Chicago Tales #6: Everyone's an art critic
Guess what guys...this post has pics!
I was a bit relieved I didn't have to go to the Art Institute with my Sister because we do tend to end up fighting over the time I tend to spend in the Impressionist/Renaissance time periods. I just lose track of time. And considering I really only had the two hours anyway, I was already pressed for time. I was whipping through, snapping photos left and right, thinking I would take my time and look at them when I got home. But I did get caught up with the Monet's (shock) and there were approximately four rooms of them, so I was in heaven! And I've never actually seen any of his London series in person, so that was a real treat! Thankfully, the masses were more interested in other pieces, so I had them all to myself for quite a while...and there were four of them!
and, of course:
ironically, my cell got a MUCH better photo of my favorite, more true to color...go figure!
but they all got me for quite a while...longer than I had time for.
There was one Monet that I had never seen before, but I had another visitor, who was standing in front of it, ask about it as I was walking by (why can't people read the plaques beside the paintings...more on that in a moment), and I immediately just said, barely looking at it, "it's a Monet". I felt weird saying that, and I'm not sure why I did, but I did glance at the card to make sure I was right and was happy that I hit the nail on the head! I stopped myself and got lost in it and she walked off. I'm not sure if I ran her off, or if she felt like she was intruding on my space, but I was tearing up again (a recurring theme with me and ol' Claude, the man gives me the feels, what can I say?):
Other people do tend to annoy me in general, but there were quite a few student groups there, including foreign students, so I had that to contend with as well (more on that in a moment), but it was a congregation of three teachers (high school...had to be), that got on my nerves the most. Granted, I get that impressionism isn't for everyone. My Sister doesn't care much for it (but I don't like Modern Art, so there you go). But as I was waiting to take a picture of yet another Monet, I had to listen to these three women's banter and I about lost my, and unfortunately there is no other way to say it, lost my shit! Here is the painting in question, just another one of his branches of the Seine near Giverny, one of the dozens of the paintings he did around his home (not including the HUNDREDS he did of his actual garden at Giverny):
Now, I get it's an impressionist painting of a riverbank. But logic tells you that you have a riverbank, with trees on the side, the sun is setting, so there is a reflection in the water that mimics the tree line, so what is above, shimmers below in the water, no? These women were INSISTENT that the painting was either hung sideways (hinting that the treeline to the left side was bushes, rather than half trees, half reflection of trees in water) or it was mush that wasn't meant to be understood. EVERY PAINTING IN THERE has a description beside it's title and painter, so it's not THAT difficult to interpret for the artistically impaired, but these were also TEACHERS. Granted, I do expect they were on the high school level and probably NOT art teachers, but I can't imagine they couldn't figure out river, riverbank, trees, water causes reflection of trees in water. It ain't rocket science! Or maybe it is and it's just rocket science that I can easily understand and other's can't. Thoughts? Can you see what I do or does it look like mush to you too?
I was forced to listen to their diatribe because I wanted a picture of the art, but I ended up raising the camera OVER their heads to get the picture because they just WOULD NOT move while they had their debate. It took everything I had to walk up to the painting and go..."tree, tree reflection!". But I did mumble "stupid idiots can't tell what a reflection is" as I walked off. I'm pretty sure they heard me, but I didn't care. Two rooms later, I tried to get back in there, and they were STILL STANDING THERE debating it! I wondered about the children they were "supposed" to be there to supervise! At that point, I was done and went looking for the Seurat that I had come there to see in the first place!
I wasn't expecting it to be as big as it was and, you really can't tell from this picture, but that sucker is huge! Probably ten Monets easily!
I couldn't bring myself to walk up close and look at it...part of me was afraid it would destroy the magic of the art and I think everyone around me felt the same because NO ONE got closer than I was to get the whole thing in the shot. Until, an entire group of foreign students came into the room! They all got right on top of the painting and started taking photos, literally inch by inch! The guard, who was manning the roped off area around it (again, pointing out that the painting was meant to be looked at from a distance), kept trying to get them back, but they all acted like they didn't understand her and kept snapping away. She got more aggressive and brought in more guards to help her push them back, which FINALLY succeeded after quite a BIT of yelling, but most of the usual visitors had already cleared out because no one else could get pictures or appreciate the art because there were dozens of little heads on top of the photo snapping pictures of every square inch. I wish I would have gotten a picture of that (but I didn't want to get in the same trouble), but I did stick around to watch because it was funny, especially when they all were escorted out! By then, the room had cleared, and I had most of the Monets, Degas', and even a few Manet's to myself!
But from an OCD standpoint, I do wish they put the Monet's in one room, the Degas' in another, etc. It was like an easter egg hunt trying to find them all and that place is spread out in multiple different rooms! I'm pretty sure the Monet's were just in four of the rooms, but I hope I didn't miss any!
Found an amazing Renoir:
They also had quite a collection of Camille Pissarro's, another impressionist that I have never seen in person, although we are pushing more neo-impressionism here, so it's not quite the same, but I still count it:
By the time I got to the Renaissance, I had dealt with the bloody foot issue and my shoe was still squeaking, so I hit it VERY fast, taking more wide shots than close ups, although I got a Rubens:
It was so silent in this room, I was almost scared to take a picture (my shutter tends to be quite loud), but then I saw the guy on the bench talking on his cell, so I just started snapping away:
And you can always count on religious imagery to be quite graphic!
And I'll stop there for now although I have dozens more (you can click through the album to find them). I wish I could have gotten more pictures. There were rooms I didn't even get to touch. I'm pretty sure I made it completely through the Impressionists, the Byzantines, the Greeks, Romans and part of the Renaissance, but I never found a Da Vinci or a Van Gogh, and I'm pretty sure they had at least one of both. Maybe next time I go back, I'll find them!
