Art Institute of Chicago

This is from a trip last fall - my first time in Chicago! We went to the Art Institute, and rode the "L". And of course, Thanksgiving fun. Lots of pics follow.

We started the day by riding a train (not the L). Here are my attempts at action shots.

Oops! Lets work on composition.

Okay, better.
At the Art Institute, we saw famous paintings:

Can't miss the Grant Wood. What photos and postcards don't capture is the emotion in their eyes. By the way, it supposed to be a farmer and daughter (not wife).

I confess, there are some pieces of art that are cool looking, but I don't "get". This one reminded me of a bad texturing job.

 Here's what they look like up close. I had trouble focusing through the acrylic protective case, for some reason my camera wanted to focus on the case instead of art. I suspect I may have been standing at an incorrect distance?

And some are just strange:

It's scary watching everyday artifacts being transformed into art. Does this mean I'm getting old?

[Note: they were calling the desk an example of midcentury "art"]

I loved the traditional ethnic items

and

The new wing was gorgeous:

Too soon, it was time to catch the L to train back to where we were staying.

I think we did a pretty good job of surveying what the Institute had to offer. To give all the pieces the attention they deserve requires significantly more time than we had.

Tip: take advantage of the free readmission to leave the museum for food. Not only cheaper, but shorter wait times.