Monday, June 29, 2009

Public Art at the Art Institute of Chicago



The Art Institute of Chicago is a treasure trove of world renowned paintings and sculptures, and although whats inside of the building won't qualify as being "public" art; what's outside of the building does ...
Here's some outstanding pieces of public art at the Art Institute:



The Lions..
Sculptor: Edward Kemeys
Installed: 1894
Description: Bronze
Gift of Mrs. Henry Field to The Art Institute of Chicago ..
# For more.. click here..



Fountain of the Great Lakes..
Sculptor: Lorado Taf ..
Bronze work created between 1907-1913.
Location: South Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago...
An allegorical sculpture, this fountain represents the five great lakes.. The five women are so arranged that the water flows through them in the same way water passes through the Great Lakes.
# For more.. click here..



Landscaped south garden..
Landscape architect: Dan Kiley
A beautiful serene garden in the heart of downtown.. There are granite planters with hawthorn trees in orange gravel.. A perfect getaway from the busy Chicago traffic. I love this garden..
# For more.. click here..



Large Interior Form..
Sculptor: Henry Moore
Installed: 1983 ..
Description: Bronze /H-16.5f
Location: North Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago..
Large Interior Form appears abstract but actually represents the human figure..
# For more.. click here..



Cubi VII..
Sculptor: David Smith
Installed: 1963
Location: North Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago..
This is part of a Roman numeral series of stainless steel works housed around the world, being the seventh in the series... The strength and weight of Cubi VII are counteracted by the awe-inspiring balance of its forms, leaving the viewer marveling at the dichotomy between material and form..
# For more.. click here..



Flying Dragon..
Sculptor: Alexander Calder..
Installed: 1975
Description: Painted steel plate ..
Location: North Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago..
# For more.. click here..



The Margot and Thomas Pritzker Garden..
Commonly called the Pritzker Garden..
Named for long-time and generous supporters of the Art Institute.
The garden features the sculpture "White Curve" by Ellsworth Kelly ..
It's the largest work Kelly has made to date and is in the Art Institute’s Modern Wing..
# For more.. click here..



Fountain of the Tritons..
Sculptor: Carl Milles ..
Location: McKinlock Court at the Art Institute of Chicago ...
Sponsored by the B. F. Ferguson Monument Fund..
McClintock Court was landscaped in 1924. By 1931 the court was remodeled so the Fountain of the Tritons could be installed. This court is open for dining during the summer months..
# For more.. click here..



The Nicholas Bridge..
A pedestrian bridge connecting the Modern Wing [of the Art Institute of Chicago] to the Millennium Park.. crossing over the Monroe Street..
The bridge opened May 16, 2009.
Architect: Renzo Piano ..
Description: approximately 620 ft long and 15 ft wide.
# For more.. click here..



Chicago's Stock Exchange Arch..
Designed by Louis Sullivan..
The east entrance of the Art Institute of Chicago is marked by the stone arch entrance to the old Chicago Stock Exchange. Designed by Louis Sullivan in 1894, the Exchange was torn down in 1972, but salvaged portions of the original trading room were brought to the Art Institute and reconstructed.
# For more.. click here..

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

Public Art at the Art Institute of Chicago..
# The Lions [by Edward Kemeys].. click here..
# The South Garden.. click here..
# Landscaped South Garden [by Dan Kiley].. click here..
# Fountain of Great Lakes [by Lorado Taft]..click here..
# The North Garden.. click here..
# Large Interior Form [by Henry Moore] .. click here..
# Cubi VII [by David Smith] .. click here..
# Flying Dragon [by Alexander Calder].. click here..
# The Pritzker Garden ["White Curve" by Ellsworth Kelly].. click here..
# Fountain of the Tritons [by Carl Milles].. click here..
# The Nicholas Bridgeway [by Renzo Piano].. click here
# [Original] Chicago Stock Exchange Arch
# Swami Vivekanamd Way.. click here..

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) - East Garden


Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) -  East Gardens




Art Institute of Chicago [AIC] - East Gardens

On the east of the Modern Wing (AIC), 
along the Monroe Street and Columbus Avenue is a beautiful East Garden. 

It is landscaped by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd. 
who also designed the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park,

The garden is home of the preserved 
Chicago Stock Exchange Arch designed by Louis Sullivan.
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Saturday, June 27, 2009

AIC: [Original] Chicago Stock Exchange entrance arch [By Louis Sullivan]





Chicago Stock Exchange Entrance Arch ..
Designed by Louis Sullivan .
The east entrance of the Art Institute of Chicago is marked by the stone arch entrance to the old Chicago Stock Exchange. Designed by Louis Sullivan in 1894, the Exchange was torn down in 1972, but salvaged portions of the original trading room were brought to the Art Institute and reconstructed.














The upper spandrels of the arch are two commemorative medallions, four feet in diameter. The left medallion depicts the house of P.F.W. Peck, the first structure on this site. The right medallion originally carried the legend: "The First Brick Building Built in Chicago Was Built upon This Site". As the Stock Exchange was nearing completion, this was discovered to be untrue, and the right medallion was replaced with the date "1893," the year construction began.



# Also check out the origianl Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room.. at the Art Institute.. click here..
For more on.. [click on the link]..
# The Art Institute of Chicago...

REF: Chicago Stock Exchange Arch or Louis Sullivan Arch.. click here..

