The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University is presenting Picturing the Modern Metropolis: Prints and Photographs from The Block’s Collection, running from September 9 through December 6, 2026. Curated by Eduardo Bello and Corinne Granof, the exhibition features over 100 twentieth-century works examining how artists captured the scale, speed, diversity, and shared public life of the growing American city.
The Bottom Line
- Dates & Location: On view from September 9 to December 6, 2026, at Northwestern University’s Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art.
- The Scope: Over 100 twentieth-century prints, photographs, and drawings showcasing urban environments in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
- Public Programming: Includes a September 30 keynote by photography historian Greg Foster-Rice, an October 9 panel on the Obama Presidential Center, and an October 22 curator’s talk.
Capturing the Sensory Experience of the 20th-Century City
During the twentieth century, industry, commerce, migration, and culture drove an expansion of urban life across the United States. Artists were drawn to the city as a primary subject, highlighting everything from spectacular skylines and lively streets to neon signs and weathered walls. But they didn’t just document what they saw; they developed new visual languages to express the sensory experience of the metropolis.
Everyday environments became grounds for creative testing through the use of double exposure, abstraction, fragmentation, dramatic lighting and motion effects, and angled perspectives. As Corinne Granof, academic curator at The Block and co-curator of the exhibition, noted: This exhibition offers a chance to see the breadth of The Block’s collection through a subject that artists returned to again and again. Together, these works show how artists found new visual possibilities in the city and helped shape the ways we continue to imagine urban life.
This visual exploration extended into the moving image. A digital restoration of Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand’s seminal 1921 motion picture Manhatta—pulled from the sole surviving 35mm copy known to exist—is included in the exhibition.
Thematic Organization and Deep Chicago Ties
Broken down into three distinct thematic parts, the showcase journeys from towering architecture and expansive skylines to street-level community life and textural details found on urban surfaces. Working in printmaking, photography, and drawing, creators viewed Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh as hubs for personal voice, connection, and movement.
For many artists who immigrated to the United States in response to war, persecution, or political upheaval, the city also represented the possibility of beginning again. Many of these artists learned about the city by moving through it and looking closely,
explained Eduardo Bello, the 2025–26 Block Museum interdisciplinary graduate fellow and co-curator of the exhibition, who noted that for various creators fleeing war, persecution, or political unrest by relocating to America, the metropolis also offered a fresh start. Their images show modernity taking shape through everyday encounters, educational institutions, and local creative communities.
Highlighting the museum’s strong ties to Chicago, the display showcases significant groups of pieces by Henry Simon and Bronislaw M. Bak, alongside creations by Aaron Siskind, Richard Nickel, Nathan Lerner, Yuichi Idaka, and additional talents associated with the local Institute of Design. Alongside them, the galleries display pieces created by Edward Steichen, Ed Ruscha, Clare Romano, Robert Rauschenberg, Vivian Maier, Martin Lewis, Lawrence Gipe, Allan Freelon, Robert Cottingham, Christo, W., Brett Weston, and Andy Warhol.
| Detail Category | Exhibition Information |
|---|---|
| Venue | Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University |
| Dates | September 9 – December 6, 2026 |
| Curators | Eduardo Bello and Corinne Granof |
| Scope | Over 100 prints, photographs, and drawings (plus landmark 1921 film Manhatta) |
Public Programming and Academic Engagement
To deepen the conversation surrounding the artwork, the museum has scheduled a series of public programs during the exhibition’s run. On September 30, 2026, photography historian Greg Foster-Rice of Columbia College Chicago will deliver an exhibition keynote discussing the relationship between picture-making and lived urban experience.
Later in the season, on October 9, 2026, journalist Natalie Moore and Northwestern history professor Leslie M. Harris will lead a discussion titled Our Changing City: The Obama Presidential Center,
examining the center’s impact during Northwestern’s Homecoming and Reunion Weekend. Finally, co-curator Eduardo Bello will lead an in-gallery curator’s talk titled Modernity in the Making
on October 22, 2026.
Have you had a chance to explore regional university collections like The Block lately? Let us know your thoughts on how historic urban photography shapes our view of today’s cities in the comments below.
