September 22, 2011

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the premier world galleries. It is worth coming to Chicago just to see this magnificent collection.

One of the joys in life is to have studied a work of art and then to finally see that piece in live. The experience is exhilarating. This is what happened many times in Chicago. Their collection of French Impressionism and American Art is outstanding. And the best of all: their collection is largely unglassed and photographable. This makes the gallery first class. Galleries that do not allow personal photography drop-down many notches despite their wonderful collection. I’m thinking of the Prado in Madrid or the Van Gogh gallery in Amsterdam. Over all I spent two days in the Art Institute, five hours each day. That’s a lot of seeing and quite exhausting, but fabulous.

Delightfully absent from the Art Institute are the endless salons of Christian art one see throughout Italy and France. It’s a relief not to see that old stuff over and over again. Thank God for the new world.