Enfilade

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The new AIC galleries were designed by Barcelona-based architects Barozzi Veiga, who were hired in 2019 to produce a master plan for the museum campus, with future work funded in part by a $75million donation made in 2024 by Aaron Fleischman and Lin Lougheed. The new galleries are named for Eloise Wright Martin (1914–2008), a Life Trustee of the museum who endowed both the Museum Director and Curator of European Decorative Arts positions. From the press release:

Eloise W. Martin Galleries for the Applied Arts of Europe

Art Institute of Chicago, new installation open from 11 July 2025

Curated by Ellenor Alcorn, Christopher Maxwell, and Jonathan Tavares, with the assistance of Mairead Horton

The Art Institute of Chicago is pleased to open the newly designed Eloise W. Martin Galleries for the Applied Arts of Europe on 11 July 2025. The elegant space will present more than 300 objects from the Art Institute’s distinguished collections of furniture, silver, ceramics, and glass made between 1600 and 1900. The expanded presentation will allow 40% more objects to be on view than our previously installed galleries, and offer visitors a deeper and more nuanced exploration of European design during a period of extraordinary transformation.

This 4,500-square-foot space follows a chronological narrative and examines the dynamic intersection of design, craftsmanship, and commerce against a backdrop of geopolitical shifts, colonialism, and innovation. This setting provided fertile ground for designers, craftspeople, and consumers to embrace new technologies and respond to the allure of newly imported materials, such as Asian porcelain and lacquer and tropical hardwoods. Iconic works from the Art Institute’s collection as well as rarely seen pieces appear alongside new acquisitions and select loans from private collections, all presented with interpretive materials that emphasize the ingenuity of European makers working in increasingly global markets.

“We hope that this ambitious reinstallation allows visitors to consider the daring innovations of European designers during this vibrant period,” said Ellenor Alcorn, chair and Eloise W. Martin Curator of Applied Arts of Europe. “We are thrilled to present these objects in a space that invites close looking, deep reflection, and renewed appreciation for the craftsmanship and global influence that shaped design from the 17th through the 19th centuries.”

Pair of Chinese porcelain vases, with mounts attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis, ca. 1750, hard paste porcelain and gilt bronze, 14 inches high
(Art Institute of Chicago, purchased with funds provided by the Antiquarian Society, 2021.135.1-2)

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Highlights of the collection on view include a finely carved chair crafted by Indian artisans for a European merchant in Madras (present day Chennai) in the late 1600s, a pair of rare red-glazed Chinese porcelain vases imported to Paris in the mid-1700s where they were mounted in exuberant gilded bronze, and a striking English neo-Gothic sideboard designed by William Burges in the mid-1800s, painted with witty wine-themed references. A dramatic new room is also dedicated to the Art Institute’s outstanding collection of European ceramics, including one of the country’s finest groupings of Meissen and Du Paquier porcelain.

The renowned Barcelona-based architects Barozzi Veiga have designed a striking contemporary space integrating state-of-the-art casework and lighting. The galleries offer a stunning setting for the creativity and innovation that defined European design during this dynamic period.

The reinstallation is curated by the department of Applied Arts of Europe: Ellenor Alcorn, chair and Eloise W. Martin Curator; Christopher Maxwell, Samuel and M. Patricia Grober Curator; and Jonathan Tavares, Amy and Paul Carbone Curator, with the assistance of Mairead Horton, research associate.