifield and William E. and Martha Merrifield Steen in memory of their parents, Frederick W. and Katherine B. Merrifield and Enoch and Nora T. Steen
December 19, 2025 at 9:18 AM
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Seal of the Fine Arts Federation of New York https://www.artic.edu/artworks/63221/
Gift of Charles L. Hutchinson
December 18, 2025 at 7:41 PM
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Gate Leg Table https://www.artic.edu/artworks/58111/
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Salisbury
December 18, 2025 at 3:35 PM
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A Glimpse into Hell, or Fear https://www.artic.edu/artworks/97884/
Elihu Vedder probed questions of the mind in his paintings and illustrations, creating complex, visionary compositions often centered on literary or spiritual subject matter. The lunette A Glimpse into Hell, or Fear is drawn from 14th-century poet Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, the first part of his epic poem, Divine Comedy. Here, five females confront the gate of Hell. Beholding such a sight, they express apprehension and fear, accentuated by the swirling forms of their draperies and hair. Vedder focused on the figures’ psychological tension, rather than the spectacle of the environs itself, depicting only a sliver of fiery flames at bottom left. George F. Harding Collection
December 18, 2025 at 1:20 PM
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The Sun Vow https://www.artic.edu/artworks/31672/
Hermon Atkins MacNeil first became interested in Native American culture after viewing the ethnographic displays at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Modeled several years later while MacNeil lived in Rome, The Sun Vow portrays a young Native American undergoing a rite of manhood while under the tutelage of an older warrior: after shooting an arrow skyward at the sun, the boy and his mentor follow its ascent in the sky. The sculpture displays the artist's desire to blend anthropological accuracy with the idealized beauty of the ancient sculptures that he studied in Rome. Bequest of Howard Van Doren Shaw
December 18, 2025 at 11:02 AM
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Coffee Service https://www.artic.edu/artworks/223080/
This dynamic coffee service exemplifies German émigré Albert Feinauer’s unique blend of modernist forms in his designs for the American market. The cylindrical and spherical shapes of the three vessels are indebted to German Bauhaus principles of clean lines and geometric simplicity, while the stepped pattern of right-angle lines, circles, and arcs suggest the fragmented and discontinuous lines of Cubism. Feinauer’s designs for the International Silver Company unfortunately coincided with the devastating stock market crash of 1929, which halted the company’s production of these modern wares. Mary Swissler Oldberg Fund
December 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM
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Cann https://www.artic.edu/artworks/109499/
Jamee J. and Marshall Field Endowment; Mrs. Edna Graham Fund
December 17, 2025 at 6:01 PM
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Pair of Spoons https://www.artic.edu/artworks/72784/
Gift of the Paul McCulloch Family
December 17, 2025 at 4:27 PM
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Fruit saucer (from Imperial Hotel table setting) https://www.artic.edu/artworks/226601/
Gift of the Noritake Company, Inc.
December 17, 2025 at 1:49 PM
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Table https://www.artic.edu/artworks/56044/
Wirt D. Walker Fund
December 17, 2025 at 10:38 AM
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The Hippodrome, London https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111326/
A souvenir of Everett Shinn’s only trip to Europe, The Hippodrome, London is apparently the first oil painting devoted to what would become the artist’s signature subject: popular entertainments such as the circus, vaudeville, and the theater. Shinn’s choice of subject matter and idiosyncratic perspective correspond to French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works by artists like Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and also reflect his own theatrical interests and early career as an illustrator for periodicals. The Hippodrome opened in London in January 1900 as a circus and was transformed into a music hall a decade later; it is likely that Shinn attended a performance there during the venue’s first year. Friends of American Art Collection; Goodman Fund
December 17, 2025 at 10:22 AM
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Vase https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27825/
Gift of Roy C. Neuhaus
December 16, 2025 at 6:48 PM
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Ne-I-So-Meh—Yuma Yuma https://www.artic.edu/artworks/69580/
Gift of Edward E. Ayer
December 16, 2025 at 3:27 PM
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Sunlit Valley https://www.artic.edu/artworks/64748/
Edward B. Butler Collection
December 16, 2025 at 2:49 PM
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Josephine Medill Patterson Albright https://www.artic.edu/artworks/25794/
Gift of Ivan Albright
December 16, 2025 at 10:25 AM
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Woman's Hat (Anniversary Tin) https://www.artic.edu/artworks/90922/
Restricted gift of Charles C. Haffner III
December 16, 2025 at 8:43 AM
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Hagar and Ishmael https://www.artic.edu/artworks/136984/
During his brief career, Edward Sheffield Bartholomew was recognized by both critics and patrons for his sensitive marble renderings of biblical and mythological scenes. Taken from the book of Genesis, the story of the Egyptian handmaiden Hagar and her son, Ishmael, is one of deception and family betrayal. After giving birth to Ishmael, the illegitimate son of Abram (later Abraham), Hagar and her son are banished from the house of Abraham. Expelled to the desert, they are rescued from certain death by God, who provides a well to quench their thirst. Bartholomew’s relief shows the moment when Hagar pleads to the heavens to rescue her son. In the 19th century the story of Hagar was understood as an allegory of slavery that illustrated the indignities suffered by black women as well as the disenfranchisement of all African Americans. The Roger McCormick and J. Peter McCormick funds
December 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM
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Abdiel https://www.artic.edu/artworks/819/
Horatio Greenough lived in Italy for most of his adult life and is recognized as the first American to pursue marble sculpting as a profession. This bust is one of two sculptures he produced depicting Abdiel, an angel from John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. With his finely chiseled features, pronounced profile, and elaborately carved Greek warrior’s helmet, Abdiel resembles the Classical statue Apollo Belvedere. Through his production of idealist works such as Abdiel and his writings on aesthetics, Greenough sought to educate Americans about art and culture, and to inspire them to produce a national art that reflected democratic values. Gift of Elizabeth G. H. Bartol
December 15, 2025 at 4:15 PM
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The Village Houses https://www.artic.edu/artworks/118963/
Anonymous loan
December 15, 2025 at 1:49 PM
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Bust of Wallace L. DeWolf https://www.artic.edu/artworks/74951/
Anonymous gift
December 15, 2025 at 12:32 PM
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Box https://www.artic.edu/artworks/74502/
Bequest of Elizabeth R. Vaughan
December 15, 2025 at 10:14 AM
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Pacific https://www.artic.edu/artworks/188516/
Gift of Toshiko Takaezu
December 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
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Porringer https://www.artic.edu/artworks/111399/
Mr. and Mrs. William S. North and Jeffrey Shedd funds
December 14, 2025 at 4:31 PM