Marc Chagall's America Windows and Public Art in Chicago..

Marc Chagall's America Windows [click here].. and Public Art in Chicago..

The roots of Marc Chagall's America Windows could rightly be traced to 1967 - the year Pablo Picasso's monumental sculpture in Chicago's civic center [now called the Richard J. Daley Center] was unveiled. Insightfully, Mayor Richard J. Daley dedicated the sculpture with the owrds, "What is strange to us today will be familiar tomorrow." Today Chicago's great collection of public art is one of the defining characteristics of the city.

In 1967 Picasso's sculpture was downtown Chicago's first major artwork to reflect the transformative styles of the 20th century modern art, rather than effegies and memorials of previous generations. Despite the controversy it initially inspired, it soon ignited a cultural resurgence, fueling private and public investment in core group of artworks in the center of the city, including Chagall's mosaic "The Four Seasons" in 1974, which in turn inspired America Windows. Other landmark commissions from this golden moment include monuments by Joan Miro [1963], Jean Dubuffet [1969], Herbert Ferber [1972], Alexander Calder [1974], Isamu Noguchi [1976] and Claes Oldenburg [1977]. The public enthusiam for these works, and their support by various corporations, private individuals, foundations and public institutions that allocated funds for activities ranging from construction to commissions and acquision of artworks engendered the rich presence of public art in Chicago that continues today.

The celeberatory presentation, on the occassion of the reinstallation of America Windows, features models and maquettes from the earliest moment of this cultural renaissance in Chicago's center, most of which are in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago..

Models and Maquetts of Public Art in Chicago..
These models and maquettes are from the earliest moment of this cultural renaissance in Chicago's center..

• Maquette for "Untitled/Picasso's Chicago", by Pablo Picasso, at Richard Daley Center..
• Maquette for "Miro's Chicago" by Joan Miro, at Cook County Administrative Bldg. / Burnswick Building....
• Model for "Flamingo", by Alexander Calder at Chicago Federal Plaza....
• Model for "The Forest" by Jean Dubuffet..

Maquette for "Untitled/Picasso's Chicago", by Pablo Picasso, at Richard Daley Center..

To plan the sculptures construction , Picasso crafted two marquettes out of welded steel. He kept one in his studio and sent the other to Chicago. In August 1966, Hartmann returned to France to discuss the final design, including modification needed for the sculpture to withstand city's strong winds. Extremely pleased with the project, Picasso donated his design to the city and his marquette to the Art Institute..
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Maquette for "Miro's Chicago" by Joan Miro, at Cook County Administrative Bldg. / Burnswick Building..

1965, architect Bruce Graham of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill had begun designs for Burnswick Building [Now the Cook County Administrative Bldg.] which included a monumental work for the plaza just west of the structure. He commissioned Joan Miro, known for this surreal, abstract paintings and sculptures for the new civic center [now Richard J. Daley Center] across the street..
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Model for "Flamingo", by Alexander Calder at Chicago Federal Plaza..

As a young American artist Alexander Calder spent time in Paris, where he began to produce innovative kinetic works [mobiles] and static construction [stabiles] that revolutionized the world of sculpture. Inspired by abstraction and surrealism, his pieces often incorporate a sense of whimsy and humor in their elegant balanced forms..
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Model for "The Forest" by Jean Dubuffet..

In 1983, another in the series "Monument with Standing Beast: was selected for full-scale construction for the new State of Illinois Center, designed by Helmut Jahn of Murphy /Jahn. Because of the strong, enthusiastic support for his work in Chicago, Dubuffet gifted the design to the city.
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Here are all the Public Art pieces mentioned in the text above..
# 1967: "Untitled" - by Pablo Picasso..
# 1969: "Monument with Standing Beast - by Jean Dubuffet...
# 1972: "Untitled" - by Herbert Ferber..
# 1974: "Flamingo" - by Alexander Calder..
# 1974: "Four Seasons" - by Marc Chagall..
# 1976: Noguchi Fountain - by Isamu Noguchi...
# 1977: "America Windows" - by Marc Chagall..
# 1977: "Batcolumn" - by Claes Oldenburg ..
# 1981: "Untitled" - by Joan Miro..