I was a bit relieved I didn't have to go to the Art Institute with my Sister because we do tend to end up fighting over the time I tend to spend in the Impressionist/Renaissance time periods. I just lose track of time. And considering I really only had the two hours anyway, I was already pressed for time. I was whipping through, snapping photos left and right, thinking I would take my time and look at them when I got home. But I did get caught up with the Monet's (shock) and there were approximately four rooms of them, so I was in heaven! And I've never actually seen any of his London series in person, so that was a real treat! Thankfully, the masses were more interested in other pieces, so I had them all to myself for quite a while...and there were four of them!
and, of course:
ironically, my cell got a MUCH better photo of my favorite, more true to color...go figure!
but they all got me for quite a while...longer than I had time for.
There was one Monet that I had never seen before, but I had another visitor, who was standing in front of it, ask about it as I was walking by (why can't people read the plaques beside the paintings...more on that in a moment), and I immediately just said, barely looking at it, "it's a Monet". I felt weird saying that, and I'm not sure why I did, but I did glance at the card to make sure I was right and was happy that I hit the nail on the head! I stopped myself and got lost in it and she walked off. I'm not sure if I ran her off, or if she felt like she was intruding on my space, but I was tearing up again (a recurring theme with me and ol' Claude, the man gives me the feels, what can I say?):
Other people do tend to annoy me in general, but there were quite a few student groups there, including foreign students, so I had that to contend with as well (more on that in a moment), but it was a congregation of three teachers (high school...had to be), that got on my nerves the most. Granted, I get that impressionism isn't for everyone. My Sister doesn't care much for it (but I don't like Modern Art, so there you go). But as I was waiting to take a picture of yet another Monet, I had to listen to these three women's banter and I about lost my, and unfortunately there is no other way to say it, lost my shit! Here is the painting in question, just another one of his branches of the Seine near Giverny, one of the dozens of the paintings he did around his home (not including the HUNDREDS he did of his actual garden at Giverny):
Now, I get it's an impressionist painting of a riverbank. But logic tells you that you have a riverbank, with trees on the side, the sun is setting, so there is a reflection in the water that mimics the tree line, so what is above, shimmers below in the water, no? These women were INSISTENT that the painting was either hung sideways (hinting that the treeline to the left side was bushes, rather than half trees, half reflection of trees in water) or it was mush that wasn't meant to be understood. EVERY PAINTING IN THERE has a description beside it's title and painter, so it's not THAT difficult to interpret for the artistically impaired, but these were also TEACHERS. Granted, I do expect they were on the high school level and probably NOT art teachers, but I can't imagine they couldn't figure out river, riverbank, trees, water causes reflection of trees in water. It ain't rocket science! Or maybe it is and it's just rocket science that I can easily understand and other's can't. Thoughts? Can you see what I do or does it look like mush to you too?
I was forced to listen to their diatribe because I wanted a picture of the art, but I ended up raising the camera OVER their heads to get the picture because they just WOULD NOT move while they had their debate. It took everything I had to walk up to the painting and go..."tree, tree reflection!". But I did mumble "stupid idiots can't tell what a reflection is" as I walked off. I'm pretty sure they heard me, but I didn't care. Two rooms later, I tried to get back in there, and they were STILL STANDING THERE debating it! I wondered about the children they were "supposed" to be there to supervise! At that point, I was done and went looking for the Seurat that I had come there to see in the first place!
I wasn't expecting it to be as big as it was and, you really can't tell from this picture, but that sucker is huge! Probably ten Monets easily!
I couldn't bring myself to walk up close and look at it...part of me was afraid it would destroy the magic of the art and I think everyone around me felt the same because NO ONE got closer than I was to get the whole thing in the shot. Until, an entire group of foreign students came into the room! They all got right on top of the painting and started taking photos, literally inch by inch! The guard, who was manning the roped off area around it (again, pointing out that the painting was meant to be looked at from a distance), kept trying to get them back, but they all acted like they didn't understand her and kept snapping away. She got more aggressive and brought in more guards to help her push them back, which FINALLY succeeded after quite a BIT of yelling, but most of the usual visitors had already cleared out because no one else could get pictures or appreciate the art because there were dozens of little heads on top of the photo snapping pictures of every square inch. I wish I would have gotten a picture of that (but I didn't want to get in the same trouble), but I did stick around to watch because it was funny, especially when they all were escorted out! By then, the room had cleared, and I had most of the Monets, Degas', and even a few Manet's to myself!
But from an OCD standpoint, I do wish they put the Monet's in one room, the Degas' in another, etc. It was like an easter egg hunt trying to find them all and that place is spread out in multiple different rooms! I'm pretty sure the Monet's were just in four of the rooms, but I hope I didn't miss any!
Found an amazing Renoir:
They also had quite a collection of Camille Pissarro's, another impressionist that I have never seen in person, although we are pushing more neo-impressionism here, so it's not quite the same, but I still count it:
By the time I got to the Renaissance, I had dealt with the bloody foot issue and my shoe was still squeaking, so I hit it VERY fast, taking more wide shots than close ups, although I got a Rubens:
It was so silent in this room, I was almost scared to take a picture (my shutter tends to be quite loud), but then I saw the guy on the bench talking on his cell, so I just started snapping away:
And you can always count on religious imagery to be quite graphic!
And I'll stop there for now although I have dozens more (you can click through the album to find them). I wish I could have gotten more pictures. There were rooms I didn't even get to touch. I'm pretty sure I made it completely through the Impressionists, the Byzantines, the Greeks, Romans and part of the Renaissance, but I never found a Da Vinci or a Van Gogh, and I'm pretty sure they had at least one of both. Maybe next time I go back, I'll find them!
Comments
Linda
You managed to take some really good photos!