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About

The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago is a site for rigorous inquiry and exchange that encourages the examination of complex issues through the lens of art objects and artistic practice. Through strong community and scholary partnerships, the Museum incorporates diverse ideas, identities, and experiences into its exhibitions and collections, academic initiatives, and public programming. The Smart first opened in 1974.

Visit the Smart Museum's website.

Browsing the Online Collection

There are a few ways to browse the Online Collection:

Homepage/Collections

On the homepage, you can browse curated selections from our collection.

People Page

On the people page, you can browse individuals and/or institutions related to objects in the collection, along with relevant biographies and objects.

Community Favorites

On the Favorites page, you can browse user-created collections. You can add your own favorites to Community Favorites by registering on the site and creating sets that are marked "public".

Searching the Online Collection
Quick Search/Advanced Search

Enter keywords or names in the search box (Quick Search) to find objects or other records in our collection. To search on specific criteria, you can use the advanced search to search within certain data fields. You can search using multiple criteria, such as the term "portrait" in the title + a date range of "1800-1900". If you are not getting any results with advanced search, try broadening your search by removing criteria.

Search Tips
  • You can use an * (asterisk) as a wildcard in searches, to match partial terms (e.g. draw* will return results for draw, drawn, drawings, etc.)
  • Use quotation marks to get more exact results - e.g. John Doe will return any results with John or Doe, but "John Doe" will return results with this exact phrase.
Viewing Search Results
Types of Results

There are different types of search results, such as object records and people records. When there is more than one type of result, you can choose different types of records to view.

GRID/LIST VIEWS

You can view a set of results in an image grid or list view. Use the dropdown to switch between different types of views.

Filters

You can refine a result set by using filters to narrow down results. For example, you can filter to see only works that have images within any result set. You can also clear each filter to revert to a larger result set, or clear all filters to get to your original result set.

Images
Why is an image shown as not available?

An image may be shown as not available if it is not yet available in our database, or if it cannot be displayed for copyright reasons.

Favorites
What Are Favorites?

Favorites allows you to create your own sets from the collection objects available on this site. You can share your Favorites with others, or create sets of artworks for your own viewing (Favorites are private by default).

You can optionally add a description for each Favorites set. You can view your collection sets by going to the "Favorites" page and logging into your account.

How Do I Use Favorites?

To use Favorites, you must first register an account. Once you have completed registration, you can start creating Favorites sets and adding artworks to them.

You can add artworks to your sets by clicking on the heart symbol while viewing objects, and selecting which set to add the artwork(s). After selection, you can choose to add all selected works on the page to a Favorite. You can also add the entire result set or all objects on a page.

How Do I Share a Favorite With Someone Else?

If you mark your Favorites set public, this Favorite will be visible to others in the Community Favorites section. The option to mark a set as public is available when you edit your Favorite.

After setting a Favorite set as public, you can also share the link to allow others to view your set.