Ivan Albright's That Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door) is one of the most haunting and mesmerizing paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection. However, in 2021, the Institute removed the painting from the Ivan Albright Gallery, keeping it in storage ever since.

Albright spent 10 years meticulously crafting every detail of the painting, often finishing no more than a quarter of a square inch per day. The result is remarkably intricate yet cohesive. In the painting, a wrinkled hand reaches towards a decrepit door bearing a funeral wreath. The viewer senses that whatever-or whomever-the hand is reaching towards beyond the door is gone forever, a stunning expression of regret and grief.

The Door won numerous awards upon its completion in 1941 and was considered by Albright to be his most important work. Not only is The Door a phenomenal piece which deserves to be permanently displayed, but it feels disrespectful to remove Albright's favorite painting of his from the gallery named in his honor. The museum has confirmed they have no plans to put The Door back on view in the near future, so it is up to the public to show how sorely this masterpiece has been missed.