Learn more and take a virtual tour at: www.art.org/henry-darger-room-collection
Chicago’s most famous outsider artist lived in a one-room apartment in the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood until 1973 when he retired to a nursing facility. In his small room—which doubled as a studio and home for close to 40 years—Henry Darger worked on a large number of painted and collaged drawings that illustrated the story of the Vivian Girls, created volumes of writings and collected hundreds of objects (shoes, eyeglasses, balls of string, etc.). The contrast between the intimate scale of the room and the staggering volume of drawings, illustrations, writings and collections, conveys vital information about Darger’s existence and the work he created.
In spring 2000, Intuit took possession of the contents of artist Henry Darger’s living and working space, which was located at 851 Webster Avenue. Intuit’s Henry Darger Room Collection includes tracings, clippings from newspapers, magazines, comic books, cartoons, children’s books, coloring books, personal documents, and architectural elements, fixtures, and furnishings from Darger’s original room.
Opened in 2008, the goal of this permanent exhibit is to create an environment that provides a window onto Darger’s world.
