On a recent trip to Chicago with my family, on a wintry cold day we went to visit my old friends at the Art Institute of Chicago. We started our journey with the Impressionists.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
French, 1841-1919
Madame Léon Clapisson, 1883
When my eyes met Madame Clapisson’s something stirred inside of me. Something that is so hard to describe in words. Her gaze, her eyes so full of life. Did she sit still all the time while the portrait was being made? How young was Madame Clapisson? Her curves are so real and genuine that make you appreciate her for who she is. I could not overlook how beautifully the artist has captured her natural body form in the painting. The colors so real, so well-preserved and to be able to witness this real painting by the Master Renoir! I pinched myself.
Jean-Baptiste-Armand Guillaumin
French, 1841-1927
The Arcueil Aqueduct at Sceaux Railroad Crossing, 1874
The Aqueduct by Jean Baptist: I am in awe as I have looked at this painting many a times and especially the colors that the artist has used for the clouds and the shadows that one can notice under the bridge. As a true impressionist, the artist has not used the color black to show the shadows.
Claude Monet
French, 1840-1926
Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877
Boats on the Beach, Etretat, 1885
Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)
Every summer in my childhood, I visited my grandparents in a coastal village in India. These boats brought back memories of the powerful fishy smell of the ocean, the waves and the extensive sandy beach.
“Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.”
― Claude Monet
With that quote I can only say, I love Monet and will not discuss his art any further.
- Vincent van Gogh
Dutch, 1853-1890
Self-Portrait, 1887
Vincent van Gogh
Dutch, 1853–1890
The Drinkers, 1890
In The Drinkers, Van Gogh is actually copying a woodblock print by Honore Daumier titled “Physiology of the Drinker, The Four Ages.” The painting depicts a youth and three men gathered around a table, tankards in hand, with a pitcher at the ready for refills.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
French, 1864-1901
Ballet Dancers, 1885/86
The symmetry and grace of the ballet dancers in this painting is surreal.
We could have spent another couple of hours in the impressionist wing. We moved on, for we knew we had to see works of Pablo Picasso.
Pablo Picasso
Spanish, worked in France, 1881–1973
The Red Armchair, December 16, 1931
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)
printed by Hidalgo Arnéra
published by Galerie Louise Leiris
Still Life with Glass Under the Lamp, March 19, 1962, published 1963
Picasso & Chicago: February 20th through May 12th 2013. http://www.artic.edu
Grant Wood
American, 1891-1942
American Gothic, 1930
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic
Georgia O’Keeffe
American, 1887-1986
Yellow Hickory Leaves with Daisy, 1928
India
Tamil Nadu, Nagapattinam
Buddha Seated in Meditation (Dhyanamudra), Chola period, c. 12th century
The Art Institute’s distinguished Asian collection comprises works spanning nearly five millennia from China, Korea, Japan, India, southwest Asia, and the Near and Middle East. It includes 35,000 objects of great archaeological and artistic significance, including Chinese bronzes, ceramics, and archaic jades; Chinese and Japanese textiles; Japanese screens and paintings; Indian and Persian miniature paintings; and Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture. The collection of Japanese woodblock prints is one of the finest in the world.
The museum closes at 5:00Pm and we only had twenty-five minutes left. We had to see the Thorne rooms. What are they? Read more about it at http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/thorne
Mrs. James Ward Thorne
American, 1882-1966
E-10: English Dining Room of the Georgian Period, 1770-90, c. 1937
Our last stop was the paperweights collection.
The museum is open daily from 10:30AM to 5:00PM except on Thursdays until 8:00PM. To read more about the Art institute of Chicago visit http://www.artic.edu/
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