Interesting places in The Art Institute of Chicago:

South Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago		Art Institute of Chicago North Garden
Original Pre-Columbian Lake Michigan Beach

the The Art Institute of Chicago is part of Chicago , Grant Park .

Location is derived from the great work of WikiMapia
Check this place on Socialmapia

Top photos chosen by u all:

Peter Michaels
Made by Viewminder
I had just got booted outta Jazz Fest because my 'credentials' weren't 'real'... can you believe that shit? You can't get access as a photographer unless you 'sell your pictures'... if you shoot because you wanna share the love they'll throw your ass out on the street. That's where the love is anyway. I know... there needs to be rules or everybody would just misbehave and stuff. Of course I'd still push it if there weren't any rules I'm sure. I really kinda wanted a piece of Ira Sullivan's birthday cake backstage there. Viewminder gets tossed! 'No cake for you!' Then I got chewed out by the guy sellin' Jesus 'cause I didn't have any cashish in my pocket to buy a 'ticket to heaven' after I shot him up close... He sure wasn't too forgiving of my lack of coin. 'No heavenly paradise for you!' But a prestidigitating practitioner of the Luciferian 'dark arts'... the street magician that I shot next... he showed me some love. The irony! Right after all that I met Peter Michaels. Peter had come to repay Cecil three dollars that he owed him for a 'round of chess' that they played sometime before. Cecil wouldn't take the money. Peter insisted. Cecil wouldn't have it. Seein' that I figured Peter must be alright and Cecil told him that I was a photographer. I needed to 'reset my mojo' and sittin' down on the concrete wall there on Michigan Avenue across from Cecil's chess tables was the place to do it. Other than his name, I don't know anything about Peter Michaels. We didn't get into 'who we were'... we talked about 'where we were.' It was a long conversation about the moment. Sitting on the wall we talked about what was going on around us. During our exchange of observations I just started shooting Peter as we talked. He asked a lot of questions about my camera and why I shot the way that I did... how it was and what it all meant. I noticed he had on nice shoes and when I went to show him some shots on the back of the camera he hadda put on his glasses. As soon as he could see the shots it just lit him up... It does that to everyone it seems like. There's this moment of explosive joy. I don't know if I can explain it. The energy changes and it's like we become instant friends. There's really something to that moment if you break it down. And I haven't broken it down yet. Peter dug the shots and I gave him a card and told him he could find them here. He said he doesn't use the computer. I accused him of being 'half amish and half rastafarian.' 'Amirastamofo!' Peter left... still talking and joking with me as he walked backwards into the night. I thought I heard the muffled notes of a flugelhorn in the still air underneath the everpresent background hum of the city. Faces on the street Chicago 9.4.11 35mm 1.8 cropped square expo and contrast all funky'd up Riot Miles Davis on the trumpet and Wayne Shorter on the tenor sax.


Looking-Glass Aberration. Bluhm Family Terrace, The Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Made by Rana Pipiens
Our cameras record the world-out-there as clearly as possible. So we don't want dust or smudges on our lenses. Differently from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, we prefer real turles over the Mock-Turtle and real bread-and-butter or flies over the Bread-And-Butter-Fly... But we often forget that even clean and clear lenses can cause inherent distortions of what we think we see. Chromatic aberration is one of these, and you can see it in this photo: the horizontal, thinnish black lines or line segments are not 'out-there' but in the camera's 'brain', as it were. To make things even more a part of my mind-game, I shot this picture through the plate glass window of the Terzo Piano restaurant of The Art Institute at Chicago, Illinois, USA. (I wonder incidentally whether that name is a pun on Renzo Piano, the architect of this new wing...) Thus there are at least three all but invisible - except for that Chromatic Aberration - barriers to seeing this world as it 'really' is; and I haven't even mentioned the various computer screens and electronic waves and so on by which this picture is further transmitted (nor my eyeglasses). The Bluhm Family Terrace and its bright surroundings are as real or unreal as the deconstructivism of Frank Owen Gehry's (1929-) Jay Pritzker open-air Music Pavilion (just to be seen in the lower right of the photo) or the Rising Architecture in de backdrop, or the Boeing Engine Installation. The two engines were 'installed' here by the British artist Roger Hiorns (1975-). They were originally attached to a jet of the Strategic Air Command (USA), a Boeing EC135. These jets were part of the mission called Operation Looking Glass, put into place in 1961. It mirrors ground command in the sky, if after a cataclysmic event ground control were no longer able to function. Hiorns calls his installation Untitled (Alliance). To make things even more complicated, the artist has 'hidden' containers of medicine and drugs in these engines. What this all means is not very clear to me: I think I read words like 'trauma', 'depression', 'symbols', 'security', 'personal well-being', 'ties', 'alliances', 'freedom'. I suppose this all falls under 'deconstructivism'. I feel like Alice in Wonderland in a rather scary story; and it's uncanny and 'unreal' at the same time. But on a fine clear, crisp and blue-skied day like this it's exhilirating as well, even if my lenses suffer from chromatic aberation. And those people in the photo? They're a group of journalists, I think, recording and talking and creating 'lenses' through which to understand... What they're saying I know not... Meanwhile, I think I'll stick with St Augustine's uti et frui.


