Friday, December 04, 2009

A recommendation for the special exhibit at the Art Institute

Last night I decided to visit the Art institute to see their latest exhibit, "Apostles of Beauty, Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago".  If you are into Arts and Crafts and are in the area, I strongly recommend you take this one in.  It runs until January 30th, 2010.

The exhibit features object just about every major Arts & Crafts artisan, architect and designer from Chicago and Great Britain and much much more.  It touches on the major periods and movements within Arts and Crafts and has a wealth of information about the work displayed and puts it all into an interesting context linking art movements in Chicago to those across the sea.

The show features works that are all held by collections in Chicago.  On a sheer voyeuristic side, I was impressed with the kind of objects that local people and institutes had and it really highlights the cultural resources that we have within an arms reach here.  There is a wide array of art pottery, tapestries, furniture, paintings, photographs, prints, etc.  It had a lot of the typical characters represented: Wright, Sullivan, Stickley, etc. but it had a lot of other interesting items as well.  A couple of highlights of the exhibit for me were the collection of photographs by Pictorial Photographers like Steiglitz, furniture pieces by Charles Ashbee and Edward Godwin of England,  and the Robie Dining Room Table.  Finally, there is a nice display of furniture and items designed by Pleasant Home's architect, George Maher.

I figured that a lot of visitors to this site have an interest in this sort of thing and it would be worth mentioning.  There is no special admission for the exhibit and if you go on Thursday, after 5:00, it is free.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

    

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

That sounds great! I wish I was in Chicago. :(

Fargo said...

This is an amazing show, well worth seeing.