Stop 2: Picasso's Untitled Sculpture

Walk east along West Randolph Street for one block to the intersection of West Randolph Street and North Dearborn Street. Turn right onto North Dearborn Street and walk south for about 25 paces. Turn right and walk a few steps into the Daley Civic Center Plaza.This 50ft (15m) high sculpture by Pablo Picasso was placed in Daley Plaza in 1967 and it's been a source of controversy and enjoyment for over four decades. Prior to that, there hadn't been much new public art placed in the city's Loop for decades, and this work represented a radical break with the more traditional heroic-style sculptures that were par for the public art course before then. Emissaries from the city visited Picasso and gave him a few items related to the city's history such as old postcards and books, and he set himself to the task of creating a new work. The final piece was assembled in the United States Steel factory in Gary, Indiana, and made its way to the Loop. Picasso never said explicitly what the work was meant to resemble, though it did upset a number of more traditional folks with its abstract qualities. One city politician even suggested that the work be replaced with a statue of a famous baseball player.Photo Caption: Picasso sculpture in Chicago, IL. Photo by southie3/Flickr.com