Chicago Picasso

The Chicago Picasso is an untitled public sculpture by Pablo Picasso, installed in 1967 in Daley Plaza in the Chicago Loop. The massive Cor-Ten steel structure was the first major modern public artwork installed in downtown Chicago and became an iconic civic landmark.

Picasso never stated what the sculpture represents, and he refused to title it, leaving its subject permanently open to interpretation. Some viewers see a woman's head or face, while others have suggested it resembles a baboon or an Afghan hound, a theory partly inspired by a baboon skull Picasso kept in his studio.

The Chicago Picasso stands approximately 50 feet (about 15 meters) tall and was fabricated from Cor-Ten steel, a weathering alloy that develops a protective rust-like patina. The sculpture was assembled from prefabricated steel pieces by the American Bridge Company and installed in Daley Plaza in 1967.

No, Pablo Picasso never traveled to Chicago to see the completed sculpture in person, though he created the design and a maquette at his studio in France. He gifted the design to the people of Chicago without charge, and the construction costs were covered through private donations coordinated by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.