AIC: [Original] Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room





Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room ..
Reconstruction at the Art Institute of Chicago ..
Original built: 1894
Original demolished: 1972
Reconstructed: 1977 ..
Original architects: Adler & Sullivan, 1894
Reconstruction architects: Vinci & Kenny, 1977 ..



















The Chicago Stock Exchange was built by one of the city's most important early architects Louis Sullivan, with his partner, Dankmar Adler, in 1893–94. When the Stock Exchange was demolished in 1972, sections of Sullivan's elaborate stenciled decorations, molded plaster capitals, and art glass were preserved from the Trading Room, the magnificent centerpiece of this 13-story structure. Using these fragments, the Art Institute was able to reconstruct the Trading Room in its new wing in 1976–77...



The plaque reads..
The reconstruction and installation of the Trading Rooms from the Chicago Stock Exchange Building designed by the firm of Adler & Sullivan in 1893 was made possible through a grant from Walter E. Heller Foundation.
Mrs. Edwin J. DeCosta, president
6 April, 1977..








Form Follows Function - Louis Sullivan ..
"It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic,
Of all things physical and metaphysical,
Of all things human and all things super-human,
Of all true manifestations of the head,
Of the heart, of the soul,
That the life is recognizable in its expression,
That form ever follows function. This is the law" ..


"Forms emerge from forms. All are related, interwoven, intermeshed, interconnected, interblended. They exosmose and endomose. They sway and swirl and mix and drift interminably. They shape, they reform, they dissipate. They respond, correspond, attract, repel, coalesce, disappear, reappear, merge and emerge: slowly or swiftly, gently or with cataclysmic force. And form follows function."

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

AIC: The Nichols Bridgeway





The Nicholas Bridgeway..
By Renzo Piano..



The above image shows the Modern Wing [of the Art Institute of Chicago] from the Millennium Park. These two major tourist attractions have a heavy-traffic street inbetween, the Monroe Street .. and it's only logical that a pedestrian bridgeway connects them. The answer to a seamless transition from the Millennium Park to the Art Institute is the Nicholas Bridgeway ...
This pedestrian bridge opened May 16, 2009..
Architect: Renzo Piano ..
Description: approximately 620 ft long and 15 ft wide.







The Nicholas Bridgeway... this pedestrian bridge begins at the Great Lawn of Millennium Park, crosses over Monroe Street and connects to the third floor of the Modern Wing, the Art Institute of Chicago.




The bridge leads to a cafe with outdoor seating arrangements overlooking the park.


Looking east from the bridge..


Looking west from the bridge..



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

Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) - Pritzker Garden



The Margot and Thomas Pritzker Garden
Named for long-time and generous supporters of the Art Institute.

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Art Institute of Chicago (AIC): McKinlock Court & the Fountain of the Tritons

McKinlock Court & the Fountain of the Tritons

 McKinlock Court & the Fountain of the Tritons


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The Art Institute of Chicago
McKinlock Court & the Fountain of the Tritons


McKinlock Court

It's a 11,640 square foot outdoor court at the Art Institute of Chicago.  The centerpiece of this court is "Fountain of the Tritons" by Carl Milles. The court has beautiful Dutch Elm trees. The McKinlock Court is attached to the Garden Cafe of the AIC.

McKinlock Court was landscaped in 1924. By 1931 the court was remodeled so the Fountain of the Tritons could be installed. This court is open for dining during the summer months.

Fountain of the Tritons - by Carl Milles

Sponsored by the B. F. Ferguson Monument Fund, to commemorate John Ericsson and other Swedish Americans. Ericsson created the "Monitor", the first iron-clad turret ship, which did battle with the Merrimack in the Civil War.
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Friday, June 26, 2009

Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) - South Garden

AIC - South Garden




Art Insitute of Chicago (AIC) has some beautiful gardens

SOUTH GARDEN 

The South Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago was built in 1962. 
It was designed by the master landscape architect Dan Kiley.




AIC: Fountain of the Great Lakes [South Garden]




Fountain of the Great Lakes
Sculptor: Lorado Taft
Bronze work created between 1907-1913
Location: South Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago
First monument commissioned by the B.F.Ferguson Monument Fund,
 as a memorial to B.F.Ferguson.

Fountain of the Great Lakes is an allegorical sculpture by Lorado Taft. As the name suggests, this fountain represents the five great lakes. The five women are so arranged that the water flows through them in the same way water passes through the Great Lakes. 'Superior' is on the top and 'Michigan' on the side both empty into the basin of 'Huron' who sends the stream to 'Erie' whereas 'Ontario' receives the water and gazes off as it flows into the ocean.
 











Lake Superior

Lake Michigan

Lake Huron


Lake Erie


Lake Ontario




The fountain is Taft's response to Daniel Burnham's complaint at the Columbian Exposition in 1893 that the sculptors charged with ornamenting the fairgrounds failed to produce anything that represented the great natural resources of the west, especially the Great Lakes. The fountain depicts five women that represent the five Great Lakes, and the water flows through them in the same way water passes through the Great Lakes.












The garden surrounding the fountain was designed by the Office of Dan Kiley, who was a renowned late 20th Century landscape architect.

For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...
# North Garden..click here..
# South Garden.. click here..
# B.F.Ferguson Monument Fund.. click here..