Chicago - The Loop: Art Institute of Chicago - Allerton Building and Kemeys' Lions
Made by wallyg
The Art Institute of Chicago Building, located at 111 South Michigan Avenue on the western edge of Grant Park, houses the Art Institute of Chicago. The building was originally constructed for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition as the World's Congress Auxiliary Building. After the fair, the Art Institute moved into the space, marking its third address. The core of the current complex, located opposite Adams Street, officially opened to the public on December 8, 1893. The Art Institute of Chicago was founded by civic leaders and art collector as the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts on May 24, 1879 and changed to its current name on December 23, 1882. The museum's collection, known for its Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and American paintings, now encompasses more than 5,000 years of human expression from cultures around the world. Famous works include Grant Wood's American Gothic, Mary Cassatt's The Bath, Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Rembrandt van Rijn's Old Man with a Gold Chain, Pablo Picasso's Mother and Child and Vincent van Gogh's self Portrait. The core central building, originally called Fullerton Hal and renamed the Allerton Building in 1968, was designed in classical Beaux-Arts style by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. The western entrance on Michigan Avenue, guarded by two bronze lion statues created by Edward L. Kemeys, boasts a grand Italian Renaissance facade with a pedimented 5-bayed central section that protrudes forward from the 7-bayed wings on either side. The arcaded entry loggia is topped by three grand palladian arches that are separated by Corinthian half-columns. Just inside the eastern doors is a reconstruction of the trading room of the old Chicago Stock Exchange. In 2007, the Art Institute of Chicago was ranked #88 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list. The Historic Michigan Boulevard District, which stretches along Michigan Avenue between 11th and Randolph Streets, was designated a landmark by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development on February 27, 2002.


EDWARD HOPPER: "Nighthawks" (1942)
Made by sftrajan
The scene was inspired by a diner (since demolished) in Greenwich Village, Hopper's home neighborhood in Manhattan. Hopper began painting it immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After this event there was a large feeling of gloominess over the country, a feeling that is portrayed in the painting. The urban street is empty outside the diner, and inside none of the three patrons is apparently looking or talking to the others but instead is lost in their own thoughts. Two are a couple, while the third is a man sitting alone, with his back to the viewer. The couple's noses resemble beaks, perhaps a reference to the title. The diner's sole attendant, looking up from his work, appears to be peering out the window past the customers. His age is ambiguous. This portrayal of modern urban life as empty or lonely is a common theme throughout Hopper's work. This is sharply outlined by the fact that the man with his back to us appears more lonely because of the couple sitting next to him. If one looks closely, it becomes apparent that there is no way out of the bar area, as the three walls of the counter form a triangle which traps the attendant. It is also notable that the diner has no visible door leading to the outside, which illustrates the idea of confinement and entrapment. Hopper denied that he had intended to communicate this in Nighthawks, but he admitted that unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city. At the time of the painting, fluorescent lights had just been developed, perhaps contributing to why the diner is casting such an eerie glow upon the almost pitch black outside world. An advertisement for Phillies cigars is featured on top of the diner. -WIKIPEDIA Art Institute of Chicago CHI2005.506


