American artist Ellsworth Kelly was born on May 31, 1923, in New York State. In celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday had he not passed in 2015, an exhibit of his works will be on display at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) from July 1 through Oct. 23. The exhibit, “Ellsworth Kelly: Portrait Drawings,” will feature nearly 100 rarely seen drawings by the artist best known as a pioneer of abstraction and recognized as one of the most important postwar American artists. The exhibit will be the first of its kind dedicated exclusively to his work and will span the majority of Kelly’s 70-year career.
The exhibit is part of the yearlong Ellsworth Kelly Centennial. Also in celebration of this occasion, the AIC received a gift of 25 major works on paper from Kelly’s husband, Jack Shear. A selection of these works will be on display during the exhibition.
“The Art Institute has collected the work of Ellsworth Kelly for more than 60 years,” James Rondeau, president and Eloise W. Martin director of the Art Institute of Chicago, says in a prepared statement. “We are honored to receive this transformational gift from Jack Shear and to once again feature the artist’s graphic practice in our galleries, which played such a foundational role in his life’s work.”
Kelly is known for drawing likenesses of his friends and himself throughout his life—the earliest of which dates to his time serving in the U.S. Army’s Camouflage Battalion during World War II. While many of his subjects are known friends, curators, critics, and artists, many of Kelly’s works feature unknown models. “These undeservedly little-known self-portraits and informal depictions of Kelly’s friends offer a surprisingly intimate look at how he evolved as an artist and how he effortlessly merged figuration and abstraction,” Kevin Salatino, chair and Anne Vogt Fuller and Marion Titus Searle curator, prints and drawings, says in a prepared statement.
In addition to the Kelly exhibit, AIC hosts private, immersive, art-filled events in any of the institute’s 15 event spaces, both indoor and outdoor. Capacities range from 25 to 900 guests. Tours of the galleries, catering, and the AIC’s beautiful architecture all enhance events at the AIC.
