 | Chicago Art Institute of Chicago Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 108 |  |
I found the Chicago Art Institute an enjoyable pastime while visiting the Chicago area. I have been to the Los Angeles Art Museum, Huntington Garden, The Getty and the Philadelphia Art Museum. I think Chicago's art collection ranks right up there in the top 5 of U.S. Art museums.
My favorite kind of art is the "Impressionists", Monet, Renoir, Cassat to name a few. The use of "high key color" (colors that are far removed such as gray, black or brown) are colors that one can see during the day. I truly enjoyed seeing Monet's Water Lily Pond.
Also presented were The Thorne Miniature Rooms. In the 1930's Mrs James Ward Thorne and her band of artists created miniature rooms from the European and American architectural interiors. She had become interested in them as her uncle (who was an admiral in the British Navy) sent some to her. Mrs Thorne donated 66 miniatures to the Art Institute in 1941.
Although her depictions were not historically correct, the miniatures enable people to see what dwellings were like back in the late 16th to 20th Centuries. Mrs Thorne had a challenge to be able to recreate the illusion of daylight streaming through the windows, she suceeded admirably. The minatures were fun to look at and as a patron of the Arts, I was pleased to see that in 1987 an all out effort to restore these little gems was launched. A new gallery was designed by an architectural company to display the refinished works.
Art Institute hours are: Monday, Tuesday Wednesday and Friday: 10:30 to 4:30pm
On Thursday: 10:30 to 8:00 pm and on Saturdays and Sundays: 10:00 to 5:00pm
Admission is $12 for adults and $7 for senior citizens, students and children
NOTE** On Thursday evenings from 5pm to 8pm, admission is free Always check prior as the days and times are subject to change.
For Public Programs or Events call: 312 443 3600 Leave a Comment
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I've gone to the Art Institute in Chicago so many times that I've lost count. It's a grand place to enjoy the arts. I especially enjoy going to the special exhibits that happen several times each year.
In August of 2005, Allan and I visited to see the wonderful Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre exhibit that will be at the Art Institute from July 16-October 10, 2005.
This particular exhibition looks at Toulouse-Latrec's prolific decade [1886-1896] regarding the Montmartre area in Paris. Besides Lautrec's work, there are other avant-garde artists that include Pierre Bonnard, Jules Cheret, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, and Pablo Picasso. The exhibit includes many of Lautrec's famous posters, his journals, albums, photographs, and music programs from the era.
The special objects and themes included the circus, Moulin Rouge, famous dance-hall celebrities, and everday, working-class patrons of the dancephalls and brothels.
It was an enjoyable but expensive exhibition. The price included admission to the museum itself, and admission to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit. We also paid extra for the audio cassette concerning the show.
Of course, we walked around the art institute and enjoy all the other great areas and artists.
Don't miss seeing this wonderful institution when you visit Chicago. Leave a Comment
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One of the world's great art museums, THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO has collections dating from 3,000 B.C. through to the present , including famous French impressionist paintings and drawings ( the Renoirs were absolutely wonderful ), fine and decorative art from America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, photography, textiles and architectural works.
The internationally acclaimed collection of French impressionism includes works by Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Vincent Van Gogh. I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I was to see the original painting of Van Gogh's "Self Portrait". I have seen it in pictures many times, but had no idea the original was in Chicago. WOW!
Also one of my favourite display areas, were the 68 captivating Thorne Miniature Rooms, which trace the history of interior design and furnishings in exquisite detail.
We, Hans and I, Kat and friend Kris, Robert and Kristi all thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Art Institute and as a bonus, we got in free (Thursdays after 5:00 p.m. ).
Admission:
Adults $12.00
Children ( 12 + ) Students & Seniors $7.00
Children under 12 are free
Members are free Leave a Comment
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The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the Premier art museums in the US. It is an absolutely beautiful museum, filled with treasures! Best known for it's collections of Impressionist and American art, you're sure to find your own favorites. Stroll through and gaze at the wonderful collections. You will surely be impressed! Although I've been there many many times, I still haven't seen everything!
My favorites at the museum include paintings by Caillebotte (Paris Street), Seurat, Picasso, VanGogh, Renoir and Monet. I also love the "American (stained glass) Windows" of Marc Chagall, and the Thorne Miniature Rooms (downstairs), which are like little dollhouse rooms decorated in different time periods.
Check the website for upcoming exhibits at the Art Institute. They are always superbe!
Past exhibits I've seen include Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, VanGogh & Gaughin, Degas
and Monet. They have all been fabulous!
Also, if you're interested in studying art, they also have a School of the Art Institute -- Walt Disney went there!
After your visit, don't forget to hit the gift shop. Something artistic will make a nice souvenir from your trip! Leave a Comment
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One of my favorite things to visit at the Art Institute are the vibrant blue Chagall designed "America Windows" which were installed at the Art Institute in 1977. They were designed by Chagall to celebrate our nation's bicentennial in 1976 and after hearing of the death of Mayor Richard J. Daley (the current mayor's father), Chagall dedicated the windows to him.
