ASIAN, CHINESE & INDIAN ART - ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO - 2/25/09

Welcome to my walking tour of the Art Institute of Chicago. This tour will cover many Asian , Chinese and Indian artifacts that are currently on display.

As you near the entrance of the Art Institute, your eye is quickly drawn to the two large majestic lions which flank either side of the front entryway staircase.

Durign the time of my visit the museum did not charge any entry fee, not only on that day but for the entire month of February. It was the Institute's way of promoting tourism to the many exhibits on display.

As you get closer to the large front doors, you begin to feel a sense of awe and anticipation for the great works of art, pottery and photography that are on display just beyond the front doors. As you enter the main hall one of the first things you see if the very grand main staircase which wends its way around to the second and third floors.

From this point , your options are many. If you turn left, you can enter the Fullerton Hall which hosuses the fine arts - Grand Masters like Picaso, Matisse, Misrach are exhibited, just to name a few.

However, to the right and surrounding the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries are the many Asian, Chinese and Indian exhibit rooms. 435 artifacts, sculptures and paintings (half from the Marilynn B. and James W. Alsdorf Collection) are now permanently displayed in light-filled galleries that literally form a bridge from the arts of East Asia to the ancient works from Western civilization.

The exhibit rooms include such treasures as; Ganesh, the Nepalese God - Indra - 16th century, Camel & Rider - Tang Dynasty. The Art Institue has one of the world's best holdings of Asian and Islamic art but due to space limitations, visitors rarely get to the see the vastness of the collection.

The new Alsdorf gallery will allow the full exhibit to be displayed in the very near future. The McKinlock Court's Galleries of Indian and Islamic Art exhibit later works from India's imperial Mughal and royal past up to 1947, when the region gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Various forms of art from Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia round out the museum's presentation of objects from the Middle Eastern and Islamic cultures of South Asia.

I really enjoyed the openess and airyness of the main exhibit room - this allowed for extended viewing while allowing several people the chance to view the objects at the same time. Many pieces had bench's which allowed you to sit and reflect on the period pieces and to get a well deserved rest along the journey.

I also enjoyed watching and listening to the many grade school seminars that were being conducted throughout the hall. It was refreshing to see students studying cultures from other parts of the world as this leads to a better understanding of others and tolerance for cultures different than our own.

I spent about an hour traversing the various exhibit rooms and with my IPhone I took the photos that you are viewing.

I would like to encourage you to visit your local musuem and check out the great arts that are right under your nose -- you may learn something new about a different culture and from a differnet period of time -- happy viewing.

Andy Curgino

Category:

Education

Tags:

• ASIAN
• INDIAN
• ART
• ARTIFACTS
• GANESH
• GILGAMESH