Retroblogging: Chicago Trip 2012, Art Institute

 

Georgia O'Keeffe
American, 1887-1986

Sky Above Clouds IV, 1965

Oil on canvas
243.8 x 731.5 cm (96 x 288 in.)
Restricted gift of the Paul and Gabriella Rosenbaum Foundation; gift of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1983.821
© The Art Institute of Chicago

Photo of the Day: One Door Opens?

Spotted in Chelsea, October 2012

Retroblogging: Chicago Trip 2012, Art Institute

 And you thought YOUR family was funny looking!

These characters just cracked me up.

William Bonnell was ahead of the anime crazy, but they totally would be adopted by some Japanese fans now.

William Bonham, March 4, 1825
Oil on panel
30.5 x 24.9 cm (12 x 9 13/16 in.)
Inscribed on reverse: "William Bonnell/Pin/March 4th/1825/Portrait of Wm Bonham/ Painted at the age of 38 years"

(Note: there may be an "x" after "Pin" but it is hard to see.)
Estate of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1980.739



 


Mrs. William Bonham (Ann Warford), March 6, 1825
Oil on panel
30.5 x 24.9 cm (12 x 9 13/16 in.)
Inscribed on reverse: "William Bonnell/Pinxt/March 6th 1825"
Estate of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1980.740
 

J. Ellis Bonham, March 5, 1825
Oil on panel
30.5 x 24.9 cm (12 x 9 13/16 in.)
Inscribed on reverse: "William Bonnell/Pinxt/March 5th 1825"

Also on back is a pencil sketch of the work painted on front.
Estate of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1980.741

Retroblogging: Chicago Trip 2012, Art Institute

Once of the things I liked most about the Art Institute was that the size of the museum was manageable. While Kari and I didn't get through everything, we got through a lot. The crowds were also not overwhelming, for the most part*, and we were able to linger and study and to see how the museum had acquired and displayed works that tied together. Like this study, for a much larger, more famous work.

 Georges Seurat
French, 1859-1891

Oil Sketch for "La Grande Jatte", 1884

Oil on panel
6 1/8 x 9 9/16 in. (15.5 x 24.3 cm)
Gift of Mary and Leigh Block, 1981.15

de Hauke 93

Georges Seurat
French, 1859-1891

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -- 1884, 1884–86

Oil on canvas
81 3/4 x 121 1/4 in. (207.5 x 308.1 cm)
Inscribed at lower right: Seurat
Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection, 1926.224

de Hauke 162

It's amazing to finally see of these works in person and to be able to zoom in on details. Like these frisky friends. Did you know there was a monkey in this painting? Bottom right corner at the bustled lady's feet in the shade? See.

Also, there's a border painted onto the painting - a layering of the colors, which you can finally notice when you are about a foot from the actual work.

Of course you have to be able to get close enough to the piece to study it, and it helps if it's a wall-sized canvas.

*I never did get close enough to American Gothic to really experience that work. Somebody had parked themselves right in front of it! And then there were crowds around him. I bought a postcard.

Retroblogging: Chicago Trip 2012, Art Institute

Art Institute of Chicago, January 2012

Marisa Merz
Italian, born 1931

Living Sculpture, 1966

Aluminum and paint
351.2 x 264.2 x 180.3 cm (138 1/4 x 104 x 71 in.)
Through prior gifts of Adeline Yates and Fowler McCormick; Wilson L. Mead Fund, 2011.52

Better pictures and a description of the art here. I just liked the contrast of the kinetic vs. the static and the way they framed out the sleek architectural components of the city skyline.

Retroblogging: Chicago Trip 2012, Art Institute

I totally should have taken some candy.

Art Institute of Chicago, January 2012

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

American, born Cuba, 1957–1996

"Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), 1991

Multicolored candies, individually wrapped in cellophane

Ideal weight 175 lb; installed dimensions variable, approximately 92 x 92 x 92 cm (36 x 36 x 36 in.)

Promised gift of Donna and Howard Stone, 1.1999

© The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres produced work of uncompromising beauty and simplicity, transforming the everyday into profound meditations on love and loss. “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) is an allegorical representation of the artist’s partner, Ross Laycock, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1991. The installation is comprised of 175 pounds of candy, corresponding to Ross’s ideal body weight. Viewers are encouraged to take a piece of candy, and the diminishing amount parallels Ross’s weight loss and suffering prior to his death. Gonzalez-Torres stipulated that the pile should be continuously replenished, thus metaphorically granting perpetual life. 

Note from here. Emphasis my own.

Photo of the Day: Bittersweet

Union Square Farmers Market, Saturday, October 20, 2012

It was so beautiful just a few short weeks ago Now? Who knows when lower Manhattan will get back to any sense of "normal."