The Chicago Institute of Art

From Millenium Place we climbed a graceful curving pedway to the Chicago Art Institute and then had to descend several stairways to get to the main entrance.

Blair and I love the works of the French Impressionists.  Wherever we travel we try to take in the big public art collections - the Orsay and the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery and the Tate in London, The MOMA and the Met in New York.  They all have awesome displays.

But we both agree that Chicago has the best group of impressionists of any we've seen in North America.  Beautiful Van Gogh's, Monet's, Pissaro's, Renoirs, Degas. 

Then there are the moderns:  Picasso, Braque, Morot and Modigliani;

and the Americans - Hopper with his Nighthawks and Grant Wood's American Gothic. 

And Georgia O'Keefe! 

It was a Monday - but the gallery was very crowded.  They weren't all tourists.  There were people who were clearly taking time away from work to browse the walls and the halls.  And everywhere you looked there were reminders of the great generosity and great wealth of the benefactors who contributed money for construction or for collections.  Millions and millions of dollars.  Of course I kept asking what this says about the differences between the US and Canada - two rich countries.  But in the 19th century Canadian millionaires were not trying to build collections of European art the way they did in the US.  For example when we were in Cleveland last year we learned that two of its wealthiest families spent a year traveling around Europe in 1860s and - impressed by all the classical monuments and great masters - determined to buy a bunch to show that America could be as grand as Europe.  Perhaps Canada never had that much disposable wealth...or maybe Canadians were closer to Europe and thus less impressed by the ostentatious nature of some of its culture.

The Chicago Institute of Art celebrates America of course - these beautiful stained glass windows by Marc Chagall - the America Windows.

There's so much!  It's the second largest gallery in North America. 

Blair loved the furniture collection - art deco and bauhaus style; even if you don't like art it's worth the visit to experience the graceful space.

Check out the website.  http://www.artic.edu/aic/

By the time we were finished in the gallery, we were pooped.  And we sure didn't want to face the late afternoon rush hour crowds on the El.  So with regular rest stops at conveniently placed benches we walked along the Lake Michigan waterfront.  The battery in one camera was just about dead but there was still life in our other one.  And that was a good thing.  Check out the next chapter for an unexpected look at a piece of Maritime Canadian history!