A Day At The Chicago Art Institute

3/29 

The Art Institute 

Today was a lazy start kinda day. We slept in till 0600, cleaned up and went to breakfast in the lounge, taking our time to prepare for the day and out the door for the short walk to the Art Institute. As we were way early we decided to stop for coffee at Panera Bread. As we will soon have a Panera in Cheyenne I picked up loyalty card. We also got some Oatmeal Raisin Berry cookies, which are very good. 

One thing we have learned about the Chicago City Pass is that it really helps one skip the normal daily ticket purchase line. 

The Art Institute was built jointly with the city of Chicago for the World’s Columbian Exposition at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Adams Street. A Chicago Landmark where the entry is flanked by the two famous stately bronze lions standing in watch on the “front door” of the museum. 

To me there is only one negative about the Art Institute in that the floors are a jumble because it is four different cobbled together. With that out of the way, the collections of this museum are beyond words, well it is the #1 Museum of Chicago.

We started our exploration in the Lower Level where the Thorne Miniatures are on display. The miniatures are so intricate in their detail. They are not doll house rooms, they are Miniatures.  I was totally intrigued by the detail of these miniature rooms. The craftsmanship for me is beyond description. The scale was one inch equals one foot. A staff was commissioned by Thorne to produce these works. Some of the wood craftsmen made their own tools to make their creations. Each craftsman/artist had their speciality. I say again, the detail is beyond words. 

A Collection of ornate glass paperweights 

American Gothic 

Night Hawks 

Homer 

Angkor Period for Cambodia 

Next we went to the 2nd floor for European Art before 1900. Here we worked our way through galleries holding the masterpieces of the Masters. There was a special exhibit of Rembrandt Portraits. His use of light evokes such emotion. 

Then we admire the the works of Van Gogh, Monet, Seurat, and Gauguin. All this makes me wish I had a better grasp of art history. 

We meandered our way throughout all the various galleries, making sure to seeing many classics, works of Homer, Bierstadt, and Grant Wood. 

I will admit the modern art is not my cup of tea, and we passed through these galleries rather quickly. The art of the Americas and the decorative furniture were enjoyable. 

We then made our way back to the hotel making a stop for some Garretts Popcorn. Actually today was not as long as our past two days so we are taking advantage of the lounge happy hour and canapés. 

We will traveling Rt 66 later this years so only befitting to note the start of the Mother Road 

Tomorrow will be Science and Industry Museum. 

Thank you all so much for reading and following our trip. Please feel free to share with friends and family.