Visiting the Art Institute of Chicago : October 2024

 

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El Anatsui, Ghana b. 1944, The Deluge, 2021

The subject here is nature,

And I can’t recall a tapestry more powerful than this.

Though, we might note, that unlike  Medieval examples,

there are no human figures, so there can be no moral content.

Wow - this is exciting.  Do you think he might make me a jacket?

Manet, Woman with Fans, 1873

This piece is on loan from the Musee D’Orsay in exchange for our monumental  street scene by Caillbotte.

The French website says its subject shows  "amusement, complicity and curiosity, with a hint of melancholy and distraction." . I totally agree. A great portrait of a fascinating person, Amina de Calais. (1843-1884).  She hosted a celebrated salon for painters, writers,  and composers.  She was only 30 at the time of this portrait.

Camille Claudel, bust of  a Young Roman

My favorite piece from last year’s Claudel retrospective - the artist was age 18-23.

Donatello, Bust of a young Neoplatonic man

Claudel’s piece is not as powerful as this one - but at least it brought Donatello to mind.

Soga  Shohaku (1730-1781), letter to a friend, 1754

Another young artist - with a real joie de vivre.

A recent gift to the museum.

Makes for a nice comparison with the piece shown below 

that was found online:

Cy Twombly (1928-2011),  untitled 1969

The Twombly is more like an explosion,

the Soga is more like water dripping down a window pane.

Two contrasting ways of dealing with social pressure.

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Chai Zhenyi  and Chai Jingyi, 17th C.

Love these sister entomologists.

Emilie Charmy (1880-1974), L’Estaque, 1910

I had forgotten all about her, 

but  I once  reviewed this artist in New City 

— and her paintings still catch my eye.

Gallery signage quotes a contemporary critic who said she "sees like a woman, but paints like a man" - and then called such an opinion "wildly gendered".  For me - the above is something Matisse might have done - and the quip would apply just as well - wild or not.

Matisse, Collioure Landscape, 1905

Xia Chang (1388-1470)  Bamboo Leaves in Spring Rain   1444

The museum last showed this magnificent piece twenty years ago, and I wrote about it in my very first blog entry

The display case is much shorter than the scroll (50 feet), so they show a different section each time.

Hopefully, I’ll  still be alive to see yet another section when  it’s put on display again in 2044. 

And now we visit the two special exhibits that brought me to the museum in the first place:

Jean-Benoit Suvee (1743-1807) Belgian, Summer or the Festival of Pales,1783

Yan Ling (1585-1664.), Landscape in the style of ancient masters 1642

I wasn’t going to show this piece because it’s rather dry and academic. Perfectly executed according to the standards of the time - but ho-hum.

But so is the French NeoClassical piece posted above it - so it does seem to belong in this post,

Paula Modersohn- Becker , bust of the sculptor Carla Rilke-Westhoff, 1905

l've written about these two shows here

*****

My membership to the Art Institute of Chicago expired October 31 - not sure when I’ll rejoin.

None of the upcoming shows in 2024 are appealing - but eventually the Caillebotte show will summon me.