The Art Institute and the Modern Wing is the perfect first stop attraction in Chicago. A pair of Edward Kemeys‘ bronze “Majestic Lions” (1893) welcome you to the world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago.
Florence isn't the only city with proud lions protecting valuable assets! This lion watches over the Chicago Art Institute.
The one million square foot facility is the second largest art museum in the United States. The largest is the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The Art Institute of Chicago is a museum and is associated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It is located across from Millennium Park at 111 South Michigan Avenue in the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District.
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My favorite exhibits include the “Impressionism” in rooms: 225-226, 201, and 240-243. I also love the Chagall America Windows in Gallery 144. Make time to have lunch at Terzo Piano in the Modern Wing of the museum when you visit Chicago. The restaurant is headed ny award-winning chef Tony Mantuano. The Museum also has a number of interesting shops on the premises.
The Art Institute has one of the world’s most notable collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in its permanent collection. The museum has over 300,000 pieces, including Bertha Palmer‘s own collection.
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Bertha Honoré married the Chicago millionaire Potter Palmer in 1871 when she was 21 and he was 44. Palmer was a Quaker merchant who came to Chicago after failing twice in business. In Chicago he opened a store and eventually sold it to a consortium and it would eventually become Marshall Field’s.
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Palmer then opened the Palmer House, a luxury hotel in Chicago. Bertha, rose to the pinnacle of Chicago Society and became involved in the Board of Lady Managers, which Bertha Palmer was selected to lead in 1891.
During the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, a celebration of the discovery of the New World by Columbus, Bertha’s Board of Lady Managers became involved with the selected as the architect for the Women’s Building. as also involved with the interior of the structure. Sophia Hayden was chosen to design and building and the influential designer Candace Wheeler worked on the interior of the structure.
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Chicago art curator, Sarah Tyson Hallowell worked with Bertha Palmer on the art exhibits and the murals which were designed by Bennett. The Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt eventually got incolved with the mural project.
The Palmers were enthusiastic art collectors and depended curator Sarah Hallowell for advice. She introduced the Palmers to the painters in Paris and they began to collect French Impressionist works. The Palmer’s collection of Impressionist paintings expanded rapidly and they owned twenty-nine Monets and eleven Renoirs. These works form the core of the Art Institute of Chicago‘s Impressionist collection.
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Marc Chagall was a Russian-French artist associated with several major artistic styles. I love his stained glass compostitions. He produced windows for the cathedrals of Reims and Metz, windows for the UN, and the JerusalemWindows in Israel.
The Bible illustrations by Chagall
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Marc Chagall's American Windows at the Art Institute
Marc Chagall Stained glass Window in Nice France
Learn about French Impressionism
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- Pick Terzo Piano for Lunch at the Art Institute for Chicago Restaurant Week 2012 (vinoconvistablog.me)
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