The Ryerson and Burnham Libraries constitute a major art and architecture research collection of more than 600,000 print titles, 100,000 auction catalogs, more than 200 current serial subscriptions, and extensive digital collections.
All of the museum's archives, including the institutional archives, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, imaging archives, and digital preservation efforts, are now unified under the Art Institute of Chicago Archives banner.
Both the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries collection and the holdings of the Art Institute of Chicago Archives are available for researchers to consult in the Franke Reading Room; information about collection access and research services is available here.
Click on the down arrow on the Searching tab above to learn more about searching the online catalog and searching our finding aids.
Input a keyword into the box and click Search to begin searching the online library catalog, including content from the Art and Architecture Finding Aids, Digital Collections, and Oral History databases.
Unfortunately, Institutional Archives resources (including the Imaging Archives) are not yet searchable here; please visit this page for more information.
Search exhibitions by keyword or browse by date. Some records include photographs or digitized exhibition catalogs.
Catalog of electronic surrogates of selected original archival materials from the Ryerson & Burnham Archives collections. Materials may include photographs, slides, architectural drawings and prints, correspondence, and printed papers.
A list of online guides and bibliographies developed by Ryerson & Burnham librarians to assist research on a variety of art historical and architectural topics, including provenance research, building history, appraisal and preservation resources, Chicago neighborhood research, and the history of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Digital collection catalogs available freely online. Catalogs offer detailed art historical context, provenance history, and scientific analysis of artworks in the Art Institute of Chicago's collections.
Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
For information on the museum collections, library collections, and library services, please contact Library staff at reference@artic.edu.
The Art Institute of Chicago Archives
For information on our collections, the history of the Art Institute and the School of the Art Institute, donation proposals, corrections, comments, and general questions, please contact Archives staff at archives@artic.edu.