5,000 years of creativity and 260,000 works of art. The numbers are big, and so is the museum housing them. The Art Institute of Chicago is the second largest art museum in the US. And it has done a fantastic job in gathering the finest art collections in the world – from across the globe and throughout history – and bringing them here to the windy shores of Lake Michigan. You may come to Chicago to get to know a city that's forged its own path, half-way between the East and West US coasts. But the Art Institute also lets you explore the brilliance of artistic endeavours from not just Chicago, but everywhere (and every-when) else.
The Art Institute of Chicago lies almost in the heart of the Loop – but has jumped out of the busyness of downtown, into the wide open spaces of Grant Park, and has long views over Lake Michigan. It was built here in 1893, as part of Chicago's biggest ever fair, the World's Columbian Exposition. The building was designed in the Beaux Arts-style, all bay, arches, columns and grand entrance steps – with, of course, a pair of giant bronzed lions to greet visitors.
Inside, the choice of collections for you to view is impressive – Renaissance Old Masters, Asian Art, Modern and Contemporary Art, Decorative European and American Arts, and African American Art. But the best known, and most popular, is the hugely important collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. Cezannes, Manets, and Renoirs rub frames with van Goghs and Monets. Henri Matisse's Bathers by a River, Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, and René Magritte’s Time Transfixed are all here too.
Iconic American paintings naturally feature strongly too, such as Grant Wood's stark American Gothic, or the Edward Hopper's evocative Nighthawks. As well as a rich abundance of western art, there is an extensive array from the east. The rich styles of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Indian works, both modern and from over the last two millennia, are on display. And of course, the classical world features heavily, with superb Egyptian, Roman and Greek artefacts and paintings. It seems that, if you want an education in art history, Chicago's Art Institute couldn't be a better classroom.
