Artists' Names

Each heading provides the name by which the given artist was commonly known. The first mention in the artist’s biographical profile provides his or her full given name.

Women artists who married and continued their artistic careers under their wedded names are so listed, even with those paintings that were created before marriage.

Titles

Diligent efforts have been made to establish the historically correct title of each painting, based on exhibition records, reviews, and other documentation. Commonly used or purely descriptive titles are given for paintings whose original titles could not be ascertained. Sources of titles are detailed in the essays about the works.

Dates

The creation date for each artwork is provided where known.

The word dated preceding the given year is the date inscribed on the work, presumably by the artist. This date is assumed to be correct, except where otherwise noted.

The year standing alone or preceded by circa indicates that a date is not inscribed on the work but can be reasonably deduced based on other information—typically, an exhibition record—as detailed in the accompanying essay.

Dimensions

Dimensions of canvases are given in inches, with height preceding width.

Non-personal Names

In most cases, the names of organizations, exhibition series, publications, and the like are given as used during the specific period in question. Thus, for example, a particular museum or regular annual show may be referred to by different names in different essays.

Notably, the Art Institute of Chicago’s annual Chicago artists’ exhibition is referred to as the Chicago and Vicinity exhibition beginning in 1913, the year its name changed.

Today’s formal distinction between the Art Institute of Chicago—that is, the museum—and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago did not obtain during the Art Institute’s early decades, a condition respected in these pages. Thus an artist is simply said to have enrolled at, attended, or taught at “the Art Institute of Chicago,” implying the school.

Readers should also note the repetitive use of some institutional names.

• Depending on the period referred to, the Academy of Fine Arts can refer either to the institution that in 1879 was renamed the Art Institute of Chicago or to the independent art school that was founded in Chicago in 1902.
• The Art Students’ League, a Chicago organization, should not be confused with the Art Students League in New York City.

Abbreviations

AIC Scrapbooks: Art Institute of Chicago Scrapbooks, microfilmed, Ryerson Library, Art Institute of Chicago

Corrections

Because much remains to be learned about the artists and artworks profiled here, this online collection catalogue is a work in progress. The M. Christine Schwartz Collection welcomes your corrections and suggestions. Click here to contact us.