My Artistes

We finally made it to the Art Institute today. (Note: this Chagall mosaic is not in the Art Institute, but rather in Exelon Plaza, which used to be Bank One Plaza or something like that. I don't know.) We got off the el at Monroe, went upstairs, and there was this lovely mosaic. This set the tone for the day. Beautiful, slightly insane, off kilter...
"Why are there birds falling from the sky?!" at the top of our lungs kind of day.

"Because, my dear, my darling, my love, my life--that is how the artist saw the world," said Mommy for the umpteenth time wearily.

"So lots of birds used to fall out of the sky? This says 1942. Did a lot of birds die in 1942?"

"I don't know, we'll have to look it up, won't we?"

"They were strange in 1942."

*sigh* And you are totally normal, I suppose?

The day was fun, but a mixed bag. We took the el downtown--always a treat--saw this Chagall, went to the museum, saw the Impressionists, some Old Masters, American Art prior to 1900, Architectural Artifacts, Textile art of the United States prior to 1900, the America Window (another Chagall) the Thorne Miniatures, Asian sculpture and art...it was kind of like the Cliff Notes of art. We were speed dating the major artistic movements that predated the 21st century.

"I like art, don't be offended," Hannah announced to me as we also saw the cafeteria, "But when you see a lot of it in big quiet rooms, it gets a little um...." she was thinking of a nice way to say boring, I was sure. "Too much," she finished.

"You know what I noticed?" Caleb asked, again at the top of his lungs when we were standing in front of  Monet's water lilies. ("These rooms are so quiet I don't always know if you can hear me," he explained.) "These artists--they're artists because when you look at what they did, they just globbed paint on their pictures, but it actually looks like something! That's why it's art."

"Do they have a museum store?" Hannah demanded.

Why, yes. There was a museum store. I didn't get them anything though. Enlarging their minds should be enough. It's a tough job to squeeze more in those big heads of theirs though. I only hope some of it sticks--like the gobs of paint that make up water lilies.