Saturday, May 29, 2010

A day out with friends at the AIC!!



With mercury rising, a great place to beat the summer heat is the Art Institute of Chicago [AIC].. Here's a few photographs with my two friends Hilary and Rizza..
Date: May 25th, 2010..







From ancient to contemporary, from meeting with Goddess Tara, to empathizing with Edward Hopper's Nighthawks..







From admiring the elaborately stenciled [original] Stock Exchange Trading Room.. to .. snacking at the lovely McKinlock Court.. We enjoyed it all, with equal doses of seriousness and tomfoolery!



Image 1: Winged Horse [By John Bradley Storrs]..
Image 2 & 3: Goddess Tara with Hand in Gesture of Reassurance..
Image 4: Nighthawks [By Edward Hopper]..
Image 5, 6 & 7: Original Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room..
Image 8: McKinlock Court..

For more on .. [click on the links]..
# The Art Institute of Chicago..
This provides a perfect segway for linking some updates..
# McKinlock Court..
# [Original] Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room..

Thursday, May 27, 2010

AIC: The Lost Pleiade [By Randolph Rogers]





The Lost Pleiade..
By Randolph Rogers [1825-1892]
1874-75 /Marble..
Location: Galleries of American Art - Lower Level
Sculpture Court [Gallery: 161]..

Note the details..
The marker reads..
In creating this sculpture, Randolph Rogers was inspired by the Roman author Ovid's poem "Fasti", which recounts the legend of the seven sisters who lived among the constellations. Merope, the youngest sister, married Sisyphus and hid herself in shame because he was mortal. The sculpture depicts the outcast Merope as she seeks her celestial family. With its unclothe torso, "The Lost Pleiade" is the closest Rogers came to creating a complete nude. Although a general audience would not have understood the reference to Fasti, the title nonetheless reassured Victorian viewers that this partially nude woman had literary antecedence and was thus not intended as an erotic image..















Just to emphasize the details,
I'm posting an enlarged image below..

Although clicking on any image will give an enlarged view..



For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...

AIC: The Hammerman [By Constantin Emile Meunier]





The Hammerman..
By Constantin Emile Meunier [Belgian 1831-1905]
1884 / Bronze..

I find this piece very impressive!
One of my favourites..
Although I'm not very happy with the images of this sculpture, and will try to take better images, but still find it interesting enough to post it..





For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...

AIC: Young Sophocles [By John Donoghue]





Young Sophocles Leading the Chorus of Victory after the Battle of Salamis..
BY: John Donoghue [American 1853-1903]
Bronze.. Modeled 1885, cast 1911
Foundry: Gorham Manufacturing Co. Providence, Rhode Island, founded 1818..







AIC: Miss Expanding Universe [By Isamu Noguchi]





Miss Expanding Universe..
Completed: 1932 / Aluminium..
BY Isamu Noguchi [1904-1988]..

The marker reads..
Born in the United States, Isamu Noguchi lived in Japan until he was 13 years old and was deeply affected by Japanese art and culture. In 1930 the artist returned to Japan to study its sculptural tradition and ceramics. Miss Expanding Universe was the first sculpture Noguchi made upon his return to the United States in 1932. In this work, he combined machine-age streamlining with characteristics of ancient Japanese funerary sculptures [haniwa]. Later the same year, Noguchi transformed this flowing form into a sack like costume for the pioneering dancer and choreographer Ruth page and her ballet "Expanding Universe"..

For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...

AIC: Untitled [Alliance] 2010.. By Roger Hiorns





Untitled [Alliance], 2010..
By Roger Hiorns
EC-135 c aircraft engines, Effexor, Citalopram and Mannitol..

The marker reads..
London based artist Roger Hiorns sculptural objects, installations and performances exploit specific materials to disquieting end, often addressing the symbolic power of culturally "dominant" objects including engines that he extracts from automobiles or airplanes..


For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...

Personal Comment..
A huge part of me, finds it very difficult to accept this as a piece of art.. At least when I visit an Art Institute, this is not what I have on my mind.. And if there is an art museum with lots of pieces like these, I might reconsider visiting that place for a second time.. Thank heavens, that AIC has a rich diversity, with many art-pieces that I generously admire and it gives me more than enough reasons for repeated visits..

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Garfield Park [Lincoln, The Railsplitter (1911) - by Charles J. Mulligan]





Lincoln, The Railsplitter - by Charles J. Mulligan

1911

Location: Garfield Park /
northwest corner of Washington and Central Park Blvd.


