Christina Ramberg (1946–1995) was an influential and beloved member of Chicago’s contemporary art scene.

While best known for her stylized paintings of fragmented female bodies, throughout her brief yet focused career, she vacillated between the depiction of various figural elements—hair, hands, torsos, and garments—while also creating equally rich, abstracted forms that emphasize structure and surface.

Christina Ramberg. Collection of Anstiss and Ronald Krueck, Chicago. © The estate of Christina Ramberg. Photography by Jamie Stukenberg

This retrospective—the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to Ramberg in almost 30 years—presents approximately 100 works from public and private collections, with several key pieces drawn from the Art Institute’s collection. From intimate early paintings focused on the pattern and form of women’s hairstyles and garments, to mature work featuring cropped female torsos in lingerie that contains and restrains, the exhibition presents her most iconic imagery while grappling with all phases and elements of Ramberg’s continually evolving career.