The first time I was in the Windy City, I never had the chance to see what’s inside the Art Institute of Chicago. Finally, I had the opportunity to visit the Institute and was left awed by its collection of arts.

The Art Institute of Chicago is divided into 3 different levels. Each level is further divided into hall galleries. The lower level houses the Paperweight Collection, European Decorative Arts, Architecture and Design, Thorne Miniature Rooms, Photography.

The First level has the Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan Collections. It also has the American Collection of Paintings from 1700 to 1955, the American Sculpture, Decorative Arts, Furniture and American Modernism. Everything about Asia (Chinese, Japanese, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan, Korean) is also in the first level.

The Second level houses the European galleries, Prints and Drawings (Northern European, Southern European, French, British).

As much as I enjoyed the ancient collections, I also admired the modern art, which includes nearly 1,000 works of art by artists from Europe and the Americas. There were Picasso’s Old Guitarist, Matisse’s Bathers by a River, Lachaise’s Woman (Elevation), Brancusi’s Golden Bird, O’Keeffe’s Black Cross, New Mexico, Orozco’s Zapata, Wood’s American Gothic, Magritte’s Time Transfixed, Hopper’s Nighthawks, and Ivan Albright’s Picture of Dorian Gray.

Masks and figural sculpture from Africa were very impressive. The Art Institute’s collection of over 80 African ceramics is the largest in an American art museum.

The visit was worth it. I took some photos inside the museum (oh, I was actually approached by one of the guards for taking pictures with the flash on). Taking photos is allowed but without the flash.

Here are few of the photos of the collection:

Contact.

Address: 111 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312) 443-3600

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See also: My other travel adventures.