GIFTS TO THE CITY GAME Once again this holiday season we’re presenting the best and brightest new works as our gifts to the residents of and visitors to Chicago. We invite you to celebrate these works by playing the game below. Visit each gallery listed to find the featured artwork. Write the word that’s missing from the work’s title beside the correct number, and a secret word will appear vertically. When you’ve figured it out, take this guide to the Museum Shop at the Michigan Avenue entrance to claim your special gift (while supplies last)! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1. Gallery 11 Interior, Traditional (c. 1937) by Mrs. James Ward Thorne This open, light-filled interior is perfectly divided into two halves, highlighting the importance of symmetry in traditional Chinese design. It was believed that spatial balance would contribute to overall order in the home. While the room itself is not new to the museum, this year marks the first time it has been decorated. Inside you can see tiny, period-appropriate Chinese shadow puppets and instruments that would have been used to celebrate the Chinese New Year as well as other festive occasions. 2. Gallery 10 Walking by Laurie Simmons (Color) (1989) American photographer Laurie Simmons has been taking pictures since the age of six, when her father bought her a Brownie camera. From early on in her career—and for decades since—she has focused her camera on toys: paper dolls, finger puppets, ventriloquists’ dummies, and most recently masked dancers, all “living objects” peopling a dollhouse world. While her lushly colored photographs often appear whimsical, this dreamlike quality belies a thoughtful critique of conventional gender roles. For the series Walking and Lying Objects (1987–91), Simmons combined the legs of a female doll figure with an array of items: a ladies’ handbag, a toilet, a camera, a gun, various sweets, and the object seen in this work. 3. Gallery 24 Kukje Art (2011) by SO-IL This digital rendering depicts Brooklyn-based architects SO-IL’s final design for a new gallery space within an art complex in South Korea. The gallery was developed as a traditional white cube in order to create a blank canvas for the display of artwork. To make the exterior of this simple white cube more distinctive, SO-IL created a custom-made flexible metal fabric that stretches across and unites the rigid concrete forms of the building. This unique veil also helps weave this modern art gallery into Seoul’s historic Sogyeok-dong neighborhood. 4. Gallery 209A Hercules and (n.d.) by Filippo Falciatore This Neapolitan drawing is part of an installation complementing the museum’s 18th-century Neapolitan crèche, located in the adjacent Gallery 209. Artists often used drawings as preparatory images for larger paintings or sculptures, and so only a few sheets have survived, especially from this period in Naples when drawings were not collected as they are today. This rare, theatrical work features Hercules violently tossing his servant, who brought him the poison-covered shirt that eventually killed him, into the Aegean Sea. The drawing is typical of Falciatore, who often oddly juxtaposed fighting figures with floral motifs. 5. Gallery 215 Table (1768) by Denis René Gastecloux Just imagine this golden palace on your holiday table. Reminiscent of French architecture, the jewel-like centerpiece consists of a triple-domed, decorative, multistory structure with staircases winding down the sides. Unique among 18th-century tabletop pieces, the dazzling work is made of bronze instead of the more commonly used silver or porcelain. In fact, many centerpieces from this era exist only as images in drawings and prints since they were made from ephemeral materials like sugar paste. 6. Gallery 242 An Woman at the Élysée-Montmartre (1888) by Louis Anquetin With her tailored bodice and bustled skirt, this elegant woman would have been at the height of 1880s French fashion. But her open jacket and multi-patterned skirt was also unusual. Is she a wealthy patron of the arts? A working-class model? An off-duty performer? We don’t know, but the last option might be a good guess considering that Anquetin often depicted Parisian nightlife and dance halls. He was also a close friend of Henri de ToulouseLautrec (see his famous images of the Moulin Rouge to your left), who referred to Anquetin as “the glory of the studio.” 7. Gallery 263 Lady (1933/37) by William Edmondson This charming depiction of a well-dressed church-going lady was carved by Nashville resident William Edmondson. A self-taught sculptor, Edmondson achieved fame in 1937 when he became the first black artist to be given a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Angels, preachers, animals, and community figures populate his work, a reflection of both the artist’s spiritual and everyday interests. The woman in this work wears a long coat over a dress with a bow at the neck and a close-fitting, tilted hat. In one hand she holds a small purse; in the other she clutches a Bible. This outfit and accompanying accessories would have made her instantly recognizable as a respected member of Nashville’s African American society. 8. Gallery 106 Waka Onna (Young Woman) Noh by Yamaguchi Bidou (2013) This carefully crafted mask of a young woman’s face is a Noh theater mask of a type known as waka onna. The part of the young woman in Noh requires the most talented performers because all roles are traditionally played by men. Some of the characteristics that indicate that this is a young female are the large forehead, downcast elongated eyes, small mouth with a lower lip that sticks out, blackened teeth, and white complexion. The facial expression is kept neutral on purpose so that the performer’s gestures can project the proper emotions. 9. Gallery 297 (1968) by Donald Judd Donald Judd was one of the leading innovators of the 1960s movement known as Minimalism. His sculptural works are often made from industrial materials and are also industrially fabricated, removing any evidence of the artist’s hand. Structurally they adhere to a precise set of rules. For example, the vertical distance between these 10 boxes is equal to the height of each box. Despite such material sleekness and formal rigidity, the play of light, shadow, and reflection across both stainless steel and amber Plexiglas produces an unexpectedly soft and shifting glow. 10. Gallery 153 Solidus of Empress Byzantine (A.D. 797–802) This rare gold solidus features the first of only three female rulers to hold sole power in the 1,100-year history of the Byzantine Empire. Her crown, jewel-encrusted scarf, and cross-topped orb and staff were all signs of imperial power and dominion over the Christian world. But this empress’s reign was not without issue. After her husband died, she reversed his policies, and despite having served as regent for their teenaged son, she later blinded and deposed him. She was eventually deposed herself and died in exile a year later. She is identified as an empress on this solidus, which is a coin of limited circulation used to pay imperial armies.