Chicago’s Art Institute boasts of over 5,000 works, and by the time I’d spent four hours here, I was in a starry-eyed daze. There are many galleries, but the ones I can recommend are:
European Prints and Drawings, and European 1400s, 1500s-1600s, 1700s, and 1800s. A collection, spanning centuries and countries, with works ranging from the icon-like paintings of the 1400s, through the opulent mythological depictions, dreamy landscapes, still lives and portraits of later years. Along with famous names like Caravaggio, Tiepolo, Murillo and Turner, are lesser known painters - Karl Blechen’s Interior of the Palmhouse at Potsdam is in every conceivable shade of green, with brilliant light and shade. Alberto Passini’s Circassian Army Awaiting its Commander at a Byzantine Monument is full of life - down to the pigeons pecking at grain!
The collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art is mind-blowing, too. All the heavyweights are here - Monet and his waterlilies; Van Gogh (Self portrait, Bedroom at Arles); Toulouse-Lautrec (The Jockey, At the Moulin Rouge); Millet (Among others, The Song of the Lark - a peasant girl standing in the half-light, sickle in hand, listening intently - and the equally rural Bringing Home the Newborn Calf). Another monumental work is Georges Seurat’s painstakingly perfect pointillist masterpiece, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.
Chinese, Japanese and Korean Art converge in a glorious display of carved jades and serene Buddhas, ferocious warriors and mettlesome ceramic stallions glazed in vivid yellows, greens, and browns. There are delicate silk paintings, brocaded costumes - and most abundant of all - porcelain. These range from delicate green teapots to pale blue jun pottery, glazed with purple-red.
Beyond the Paperweight Collection, which houses hundreds of largely French glass paperweights in floral designs, lie the European Arts. These galleries contains everyday art: carved furniture, ornate mirrors, crystal, and porcelain- Wedgwood, Dresden, and Sèvres.
The American Arts galleries, similarly, have furniture, silverware, paintings, and sculpture. Many stalwarts are represented - John Singer Sargent (Mrs George Swinton is very impressive); Winslow Homer (the silvery fish in The Herring Net almost writhe as they’re hauled into the tossing boat); and one of my favourites - Mary Cassatt. The Bath, depicting a mother bathing her little girl, is heartwarmingly tender. Another must-see in this section are Frederic Remington’s metal sculptures. One is of four cowboys, racing their horses so fast, only six of the sixteen hooves touch the ground!
And if you have children in tow, do check out one last gallery, the Thorne Miniature Rooms. Each room, only about a foot each side, is a perfect miniature replica of a typical historical room - mainly American or European, though there are Chinese and Japanese rooms too. There are bedrooms, living rooms, libraries, drawing rooms, dining rooms, even kitchens, all the way from Louis XIV through Victorian England, to 1930s Paris, to New Mexico, Virginia, wherever. Everything- furniture, upholstery, utensils, books, toys, paintings - is a perfect miniature. Utterly enchanting!
The Institute is open from 10am to 5 or 6pm, depending upon the season. Tickets are $12 per adult; there are discounts for senior citizens and students.