This is Cecil
Made by Viewminder
I hung out with Cecil at his chess operation on south Michigan Avenue last night. It's been a tough week and I needed to blow off some steam. Cecil's been runnin' this show for a long time... he's really proud of the table that he built with his own hands... it's twenty six feet long and it packs up into a 56 inch long bundle that he can carry on a two wheeled dolly. He laughed when he was telling me the story when he said 'people think I'm a scrapper when I walk down the street with it on the dolly.' Cecil used a lot of wing nuts to build it so like anything from Ikea it takes a long time to put together... although he doesn't need instructions. He said it took him like an hour to put it up and take it down. Cecil used to be a sign painter and he painted the whole setup himself... including the flags and the signs... the guy can lay on some beautiful paint. The thing is a piece of art and Cecil is an artist. I like how he says 'it brings people together' when he points to his creation. Complete strangers just walk up and start playing chess with each other. There's always people playing there and they drop a few bucks in the donation slot and that's how Cecil keeps it all going. He's really proud to be doing this gig in Chicago. He pointed out that New York doesn't have anything like this. Neither does London. It's really kind of a unique thing and it's always a good time to hang out there and jump people for street shots as they walk by. Some of the guys'll help me out... point out the unusual ones as they approach... they're alright with me and my street shooting... they keep it cool. Faces on the street Chicago 5.12.11 35mm 1.8 SOOC


American Gothic
Made by jough [formerly jough]
Grant Wood (1891-1942) American 1930 Oil on beaverboard As one of the most famous paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, this one (at the moment*) doesn't stand out in its placement. It's in the center of the gallery room, yes, but otherwise you could miss it. It's not a very large painting, and if not for the crowd gathering before it, you wouldn't necessarily know there was anything particularly special about it (had you not known of its fame through cultural osmosis, I mean). The house is based on a Carpenter Gothic style roof that Wood saw in Eldon, Iowa. The figures in the painting were modeled after the artist's sister and dentist (who was said to drive around in a red sportscar and be generally much hipper than the patronly figure depicted here). Wood's sister Nan had very naturally curly hair and was upset to straighten it and pull it back as she posed for her brother. The look of the painting was inspired by early photographs. Subjects would often look bored in photos because they had to hold an expression for up to fifteen minutes while the film exposed. The farmer holding his pitchfork is typical of early photos wherein a tradesman would be seen holding a tool of his trade. The outrage over this seemingly innocuous painting at the time of its unveiling (in December 1930) was due to local farmers claims that the painting was insulting - every farmer of the time was already using the modern tractor. American Gothic was anachronistic even in 1930. * This painting, along with the rest of the modern collection are going to be moving into a newly build Modern Wing in 2009, so its home in the museum is temporary right now.


Happy Fence Friday {Chicago Bronzed Lion} Edition!
Made by pixelmama
Some of you may recognize this lion. This is one of a pair of bronze sculptures flanking the Art Institute of Chicago. This is the one on the North side of the entrance. As reported in the Chicago Tribune in 1893: The sculptor described this lion as “having his back up, and ready for a roar and a spring while the other lion is attracted by something in the distance which he is closely watching. Both were conceived as guarding the building.” Of course my Fence Friday interpretation of this iconic sculpture probably wouldn't be on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. Newspapers probably couldn't care less about the fence or the bokeh lion, street scene & peeps! Happy Fence Friday! On a completely different note: Will the Government Shut-down in the U.S. effect anyone else? My old man is a civil servant and Rachel is in the Navy. For myself, I am leaving for a Flickr Meetup in Yosemite on Monday ... and If last-minute budget wrangling falls short and the U.S. government shuts down at midnight tonight, all 394 national parks across the country would close! As if the California weather wasn't enough to threaten my trip; we now have the politicians trying to muck it up!


American Gothic - 28/52
Made by Phil Roeder
We spent a long weekend in Chicago, which meant a walk from the hotel to the Art Institute of Chicago. Not only is it one of the greatest art museums in the world - made even better with the recent addition of the modern wing - but it's also one of the most liberal art museums I've ever been to when it comes to letting visitors use their cameras. Basically, if it's part of their permanent collection you can fire away. At the same time, I've never understood taking a photograph of a painting. Go in the gift shop and buy a coffee table book of the museum's collection if you want to look at the art you've just seen. But I do think it's interesting to see people interacting with art. I especially liked this older couple sitting on a bench in front of Grant Wood's American Gothic. I thought they made for a nice juxtaposition with the couple in the painting. I recently read that this painting was second only to the Mona Lisa for being the most recognized and reproduced work of art in the world. Which is nice, since Grant Wood is from my home state of Iowa, grew up about 20 miles away from where I grew up, and was a teacher at the University of Iowa.


