The nearly 7-foot-tall “Visions of Eternity” seemed to be an outlier among Salvador Dalí's work from the 1930s. (Salvador Dalí / Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí / Artists Rights Society)

The curators, both working on the Art Institute of Chicago’s first show dedicated to Salvador Dalí, were researching his painting “Visions of Eternity,” which was dated to 1936 and had been held in the museum since the late 1980s. But red flags were mounting.

South lion at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Heather Paul / Flickr)

Federal prosecutors on Friday announced 56-year-old Michael Maurello has been charged with two counts each of wire fraud and bank fraud. His arraignment in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.

One of the Art Institute’s iconic lions receiving a “spa treatment.” (Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago)

After a month-long "spa vacation," the Art Institute of Chicago's lions returned to their posts Tuesday and are once again guarding the museum's Michigan Avenue entrance.

Paul Cezanne. Montagne Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine, about 1887. The Courtauld Gallery, London. (Courtesy: Courtauld Gallery / Bridgeman Images).

Paul Cezanne was thought of as the greatest by some very great artists, including Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet, to name just two. The Art Institute along with the Tate Modern in London is presenting its first exhibition of Cezanne in 70 years. 

Funerary Mask, Late Ptolemaic Period–early Roman Period, 1st century BCE. Ancient Egyptian. (Courtesy The Art Institute of Chicago, W. Moses Willner Fund).

Back in 1890, the Art Institute of Chicago began collecting Egyptian art. Much of it has been out of view for years, but the museum spruced up the collection and is about to unveil it in a new gallery. We have a preview of ancient art and artifacts from the Nile Valley in North Africa.

South lion at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Heather Paul / Flickr)
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Employees at the School of the Art Institute voted to unionize Wednesday, one day after workers at the Art Institute also voted to form a union. It’s the first major museum union in Chicago and will represent more than 200 Art Institute employees including installers, curators, custodians, librarians and retail workers.

Richard Hunt’s sculpture “Light of Truth.” (WTTW News)

His works have been exported around the world from his studio in Chicago. We catch up with sculptor Richard Hunt before the unveiling of a monument in Bronzeville that was years in the making.

Kehinde Wiley. “Barack Obama,” 2018. Oil on canvas. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

A portrait is a traditional way of commemorating a presidency. But the former president and first lady made a statement by choosing distinctive contemporary artists. This week, Chicago becomes the first city to host The Obama Portraits. Here’s a preview.

Design attributed to Agnes F. Northrop (American, 1857–1953), Tiffany Studios (American, 1902–32) Corona, New York. Hartwell Memorial Window (detail), 1917. (Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago)

It is a heavenly depiction of a beautiful place on earth. It’s also a fine work of art and one of the newest acquisitions at the Art Institute of Chicago. We explore an illuminating landscape made from light and glass.

Bisa Butler. “Southside Sunday Morning,” 2018. Private collection. © Bisa Butler. (Photo by Margaret Fox)

History, music and photography are all stitched together in a show at the Art Institute of Chicago. We visit the pandemic-delayed exhibition “Bisa Butler: Portraits” to get the story behind these Technicolor textiles.

Claude Monet. Landscape with Figures, Giverny, 1888. Private collection.

Chicago is home to more Claude Monet paintings than any city other than Paris. That’s because the works of the famous French impressionist made a strong impression on local collectors. We explore the show “Monet and Chicago.” 

Chicago's museums are gradually reopening following loosening of coronavirus restrictions. (Heidi Zeiger / Office of the Mayor)

The Art Institute of Chicago will reopen Feb. 11, joining the list of museums preparing to welcome back visitors now that coronavirus restrictions are being loosened. 

The Garfield Park Conservatory has released teaser images in advance of the opening of "The Flowers of Monet" exhibit. (Garfield Park Conservatory / Facebook)
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The conservatory has transformed its Artist’s Garden into a reflection of Monet’s vision, featuring plants that inspired some of Impressionism’s most memorable paintings. The exhibit opens Saturday in tandem with “Monet and Chicago” at the Art Institute. 

This Friday, May 1, 2020 photo shows a lion statue with a mask placed on it at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Sam Kelly / Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a mask adorning one of the iconic lion statues near the Michigan Avenue entrance to the Art Institute disappeared about 24 hours after it was applied.

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos). “Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple,” about 1570. The Minneapolis Institute of Art, The William Hood Dunwoody Fund.

We preview the exhibition “El Greco: Ambition and Defiance” at the Art Institute of Chicago, which partnered with the Louvre and the Grand Palais for the show, and learn about the man behind the masterworks.

Andy Warhol. “Self-Portrait,” 1986. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; gift, Anne and Anthony d’Offay in honor of Thomas Krens. © 2019 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

He was called the Pope of Pop – pop art, that is. Andy Warhol predicted 15 minutes of fame for everyone. His own fame lasted decades and has endured since his untimely death in 1987. We explore “Andy Warhol – From A to B and Back Again.”