Unfortunately for visitors to Chicago, the windows will be off display, possibly even to 2009, as they are being cleaned while a new wing is being constructed.
The 6 stained glass panels each show a different theme-music, art , literature, freedom, theater and dance. In the attached picture of the freedom panel, you can see a dove, the Statue of Liberty and the Chicago skyline in it. Leave a Comment
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Wow. The Art Institute is an amazing place. I love art-or as I like to call it, "pretty pictures." The Art Institute of Chicago is home to a massive and impressive collection of art and artifacts from around the world and throughout history.
One of it's more popular collections is the impressionist collection. My favorite impressionist painting was a massive (almost 7 by 10 feet) painting by Gustave Caillebotte entitled "Paris: Rainy Day." It's not just the size that draws me in, but also the beauty and symmetry. It's almost like two different paintings, with the lamppost being the border. The soft colors evoke a warmness and the couple in the foreground look casual and likeable. Leave a Comment
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the art institute of chicago has a superb collection of all the big name artists. i just so happened to pop in on a tuesday, which turns out to be FREE.
yes, entry is usually $12 i think, but on tuesdays if you go in it is free. definitely worth keeping that in mind when visiting chicago. i had no idea, but when i arrived and saw it, i was happy, being the scungy cheap traveller that i am!
but anyway, the collection was amazing, the building is just gorgeous, and being a huge fan of art galleries, i was having a grand old time! Leave a Comment
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Saturday shrimp56 & I traipsed around looking at my favorites from the previous visit:
*Seurat's Sunday on Le Grande Jatte made more famous in Ferris Bueller's Day Off in the scene where Ferris gets reaaaaly close to the painting to see the impressionist strokes of paint overlaid by dots of paint (ergo Pointillism) and then far off to see it in its full effect;
*Renoir's Two Sisters (On the Terrace);
*Caillebotte's Paris Street: Rainy Day, my favorite painting there (and I think in my Top 10). This must be an anchor painting for the museum as it shows up on the cover of the museum guide.
I really wanted to see Chagall's blue stained glass piece (America Windows) but it was either in storage for cleaning or out on tour but definitely "currently not on view".
Sally steered me to the Lorenzo Ghiberti Florentine Renaissance doors, Gates of Paradise (on the flipside you should also see Gates of Hell at the Rodin Museum in Paris). Shrimp tells me she saw these doors before there restoration in Florence a few years back!
Other items of interest included the small Native American artifact collection, the Manet paintings (where shrimp snapped photos of painting corners) and the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room. Shrimp had just consented to teach an art history course and so combined this as a research trip and she guided me around showing me items she'd focus on in her class (I'm so lucky!). But nearly got thrown out of the museum as the guard felt we were TOOCLOSE taking photos of some the works of art (ha! at least we're real art appreciators)!!
There were several musicians and poets throughout the museum which elevated the level of cultural interest throughout - trés fantastique! This may have been for the Celtic Fest which was going on that 2nd weekend in September. Leave a Comment Phone: 312-443-3600Directions: Picasso's Blue/Rose period, Monet's Haystack series, a fabulous Henry Moore sculpture, and a plentitude of Impressionist paintings. Photos: September 2007Website: http://www.artic.edu
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Thursday is now the late night and the free night, open until 8 pm on Thursday night, free from 5pm-8 pm. Admission is $12 for adults at all other times, the "suggested $12 admission but you have to pay something" policy is now gone
This is my favorite museum in Chicago, truly a world class art museum. The impressionist collection is especially impressive and the most popular section so try to hit this early in the day.
My must see painting list includes:
-Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte
-A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat
-Nighthawks by Edward Hopper
-American Gothic by Grant Wood
-Two Sisters by Renoir
-On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt by Claude Monet
-The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso
-The Bath by Mary Cassatt
You should also make a point of seeing the beautiful blue Chagall stained glass windows (currently off display until 2009 ), the Thorne minature rooms, decorated to look like rooms from both American and European historical periods and the room from the old Chicago Stock Exchange.
There is usually a special exhibition going on that requires separate timed tickets and they can be very popular. If you have your heart set on seeing it, you might try and get tickets in advance, especially at the end of the run when all the procrastinators go.
And a little Chicago history, the Art Institute, was founded in 1879 and moved to the current building in 1893, the year of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, although the current Museum of Science and Industry was the Exposition's Palace of Fine Arts. Thanks to Chicago catalog king Montgomery Ward, it is the only building in Grant Park, he sued to keep Grant Park "public ground forever to remain vacant of buildings".
If you are looking for a place nearby to eat, a couple of good choices are Russian Tea Time or Park Grill or one I haven't tried, Rhapsody Leave a Comment Phone: (312) 443-3600Directions: Loop, corner of Michigan Avenue, entrance at Michigan & AdamsWebsite: www.artic.edu
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For anyone with even just a slight appreciation for art.....spend the day here. "American Gothic", "Nighthawks", "Mao", "Excavation"......remarkable works. Modern Art, African Art, Architecture, Textiles........they have everything!! Leave a Comment
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