Dude Tried to Pop the 'Minder!
Made by Viewminder
Street photographers can be a funny bunch. It seems like secrecy and operating solo are the prevalent attitudes. It's a competitive sport engaged in by competitive people. People who aren't afraid to get right into the mix. We all look at each others work... And when we see a great shot I think the first thing any of us think is 'damn... I wish I got that one!' The next thing we think is 'man that was a tough shot.' 'That's really good.' Then it's 'respect' and 'admiration.' We'll congratulate the shooter sincerely... And we begin thinkin' about the shot that'll be so good it's in its own class. The next shot we'll take. Thinkin' about a little 'one upmanship.' We see each other on the street when we're mindin' everyone else's business... Play a little 'Spy vs. Spy' and have a little fun. This guy tried to pop the 'Minder! Could you believe it? I saw him comin' though... and his lens was too long... I knew if I got in close he'd never have a chance to score the braggin' rights. It was another 'street shooter's duel.' Faces on the street Chicago 5.30.11 35mm 1.8 SOOC


Fountain of the Great Lakes, Art Institute, Chicago, il
Made by Chuck Sutherland
Fountain of the Great Lakes or Spirit of the Great Lakes Fountain is an allegorical sculpture by Lorado Taft in the Art Institute of Chicago South Stanley McCormick Memorial Court south of the Art Institute of Chicago Building in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is bronze work of art created between 1907-1913. The fountain depicts five women arranged so that the water flows through them in the same way water passes through the Great Lakes. Note that the Great Lakes waterflow starts in Lake Superior at 600 feet (180 m) above sea level and continues eastward through each lake until it reaches Lake Ontario and then passes into the St. Lawrence River. The Fountain is one of Taft's best known works. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_of_the_Great_Lakes


Captured Flag Monotonic Edition
Made by Viewminder
I've been to maybe eighteen countries... and though I've seen some amazing places... wonderful things... great customs and generous and selfless people... there's no country I'd rather call home than my own. I'm proud to be an American for so many reasons. This place ain't perfect though... far from it... and there's a lot going on that I disagree with... that I don't respect... that I'd like to see changed. This country was born of revolution... built upon the foundations of an amazing document called the constitution... I wouldn't do what this man has done to the flag of our nation. But as Voltaire once said 'I'd defend to the death his right to do it.' Faces on the street Chicago 3.19.11 35mm 1.8 cropped, converted to mono, exposure and contrast up the wazoo. Democracy


Street Concerto
Made by Viewminder
The sound of the violin could be heard from some distance away. The notes seemed to be carried on the breeze... almost floating. Nathan was playing for tips near the Art Institute. I stopped to appreciate the music that he made... I thought about it there as I paused for a few minutes to enjoy the sound of his violin... Only true passion for the music can make one a musician... It's got to come from a desire to make a more beautiful sound. It's got to come from one's heart. No one could make this music without loving the music itself... for a very long time. It's always cool to see someone doing something that they truly love. The sound of the violin carried on and on and it made the street a more beautiful place. It was the sound of air molecules dancing. Faces on the street Chicago 5.30.11 35mm 1.8 expo and contrast fiddled with


Captured Flag
Made by Viewminder
I've been to maybe eighteen countries... and though I've seen some amazing places... wonderful things... great customs and generous and selfless people... there's no country I'd rather call home than my own. I'm proud to be an American for so many reasons. This place ain't perfect though... far from it... and there's a lot going on that I disagree with... that I don't respect... that I'd like to see changed. This country was born of revolution... built upon the foundations of an amazing document called the constitution... I wouldn't do what this man has done to the flag of our nation. But as Voltaire once said 'I'd defend to the death his right to do it.' Faces on the street Chicago 3.19.11 35mm 1.8 cropped, exposure, contrast Democracy


The grand staircase.
Made by kern.justin
Check out the new blog post at www.thewindypixel.com! This is the grand staircase at the Art Institute of Chicago: as grand as a stone palace’s staircase, adorned with priceless art and architecture on all sides and mobbed with people. We brought my sister-in-law here at the end of February during the last and certainly one of the busiest days in Free February. The sun warms the marble from above and the din of the incoming crowd contrasts with the hushed reverence behind the glass at the top of the steps. I borrowed the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” shrink ray for this one. (That’s right - I just referenced “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.”) ***Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments - I'm shooting this weekend - working to catch up in the evening!


