10 Awesome Pieces of Art in Chicago Hidden in Plain Sight

This Pablo Picasso sculpture was one of the first of its kind to grace downtown Chicago, and was completed by the famed artist in 1967. A cubist rendering of a woman, the sculpture was never given a title by Picasso, or explained as to who it was or what it meant. The sculpture is 50 feet tall, 162 tons, and made of steel, an important material in Chicago history. People often climb and slide down its base.

This 10-ton Jean Dubuffet sculpture is made out of white fiberglass and stands at the James R. Thompson Center in the Loop. People have suggested that the monument looks like an animal (hence the name), a tree, etc. Dubuffet himself said that the sculpture was designed to extend into space and to resonate with the average person. The state of Illinois commissioned the sculpture and unveiled it in 1984.

Also located in the Loop, Marc Chagall’s mosaic structure is housed under a protective glass canopy at Chase Tower Plaza. It’s 70 feet long, 14 feet high, and 10 feet wide. The mosaic depicts—you guessed it—the four seasons, complete with majestic animals, lovers, instrumentalists, and a large, multi-colored sun. The Prince Charitable Trust donated the sculpture to the city of Chicago, with Marc Chagall planting a kiss on Mayor Richard Daley’s cheek during the unveiling.

This sculpture floats over the entrance on the exterior of the Loop’s Michael A. Bilandic building, which was once the seat of Illinois government. It weighs three tons and its 26-by-35 feet and brings a sense of abstraction to an orderly, geometric downtown Chicago high-rise building.

This orange, geometric, and abstract structure is nested under the Chicago Transit Authority’s Belmont Station. Made out of painted steel, Jerald Jacquard completed the sculpture in 1970. It was initially installed at a different station in 1974 as part of the CTA’s efforts to modernize, and is said to represent matter moving through space.

This sculpture is actually many figurines suspended at the entrance to one of Chicago’s Midway Airport terminals. Ralph Hemick, who built the sculpture with Stuart Schecter describes the sculpture as utilizing “3-D pointillism” to represent natural and manmade aviation. The work of art depicts a cardinal, made up of different types of smaller red aircraft, raising its wings in flight. Fittingly, the cardinal also happens to be the Illinois state bird.

After a 2014 renovation, this high-rise building now features a map of the Chicago River and surrounding major streets. The creators of the work say that the map is an innovative way to update a drab building. It took three and a half months to complete and cost $810,000.

This provocative mural was painted by Mexican artist Hector Duarte and adorns 3500 square feet of his home and studio. It depicts a Mexican immigrant struggling against barbed wire, commenting on many immigrants like him who fight to make a good livelihood in Chicago and in rest of the United States.

Famed sculptor Ellsworth Kelly created this minimalist sculpture, and named it after the motto that Chicago’s resilient residents adopted in order to move forward after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. As a result, the sculpture is a hollow stainless-steel column, located at the northernmost end of the site of the fire, and makes a simple yet eye-catching homage to the skyscrapers that were built in this tragedy’s wake, and that have defined Chicago ever since.

Located in Chicago’s Washington Park this sculpture is believed to be one of the first of its kind, entirely made out of concrete, and was completed as a fountain by Lorado Taft in 1920. It was expressly commissioned to beautify the park’s midway pleasance and depicts Father Time with a scythe presiding over humanity at various stages of life. The sculpture commemorated 100 years of peace between the United States and England, arising out of the 1814 Treaty of Ghent.