The Art Institute of Chicago

One of the nice things in Chicago is the number of top notch museums. Since I was only going for a day and I didn't feel like catching a cab, I decided to walk over to the Art Institute since it is only about 8 blocks away from Union Station. I've been to a few art museums and I'd have to say that is probably one of the better ones. There is a nice representation of art through the ages and they have some very well known pieces.

I'm not about to indentify many of the pieces in here.

One of the nice things about going to an art museum is that it is kind of inspiring for my photography.

This is one of the lions standing outside the museum.

Some of the Asian art. There is a pretty extensive Asian collection at the museum.

I believe this is an Indian statue.

A Monet painting. Love the effect of the light on it. The pinks are pretty cool. A few years ago, I was here for the return of the Haystacks (unfortunately my pictures of the haystack pictures aren't the greatest).

One of the statues.

A closeup on one of the Monet's.



Van Gogh's self portrait.

One of the more famous paintings is the Afternoon at La Grande Jette by Georges Seurat. This painting is famous because it is painted with dots.

This is a close up of another painting that I really like. Just love the reflections in the water.

Another closeup. Look at the reflections on the teapot.

A closeup of a painting depicting chariot racing. You can feel the drama in this one.

One of the nice things about taking pictures of statues is that you can make them your own.

One of the statues in the lobby.

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. This is another one of my favorite paintings. One of my photography goals is to capture this scene or something similar to it. Hence I have many diner shots.

American Gothic but the artist escapes me at the moment.

Another one I like because it reminds me of the painting in the rain.

A Frederick Remington sculupture. There is a fairly large Remington collection at this museum.

I like this more for the picture than the sculpture. Look at the reflections on the display case.

This painting is a perfect example of a portrait that captures the person but doesn't have the person in it. This one is of a decorated Civil War Officer.

A Grecian Urn.

Recently the Museum was expanded. This is that wing.