At the risk of sounding like that character
– Cecil, was it? – in A Room with a View
who boasts about how long he spent looking at a painting in the Uffizi Gallery,
today I finally gave a museum something like its due. It was the Art Institute
of Chicago, and I was in there for almost four hours, cruising the galleries: a
real luxury compared with the guilt-inducing flitting that’s been a feature of
this trip. They’re very proud of having been voted by TripAdvisor (than which
there is no higher arbiter) the Number 1 museum in the country, and they
certainly have some good stuff in there.
Though I enjoyed the American art, it was the Impressionists who seemed to be
making the greatest, er, impression, with people actually queuing up to
photograph some of the better-known works with their cell-phones – Van Gogh’s
self-portrait was particularly popular, as was the painting (one of them) of his
room in the yellow house in Arles. There was a whole series of Monet’s
haystacks, lots of Manets, lovely Renoirs, Pissaro, Sisley… oh, they’re all
there, the big names as well as (to me) lesser-known artists. There was a
portrait of little Jean Renoir by his father who, to the boy’s embarrassment,
wouldn’t let his gorgeous flowing ginger hair be cut until his school insisted on
it at age 7. Mind you, Jean didn’t do himself any favours allowing his father
to paint him sewing.
Eventually, I decided to leave, but on
visiting the loos before going, came across what I think is actually the
coolest part of the whole collection: the Thorne Miniature Rooms. This is a series
of nearly seventy 1 inch to the foot scale European and American rooms –
parlours, bedrooms, kitchens – set into the gallery walls that show
architectural and interior design development from the 13th century
up till about 1930, which is when they were all built. The main treasures are
the miniature antiques of furniture and furnishings, but the rooms are all
decorated authentically using the same wood for panelling for example as in the
real thing. They’re marvellous! You can see out of the windows and doors, up
staircases and into adjoining rooms…
The only thing I didn’t like was that the
woman who initiated this wonderful series and oversaw all the craftsmen who built
the rooms she filled with her collected miniatures, was referred to throughout only
as Mrs James Ward Thorne. I had to look really hard to find her own name, which
was Narcissa.
So that was today’s main effort: worth a
visit, definitely. It’s in the CityPass booklet. I enjoyed it – except not the
Modern Gallery, the best feature of which is the open space and brightness; the
worst being the video installation entitled ‘Clown Torture’ which consists of a
clown writhing on the floor, groaning. Pft. And the day ended with a fancy high
tea in the Peninsula’s grand and elegant lobby, and a foamy bath back in the
room watching the TV on the wall above the taps while I washed my smalls.
Classy!
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