The sculpture was purchased for the site by the West Park Commission.


Garfield Park [Robert Burns - by W. Grant Stevenson]



Robert Burns
by W. Grant Stevenson
Dedicated: 1906.
The sculpture was cast in Edinburgh and is a gift of the Robert Burns Memorial Association..
Location: Garfield Park,
Washington Blvd. between Cantral Park and Hamlin boulevards..



A Man's A Man For A' That..
[Is There for Honest Poverty", a 1795 Scot song by Robert Burns]

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft a-gley..


Pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, its blossom is shed..


In fair virtue's heavenly road,
The cottage leaves the palace far behind..

Monday, May 24, 2010

Garfield Park Conservatory [Idyl and Pastoral - By Lorado Taft]

Pastoral - by Lorado Taft




Idyl and Pastoral - by Lorado Taft

1913 / Marble

Location: Garfield Park Conservatory




Garfield Park Conservatory [Bulls with Maiden - by Daniel Chester French and Edward Potter]




.


Bulls with Maiden
- by Daniel Chester French (Female figures) and Edward Potter (Bulls)

The female figure, represent Ceres, the Roman Goddess of grains. There is a companion sculpture of an Indian American maiden, holding stalks of corns.

The Garfield Park Conservatory website does not have any information on these sculptures. A great resource is the book, "A Guide to Chicago's Public Sculptures", by Ira J.Bach and Mary Lackritz Gray..
It informs that these bronze sculptures were cast from salvaged working models of sculptures designed for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. These were placed in front of the Fair's Agriculture Building. Directly across was the Manufacturers Building, were companion groups of horses and male figures, a farmer and a teamster, representing labor, were installed. These were also by the same sculptures, French and Potter.



Garfield Park Conservatory [Zellij Mosaic Fountain ]

 

Garfield Park Conservatory


Zellij Mosaic Fountain 

Installed: 2003

Gift to the Conservatory from Chicago's sister city - Casablanca, Morocco.

Location: Garfield Park Conservatory - Horticulture Hall


Saturday, May 22, 2010

Chicago Totem (1964) - by Abbott Pattison]







Chicago Totem (1964) - by Abbott Pattison

Bronze / 15-foot tall

Location: 400 E Randolph Street 

Commissioned by the Jupiter Corporation, 
developers of the Outer Drive East Apartments

In making his Chicago Totem, sculptor Abbott Pattison wanted to represent his native city with a totem that like Chicago is "soaring, living, writhing with animal force". His soaring 15-foor bronze was commissioned for its frequently wind-swept site by the Jupiter Corporation, developers of the Outer Drive East Apartments. 

Reference: A Guide to Chicago's Public Art By Ira J Bach and Mary Lackritz Gray


Wednesday, May 19, 2010

AIC: Contemporary Art: Alberto Giacometti



Walking Man-II [1960].. and Anthony Woods who was working at the Gallery. I requested him to pose for a photo. Thanks Anthony!



Alberto Giacometti [1901-1966]
was a key sculptor of the post-war years and was an inspiration throughout the West..
Most of his works are of thin figures, standing and full length. Women always hold their arms close to their bodies and stand still, while men are sometimes modelled in open stride. The main variation is of arrangement and size..
- Andrew Causey in his book "Sculptures Since 1945"..







Three Men Walking - II [1948-49].. Earlier in his career, Giacometti had composed sculptures of several parts on flat bases, like tableaux. Hans [Jean] Arp and Henry Moore had made move in similar direction..



Tall Figure, 1947.. and.. Walking Man-II in the backdrop..


This Gallery has works by Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti, Constantin Brancusi and Jean Dubuffet.. [And all these artists are famous for distorted or stylized human figures]..

Marker reads [about Alberto Giacometti]..
After first producing work associated with Surrealism , Alberto Giacometti began making his distinctive elongated, skeletal bronze sculptures in Paris in late 1940's. His works struck a powerful chord with Existentialists writer Jean Paul Sartre, who saw the isolated figures as a visualization of his own ideas about the loneliness and ultimate absurdity of the human condition at the end of World War II..
For his part Giacometti insisted that he was simply attempting to convey his own experience of looking at people though his method of working was sympathetic to Sartre's response. The artist often reworked his sculptures over long periods of time, building up a clay model and then stripping it down, until he gradually eroded the figure's body, to essential fragile core..


For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...