Henry Darger

The Room Revealed

Paper doll cut-outs

Henry Darger: The Room Revealed celebrates the legacy of the noted Chicago artist through exhibition of his artworks and source materials and evocation of his apartment at 851 Webster Avenue in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, which doubled as his home and studio for more than 40 years. Darger (American, 1892–1973) worked on painted and collaged drawings that illustrated the story of the Vivian Girls, created volumes of writings and collected hundreds of objects—including comic book clippings, magazines and balls of twine. Many of his interests and influences appear throughout his work, from depictions of fire, clouds and smoke to the clothing of his characters, which were often traced from newspapers, magazines or even children’s coloring books. While Darger developed a serious writing and artistic practice, he worked as a janitor, after spending part of his youth consigned to an Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children in Lincoln, Ill.

At the time of his death, his landlords, Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner, discovered an extensive body of artwork and writings. Central to these was the more than 15,000 page novel, The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, which chronicles the seven Vivian sisters in their battle to end child slavery. A digitized microfilm copy of Darger’s writings, including In the Realms of the Unreal, Darger’s Weather Reports, History of My Life and Vivian Girls in Chicago, is now accessible via the Illinois State Library website.

In spring 2000, Intuit Art Museum (IAM) took possession of the contents of Darger’s living and working space, which was installed as an exhibition in 2008. From 851 West Webster to Intuit chronicles the original installation: JMHDRCp1.ai The 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.

The newly-installed Duchossois Family Darger Exhibition includes two galleries to explore his work, including an expanded installation of Henry Darger’s Room at 75% of the size of Darger’s original room. Important rotating loans of Darger’s artworks accompany source materials from IAM’s collection, shedding light on his methodology and contextualizing his work.

Evocations of weather events Darger discussed in his weather journals and portrayed in his works are projected onto the wall in the first-floor gallery in an animation by motion designer Warren Rudd.

A staircase with Darger-inspired floral designs by artist Jan Tichy (forthcoming in 2025) provides a transition to the evocation of Darger’s residence and home studio utilizing the artist’s objects with additional displays related to his artistic process. Inside the Room, animations inspired by Darger’s art, created by composer Philippe Cohen Solal, the principal behind the OUTSIDER multimedia music presentation, and images inspired by nature by Warren Rudd enliven the windows. An interactive graphic panel, developed in collaboration with Angle Park, provides in-depth details of the Room installation and individual objects. An intimate seating area allows guests to explore Darger’s collection of books and learn more about the artist’s influences and process through brief video and visual presentations.