Despite its cow-town heritage, Chicago has been an icon of modernity for at least 100 years. The Art Institute of Chicago confirms this standing with the opening of its Renzo Piano–designed Modern Wing on May 16. Also on the spring calendar is the return of the Nextcontemporary-art fair— co-steered by local dealer Kavi Gupta—on May 1. Its home base, the West Loop area, teems with young galleries like Western Exhibitions and is anchored by Chicago mainstays Rhona Hoffman and Donald Young. On the auction front, Leslie Hindman has recently upgraded to a 30,000-square-foot space to fit its record 30 sales this year; a rare George Bellows portrait, Nude in the White Shawl, 1919, (est. $75–90,000), hits the block in the December 10–11 auction.

"Hot Spot: Chicago" originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's December 2008 Table of Contents.