Notes from The Art Institute of Chicago

This museum is amazing, second only to the Metropolitan or MOMA in New York.  I was one of the first in line when they opened at 10:30 and quickly ran to the Van Goghs before the thundering herds of philistines would block my view.  I found his self portrait and was almost moved to tears.  He is quickly becoming one of my favorite painters.  They have a room full of Van Goghs and Guaganins mixed together, and other rooms full of Degas, Monets and many Toulouse-Lautrecs.  It was a delight.


I made a magical discovery, one of those things that only seem to happen in a museum.  I followed a sign with a beautiful painting of a women's face, and the word Tagore.  When I entered the room there was a huge photograph of a bearded gentlemen, probably in his 60's.  His name is Rabindranath Tagore.  Putting aside the fact that he is a Nobel Laureate in Literature, a poet, novelist, world traveler and was knighted by the British Crown, at the age of 60 he started to paint and draw.  The exhibition at the AIC was captivating. The tenor of his works are dark, with rich tones of orange, browns and black.  Partially due to his color blindness, but more to do with the sorrow his life imparted on him, three of his five children passed away while he was alive, as did many of his family and dearest friends. Searching the web when I returned to my hotel, I could not even find a fraction of the incredible works on display at AIC.  Sometimes you have to leave the computer in order to learn something spectacular.

I ran across three American painters from the 19th and early 20th century, Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Doughty.  Their technical skill are amazing, the light and shadows and foliage are stunning.  My only critique is that its hard to tell these American landscape painters apart.  Even my untrained eye can easily distinguish the unique styles of Monet, Modigliani,  Gauguin and Van Gogh.  But the Americans are very similar in style and hard to differentiate.


Marc Chagall’s "America Windows" was beautiful, don't miss it.

Sometime in your life, go to this museum, it is a must see.