Jonathan Kotulski ~ Accordionmeister
Made by Viewminder
Man... I gotta admit that I've always dug the accordion. It's one of my favorite sounds. The accordion is a device that produces the sound of good times. That's why you'll never hear one in country music. My grandparents would play Frankie Yankovich records and get all twinkly in the eyes and springy in their step... Uncle Menard would sneak off into the basement to tinker on something and pull out the AM radio and tune into some distant radio station that seemed only to play accordion music... it was like his heaven... Where the accordion plays, people are havin' a good time. Jonathan was playing outside of the Art Institute on Michigan Avenue. As people walked by they smiled and put a spring into their walk. Faces on the street Chicago 5.30.11 35mm 1.8 expo dropped contrast popped


Chicago - The Loop: Art Institute of Chicago - South Stanley McCormick Memorial Court - Fountain of the Great Lakes
Made by wallyg
Illinois native Lorado Taft's The Fountain of the Great Lakes depicts five female figures grouped together so that water flows from their shells in the same way it passes through the Great Lake system. Superior, at the top, and Michigan empty their water into the basin held by Huron, who sends her stream on to Erie. Ontario receives water and gazes off as it flows into the ocean. Completed in 1913, the fountain sits in the south wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2007, the Art Institute of Chicago was ranked #88 on the AIA 150 America's Favorite Architecture list. The Historic Michigan Boulevard District, which stretches along Michigan Avenue between 11th and Randolph Streets, was designated a landmark by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development on February 27, 2002.


Street Mojo Magic
Made by Viewminder
Another brief soul connection on the streets of Chicago. So often I walk away from these encounters with a smile... feeling touched by a moment of chance played out on some sidewalk somewhere... When I look at the shots later I feel it all over again. I believe in the goodness of people. PROPS to my very good friend Anna Gay... many of you know her for her amazing work in self portraiture here on flickr... Today Anna's book on the subject was released and it looks pretty amazing! Congratulations Anna! You can check her book out here... www.digital-photography-school.com/self-portraiture Faces on the street Chicago 5.12.11 35mm 1.8 cropped contrast upped


A gothic church in miniature
Made by kern.justin
View Large on Black at www.thewindypixel.com! Ever since I was a kid, the Art Institute has had this incredible display of miniature rooms created by Mrs. James Ward Thorne. There are 68 rooms designed by Mrs. Thorne and constructed with painstaking detail. Most of the rooms are living rooms in period and regional styles from both European and American traditions. This is a photograph of one of the more ornate rooms that first greets visitors to the exhibit. Were I able to eliminate those reflections from the frame, it would indeed be hard to tell that these spaces are no more than two feet tall!


Charity looking at a painting by Li Huayi
Made by t i m o
At a recent exhibition of contemporary Chinese ink painting in Gallery 109 (an amazing space to see art) of the Art Institute of Chicago. Somehow this seemed like a fitting image to close out the year. Over the past few months Charity Kittler worked as an intern with me. The final project she worked on was updating the links section of my website. If you are interested in art, espectially representational painting, I would suggest that you check it out. There are three pages. Here's the link to A - G www.timlowly.com/resources/tgllinksag.html (Thanks Charity!)


on the prowl.
Made by clarkmaxwell
waited for a perfect overcast day to take this photo so it would look as if the lion photo was taken in a lightbox. What are the names of the lions? The two bronze lions that flank the Michigan Avenue entrance were made for the Art Institute's opening at its current location in 1893. They were a gift from Mrs. Henry Field. They have unofficial names, which were given by their sculptor Edward Kemeys that are more like designations. You'll notice that the lions are not identical, and thus are named for their poses: The south lion stands in an attitude of defiance, while the north lion is on the prowl.