Myclob Blog: The Chicago Art Institute

I spent a good portion of Friday and Saturday on the computer. And so around 3pm I was bored, it was cold outside, and I wanted to do something...

It had been a few years sense we went to the Art museum. Megan's neck was hurting and so she didn't want to go. The kids aren't as awful when they aren't together... We sort of take turns going someplace special, and so I took our budding little artist Ali with me.

I figured 3 years old is a little young to remember any of the artist names, but she could remember seeing herself in front of the art, and she could learn it that way. So instead of reading many of the plaques, and wandering aimlessly, we sought out good art for Alison to pose in front of.

I'm not sure if she had a great time, but for me, it was a lot better than going to the mall.

Parking was $28. It was free on WeekDAYs until the end of February, not WeekENDS. However we got there for the last hours, so that it was only $9 for me, and Alison was free. And then we spent $9 on 2 hot dogs, fries and a drink at the underground walkway that went all the way from Macy's to Michigan Avenue. Who knew?

Next time I should take the train...

Click on picture to enlarge.

Coffin and Mummy of Paankhenamun, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22 (c. 945–715 B.C.)
Cartonnage, gold leaf, pigment; human remains
Ancient Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife gave rise to the complex art and science of mummification. This vividly painted Mummy Case was the innermost of a series of shells that housed the body of a deceased person. The hieroglyphic inscriptions and painted scenes identify this mummy as Paankhenamun, a doorkeeper in the temple of the god Amun. The central scene shows the hawk-headed god Horus presenting Paankhenamun to Osiris, ruler of the afterlife.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/64339

Knob-Handled Dish
Greek, from Apulia, Italy
The Baltimore Painter ?
330/320 B.C.
Earthenware, red-figure technique
Scene: Persephone in a chariot led by Hemes followed by Artemis; above, Hera, Aphrodite, and Eros
For the ancient Greeks, the myth of Persephone accounted for the changing of the seasons. When Persephone was abducted by Hades, king of the underworld, her mother Demeter, the goddess of fertility, cursed the world with barren winter. This scene shows Persephone's triumphant return, bringing the season of spring.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/102081

Sarcophagus Panel Showing the Abduction of Persephone
Roman
C. A.D. 190-200
Marble

Vincent Van Gogh Dutch, 1853-1890
Self-Portrait,
1887
Oil on artist's board, mounted on cradled panel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portraits_by_Vincent_van_Gogh

Chicago Pointillism A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
On the Terrace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Auguste_Renoir

Paris Street; Rainy Day is a large 1877 oil painting by the French artist Gustave Caillebotte. The piece depicts the Place de Dublin, an intersection near the Gare Saint-Lazare, a railroad station in north Paris. One of Caillebotte's best known works, it debuted at the Third Impressionist Exhibition of 1877. Art Institute curator Gloria Groom described the piece as "the great picture of urban life in the late 19th century." Caillebotte's interest in photography is evident in the painting. The figures in the foreground appear slightly "out of focus", those in the mid-distance (the carriage and the pedestrians in the middle of the intersection) have sharp edges, and then the background becomes progressively indistinct.