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Further adventures in Chicago
Aug. 29th, 2012 09:29 amWent to the Art Institute yesterday. Not usually one for art galleries, but I am a fan of Stephen Sondheim and he wrote a musical called Sunday in the Park with George which is all about Georges Seurat and the painting of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Recently I noticed it was at the Art Institute and realised I'd passed the place several times since getting to know the musical but had never gone to see it.
The Institute is on the edge of Grant Park and to get there I passed what appeared to be a giant piece of modern sculpture, looking like a giant silver bean. But you can walk right under it and it is mirrored underneath as well as on top, and the curve inside is such that if you look straight up it is like looking into a tunnel, and and there you are reflected so you are looking at the top of your own head in the distance, but reflected such that left and right are not reversed.
Well, first thing I got to see after queueing to get in was the Seurat. It's big - about 2x3 m - but for some reason I thought it was bigger. I suppose this is because in the musical, Act II opens with a tableau representing the painting.
Lots of other stuff to see in the institute, including that most parodied of American paintings, American Gothic. I hadn't realised the models for the painting were the artist's sister and his dentist.
There was a Roy Lichtenstein retrospective, which was interesting. He didn't just do those paintings based on comic books.
After about four hours walking around the place, my feet were tired and I did little for the rest of the day.
The Institute is on the edge of Grant Park and to get there I passed what appeared to be a giant piece of modern sculpture, looking like a giant silver bean. But you can walk right under it and it is mirrored underneath as well as on top, and the curve inside is such that if you look straight up it is like looking into a tunnel, and and there you are reflected so you are looking at the top of your own head in the distance, but reflected such that left and right are not reversed.
Well, first thing I got to see after queueing to get in was the Seurat. It's big - about 2x3 m - but for some reason I thought it was bigger. I suppose this is because in the musical, Act II opens with a tableau representing the painting.
Lots of other stuff to see in the institute, including that most parodied of American paintings, American Gothic. I hadn't realised the models for the painting were the artist's sister and his dentist.
There was a Roy Lichtenstein retrospective, which was interesting. He didn't just do those paintings based on comic books.
After about four hours walking around the place, my feet were tired and I did little for the rest of the day.
