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Days 12-13 – Francesco Cetraro’s days off

On Friday, my good friend Daliah was so kind to take the day off to show me around the city, and she did an amazing job as my sherpa (as she both guided me around and carried my stuff in her backpack 🙂 ).

The company at breakfast was right our of a Disney movie

Considering we had a very packed schedule for the day, our first move was to stop to fill up with energy at the Original Pancake House, where both the food and the company were top notch.

With our bellies full we headed out on what in the end turned out to be a 20km walk, making our way first towards the shores of lake Michigan, passing through the Gold Coast neighbourhood and then strolling through the zoo. Sadly, the monkeys were off for the day too, so we quickly made our way towards the hip Lincoln Park neighbourhood for coffee instead.

From there, a quick hop on the metro took us to Bucktown, where I had a chance to order a custom made t-shirt from a store that looks like a Deli, and then spend some time browsing through the vintage shops that are abundant in the area (and now I kind of regret not getting that gorgeous Hugh Hefner’s red jacket on display 🙂 ).

After an equally hip lunch where I had a chance to sample the latest Hawaiian fad called Pokè (served in a burrito made of seaweed, which turned out to be quite tasty), we headed back towards downtown to check out the shiny Bean.  After finally getting the chance to put my feet up for a while, I rounded up a great day checking out some blues at Kingston Mines, as you do when in Chicago.

Another thing you are supposed to do in Chicago is try deep pan pizza. The experience was not exactly wonderful, but since I am told I simply didn’t visit the right place I’ll just pretend that never happened.

On Saturday, after sampling another Chicago speciality (the doughnut) I decided to check out the Museum of Contemporary Art, which had a very interesting exhibition called ”Eternal Youth” featuring various artists’ works on the theme of coming-of-age and the depiction of the teenage years in contemporary art.

Another great discovery of the day was the Richard H. Driehaus Museum. Originally the residence of the Nickerson family, a wealthy family of Chicago bankers, it is today a great example of the styles and decors of the late 19th century looked like, with an incredible collection of artworks and stained glass lamps and windows from the likes of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Giannini & Hilgart.

The museum currently also hosts an exhibition of promotional posters from the Belle Epoque, featuring works from Mucha and Toulouse-Lautrec, which fit quite beautifully with the style of the house.

In the evening, I headed out to the Cobra Lounge (which turned out to be part of the All Rise Brewery, with quite a few excellent beers on tap) to check out Radkey, a garage punk band made up of 3 brothers from Missouri. With a bass player that looked and moved like Phil Lynott and a singer with a voice halfway between Joey Ramone and Glenn Danzig, Radkey put up a hell of a show, and closing with a great cover of Misfits’ ”Last Caress” was the perfect icing on the cake and a great way to wrap up a great visit to Chicago.

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Day 11 – Chicago, mon amour!

Ok, I may have only been in Chicago a couple of days but I’ll go ahead and say: I think this is my favourite city in the US 🙂 .

The tropical storm that welcomed me on Wednesday night went over the city quickly, and each day the weather has been improving significantly, showing the city’s best side.

Seurat waiving at me from the other room

I have been looking forward to spending some time in Chicago, particularly to be able to finally visit the Art Institute of Chicago (ARTIC), one of the top Art Museums in the world holding a broad and massive collection.

Already the first room of the ARTIC’s collection of Impressionists is mind-blowing, with several Renoirs, Monet and most importantly the gorgeous “Paris Street: Rainy Day” by Gustave Caillebotte, so lively and realistic that standing close to it I almost felt like I could walk right into the scene and stroll around Paris.

In the next room, I could already see from the distance Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte“, one of my favourite paintings. But I decided to take things slow and delay a bit the pleasure to finally meet in person this amazing masterpiece, and took a stroll around the other rooms holding older European artworks, including some by El Greco, Rossetti and Cranach the elder.

Seurat

Ultimately, I finally stood face to face with Seurat’s masterpiece. From the little monkey on a leash to the grumpy man under the umbrella sitting next to the tree or the little girl in white enjoying a stroll in the sunshine with her mom (or the baby sitter maybe?), the level of detail and the liveliness of this picture gave me so much joy, and I think I spent 20 minutes just studying every single detail of this incredible artwork.

Two other luminous, idyllic paintings by Cross and Signac on the opposite wall contribute to making this room a little piece of paradise on earth.

Hopper’s “Nighthawks”

Another of the painting that I have been dying to see in real life is Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks“, such a strong and powerful allegory of human alienation and isolation even in what on the surface would look like a perfect social situation.

This institution is truly astonishing, and full of surprises room after room (including a “visit” by Whistler’s mom, on loan from the Musee d’Orsay 🙂 ).

I don’t think I can express how incredible spending a full day here has been. Even the contemporary art section (which is typically not my favourite) was a pleasant surprise with great works by Warhol, Lichtenstein and Alma Thomas, an incredible artist I got to know first in DC at the Museum for Women in Art.

Another incredible treasure of the ARTIC is the exhibition on outdoor art in Chicago, featuring the “America Windows” donated to the city of Chicago by Marc Chagall in 1977. The ARTIC’s collection covers also the work of famous architects that helped shape Chicago (and the world) with their work like Frank Lloyd Wright and Adler&Sullivan. Many elements of decor and even the entire trading room from the old Chicago stock exchange can be seen at the ARTIC.

I must say that my day at the ARTIC was definitely one of the best so far: this is a place that alone would justify a trip to Chicago, and I hope to get many more opportunities to spend time here in the future (maybe I should just get a job in Chicago? 😀 ).