El Greco: Ambition and Defiance

From March 7 to June 21, the Art Institute of Chicago will present a major exhibition on the career of the artist known simply as El Greco. Over 57 works from across the world trace not only the development of his distinctive style but also the astounding ambition that drove him to relentlessly pursue success.
Born in Crete as Domenikos Theotokopoulos (1541–1614), El Greco trained in the traditional manner of Byzantine icon painting. After living in Venice and Rome, El Greco moved on to Spain in 1577. He quickly earned a major commission for the altarpiece for the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo, the result being the monumental The Assumption of the Virgin (1577–79). Of a scale and format that he had never previously attempted, The Assumption became a showpiece for the artist as he attempted to mold a new career for himself in Spain.
By charting the development of his style across artworks, that include a large-scale canvases and more intimate panel paintings and sculptures, the exhibition reveals El Greco as a socially and artistically ambitious striver who expected his immense talents to be appropriately acknowledged and rewarded.