Our itinerary is very conservative. We had a nice breakfast at the same bistro we went to last night for dinner, one long block away. And then we caught a cab about two blocks later to the Art Institute. Since we'd had a lazy morning, we didn't get there until about 1 pm, and found demonstrators outside asking cars to honk for impeachment. I wasn't driving but I still honked, waving as we passed them into the entrance of the massive building.
Val used to visit here weekly in the early '80's. This was my second visit. Using the guidebooks, I was able to pick out what I wanted to see: the European masters (impressionists), and the modern American artists. We found both, using the map, and wended our way through the small rooms. I must admit, there weren't that many impressionists. It could be that they're being stored while the construction is ongoing -- a fate that several Picassos endured -- but I still enjoyed what there was to see. The large Seurat Sunday afternoon painting was outstanding. You view it from far away and then approach to discover the points of light.And in the modern gallery I found Nighthawks, which later artists parodied. It, too, was so very interesting in person.
We went through a side elevator to find the little cafe, and stopped to have some yogurt to last us through until this evening.
When we got outside, it was darker and colder. As we went down the steps, I asked Val, taxi? She saw a busstop, apparently the same busstop she had used 25 years ago, and tried to figure out which bus to get on. So we found ourselves on Bus #3, going to Grand Avenue, put in our two dollars, the only words the driver would say, and sat back to enjoy the ride in a very clean, modern bus. So modern that the sign above the driver spat out which avenue we were approaching. We are now in our hotel room for a brief rest before we have to go out again. We're meeting some 43Thingers at a pizza place two blocks away. The weather is part of the adventure: it should be about 30 by the time we get out there.
2 comments:
John Singer Sargent:
The Fountain, Villa Torlonia, Frascati, Italy
Study for Prophets
Workmen at Carrara
The museum website says, "add to my collection." Hm, do they really mean that?
We probably got to one-fifth of the artwork displayed, so we missed any John Singer Sargent works that may have been displayed. And it seemed that a large amount of the collection had been stored because of all the construction.
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