Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
along Randolph Street. On the eastern edge of the Loop in Grant Park, three
popular museums are conveniently located within a quick stroll of each other on
a landscaped Museum Campus. Busy Lake Shore Drive, which brings cars zip-
ping past the Museum Campus, was actually rerouted a few years ago to make
the area easier to navigate for pedestrians (talk about a visitor-friendly city!).
THE TOP ATTRACTIONS IN THE LOOP
Art Institute of Chicago
You can't (and shouldn't) miss the Art
Institute: The signature pair of bronze lions that flank the museum's main
entrance are perfect rendezvous points, and there is always a throng of people
sitting on the steps on nice days. Finding the museum is easy—it's deciding what
to see that is hard. Choose a medium and a century and the Art Institute has the
works in its collection to captivate you: Japanese
ukiyo-e
prints, ancient Egypt-
ian bronzes and Greek vases, 19th-century British photography, masterpieces by
most of the greatest names in 20th-century sculpture, or modern American tex-
tiles. For a good general overview of the museum's collection, take the free
“Highlights of the Art Institute” tour, offered at 2pm on Saturdays, Sundays,
and Tuesdays.
If you've got limited time, you'll want to head straight to the museum's
renowned collection of
Impressionist art
(including one of the world's
largest collections of Monet paintings); this is one of the most popular areas of
the museum, so arriving early pays off. Among the treasures, you'll find Seurat's
pointillist masterpiece
Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
Your sec-
ond must-see areas are the galleries of
European and American contemporary
art
, ranging from paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works from Pablo
Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Salvador Dalí through Willem de Kooning, Jackson
Pollock, and Andy Warhol. Visitors are sometimes surprised when they discover
many of the icons that hang here. (Grant Wood's
American Gothic
and Edward
Hopper's
Nighthawks
are two that bring double takes from many visitors.)
Other recommended exhibits are the collection of delicate mid-19th-century
glass paperweights
in the museum's famous Arthur Rubloff collection and the
great hall of
European arms and armor
dating from the 15th to 19th cen-
turies. Composed of more than 1,500 objects, including armor, horse equipment,
swords and daggers, polearms, and maces, the collection is one of the most impor-
tant assemblages of its kind in the country. (If you do head down here, don't miss
Marc Chagall's stunning stained-glass windows at the end of the gallery.)
The Art Institute goes the extra mile to entertain kids. The
Kraft Education
Center
on the lower level features interactive exhibits for children and has a list
of “gallery games” to make visiting the museum more fun. When I was a kid, I
was entranced by the
Thorne Miniature Rooms
, filled with tiny reproduc-
tions of furnished interiors from European and American history (heaven for a
dollhouse fanatic).
The museum also has a cafeteria and an elegant full-service restaurant, a pic-
turesque courtyard cafe (open June-Sept), and a large shop. There is a busy
schedule of lectures, films, and other special presentations, as well as guided tours,
to enhance your viewing of the art. The museum also has a research library. Allow
3 hours.
111 S. Michigan Ave. (at Adams St.).
&
312/443-3600.
www.artic.edu. Suggested admission $10 adults; $6
seniors, children, and students with ID. Additional cost for special exhibitions. Free admission Tues. Mon-Fri
10:30am-4:30pm (Tues until 8pm); Sat-Sun 10am-5pm. Closed Thanksgiving and Dec 25. Bus: 3, 4, 60, 145, 147,
or 151. Subway/El: Green, Brown, Purple, or Orange line to Adams, or Red Line to Monroe/State or Jackson/State.
Kids
