Notable Acquisitions At the Art

This new Museum Studies volume features significant acquisitions made by the Art Institute of Chicago over the past two years, bringing into wide public view the recent collecting activities of one of America’s most prestigious museums.The forty highlighted works––which have been chosen by the museum’s director–range in date from ancient to modern times and include decorative arts, drawings, paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture, and textiles. Roy Lichtenstein’s impressive Mirror in Six Parts, a delicately rendered sixteenth-century nativity scene by Fra Bartolommeo, and a sleek Manhattan cocktail set by Norman Bel Geddes are among the many objects presented. Each work is illustrated in color and accompanied by a lively entry that discusses its art-historical significance.