Art in the Stacks: Selections from Special Collections

Exhibition Dates: June 19–September 15, 2017
Location: Special Collections Research Center Exhibition Gallery, 1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

A collage in the foreground shows bright fruits against black, with more colorful collages in the background.
Special Collections Research Center, The University of Chicago Library.
Installation view: In the foreground: Edouard Benedictus’s “Nouvelles variations, soixante-quinze motifs décoratifs en vingt planches,” [1928?]. In the background: Henri Matisse’s “Jazz,” 1947.

The Special Collections Research Center is known for being the University of Chicago Library’s center for rare books, manuscripts, and university archives. Nestled within these materials, there is a lesser known aspect of our collections—art. Art in the Stacks highlights these holdings with a selection of original paintings, drawings, and sculptures, in addition to artists’ books and other works on paper produced in the 20th and early 21st centuries.

A bright collage of faceless men and women holding instruments.
Stephen Longstreet Collection. Special Collections Research Center, The University of Chicago Library.
Installation view of Stephen Longstreet’s collages.

Among the featured items are Picasso etchings, selections from Matisse’s Jazz book, pen and ink drawings by  Harold Haydon (PhB’30, AM’31), Professor Emeritus in Art, University of Chicago, and a bronze sculpture by Ruth Vollmer.

Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. – 4:45 p.m., and, when University of Chicago classes are in session, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.

Use of Images and Media Contact

Images from the exhibition included on this page are available for download by members of the media and are reserved for editorial use in connection with University of Chicago Library exhibitions, programs, or related news.

For more information, contact Rachel Rosenberg at ra-rosenberg@uchicago.edu or 773-834-1519.

Gallery installation view of open books, bright collages, and an orange Tide detergent box.
Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
Gallery installation view. In the foreground: Sue Coe’s “How to Commit Suicide in South Africa,” 1983 and Paul McCarthy’s Paul McCarthy’s “Lowlife Slowlife, Tidebox Tidebook,” 2010. In the background: Henri Matisse’s “Jazz,” 1947.
A glass case holding colorful collages of women in dresses and geometric figures.
Special Collections Research Center, The University of Chicago Library.
Installation view of Sonia Delaunay’s “Sonia Delaunay, ses peintures, ses objets, ses tissus simultanés, ses modes,” 1925.