Self, Made: Fourteen Modern Artists from the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 18, 2026

CHICAGO—The Art Institute of Chicago is pleased to announce Self, Made: Fourteen Modern Artists from the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection, on view June 25 through November 9, 2026. The exhibition includes nearly 40 works across photography, drawing, painting, and sculpture that tell stories of self-invention. Some of these works come from artists who studied fine arts, such as Cindy Sherman and Kara Walker, while other pieces are by makers from outside the art-school and art-market system, including William Edmondson, Lee Godie, John Waters and Joseph Yoakum. 

This exhibition is drawn exclusively from the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection. Ranging in date across the 20th and 21st centuries, the works reflect the egalitarian, broad-minded vision of the Sandors, who have been prolific collectors of modern and contemporary art since the late 1970s. 

The Sandors became aware of “outsider” art early in their collecting career and were inspired by unique makers whose unorthodox creativity spurred lively discussions about innovation and artistic recognition. They progressively filled their apartment with a remarkable constellation of works: setting side by side the celebrated and overlooked, the historical and newly made, the exalted and the humble. The Sandors prized above all invention and individuality—makers with a strong sense of self.

The Sandor Family has gifted 42 of their works from this collection to the Art Institute, the latest in a tradition of giving that has enriched the museum’s collections by several hundred works since the 1980s. This gift is centered on Photography and Media and extends across departments including Arts of the Americas, Modern and Contemporary Art, and Prints and Drawings. 

“The Sandors have curated an important collection where there is no hierarchy of media or makers, but instead a gathering of surprising and unexpected works in conversation with each other,” said Matthew Witkovsky, Richard and Ellen Sandor Chair and Curator, Photography and Media, and vice president for strategic art initiatives. “This exhibition provides an incredible opportunity for visitors to experience a variety of modern and contemporary creativity all in one place.” 

Whether operating “inside” or “outside” the art-world system, all the makers in Self, Made: Fourteen Modern Artists from the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection consciously reflected on selfhood and asked what permits anyone to believe that they are free, unique, and creative. Through the proxy of their works, the artists themselves are gathered here in a conversation that honors the Sandors’ inclusive and expansive vision and the acts of self-invention that all creativity demands.

“We are delighted to collaborate with the Art Institute of Chicago to bring these works from artists, some recognized, some not, to the public. We hope these bring moments of joy to all visitors as they have to our family,” said Richard and Ellen Sandor. 

Self, Made: Fourteen Modern Artists from the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection is curated by Matthew Witkovsky, Richard and Ellen Sandor Chair and Curator, Photography and Media, and vice president for strategic art initiatives.The Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection is even further explored in an illustrated catalogue that coincides with the exhibition.