Around Town mid-September looks up and down

 

 

Birds Eye cafe at Lincoln Park Zoo. (J Jacobs photo)
Birds Eye cafe at Lincoln Park Zoo. (J Jacobs photo)

For kids, there’s a redone, restaurant up at tree-level in Lincoln Park Zoo. For adults, there’s an art show to view high on a building on Wacker Dr. And for adults who want to relive a kids-experience, there’s a museum field-trip night that will take them down a shaft.

 

Restaurant at Lincoln Park Zoo

When entering the main entrance at Lincoln Park walk straight ahead and look up, tree-level for the Bird’s Eye Bar & Grill perched above the gift shop. There is a ramp around the side for strollers and folks who can’t do stairs.

Formerly the Café at Wild Things, the space is geared to families with Foosball and air hockey tables, and games such as Jenga plus a menu that includes burgers and BBQ sandwiches. But there are also salads and flatbreads.

Recently opened, the restaurant is seasonal with hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p., Monday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.  However, the space can be booked for private events. Lincoln Park Zoo is at 2200 N. Cannon Dr., Chicago. Admission is free. For more information visit lpzoo.org.

Coal Mine at MSI. (Photo courtesy of Museum of Science and Industry)
Coal Mine at MSI. (Photo courtesy of Museum of Science and Industry)

MSI adult field trip

Adults get to go down to the popular Coal Mine, board the U-505 Submarine and visit Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle and other stuff at the Museum of Science and Industry after hours (age 21+) on Sept. 20 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Some things they didn’t have when on a kids’ field trip is Improv Comedy iO Theater Chicago doing behind-the-scenes MSI stories  and a chance to play such board games as Clue, Operation, and Guess Who (courtesy of Lakeview’s Bonus Round Café). Plus take part in a scavenger hunt.

Try hands-on experiments. And, oh yes, receive “boozy”juice boxes and “grown-up” lunchables.

Admission is $30 (MSI members: $25). It includes free parking in the underground garage, coat check, light snacks, a complimentary drink, and access to select exhibits. A cash bar will also be available. For more information visit msichicago.org/fieldtripnight

 

Art on theMART starts new projects. (Photo courtesy of theMART)
Art on theMART starts new projects. (Photo courtesy of theMART)

Mart art

New art projected on theMART (former Merchandise Mart) kicks-off Sept. 21 with food trucks and a DJ on Wacker Drive at 6:30 p.m., the projection starting at 7:30 p.m. and fireworks at 8 p.m. The projections feature works by Charles atlas and Petra Cortright. For more information visit visit artonthemart.com.

 

Jodie Jacobs

 

 

Free museum days offer end of summer fun

 

Art Institute of chicago has a free family center and also has free hours Thursday evenings. (J Jacobs photo)
Art Institute of chicago has a free family center and also has free hours Thursday evenings. (J Jacobs photo)

There still are a few days left to explore the Shedd Aquarium, the Museum of Science and Industry and some of Chicago’s other world-class museums without dipping into fall school supply funds.

Some museums are always free. Others have free admission on certain days or hours of the week. But check what is available with free admission because at some museums general admission is free but there still are ticketed exhibits. A valid ID with proof of residency is needed. if the free day is for Illinois residents or Chicago youth.

 

Art Institute of Chicago

Children under age 14 always admitted free. Chicago teens under age 18 are also admitted free. In addition, admission is free to Illinois residents on Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ryan Learning Center near the Modern Wing entrance is always free to families and children’s care givers.

The main entrance is at 111 S. Michigan Ave. but there is also an entrance around the corner at the museum’s Modern Wing, 159 E. Monroe St. For hours and more information call (312) 443-3600 or see artic/visit.

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Museum of Contemporary Art

The museum is at 220 E. Chicago Ave. just east of Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile. Admission is free for youth 18 and younger every day and for Illinois residents on Tuesdays. For hours and more information call  (312) 289-2660 or see MCAChicago/visit.

 

Chicago History Museum

The museum is free to Illinois residents Tuesdays from 12:30 to 9 p.m. and always free to Illinois youth under age 18. Located at 1601 N Clark St., the museum is on the edge of Lincoln Park. For more information call (312) 642-4600 or see ChicagoHistory/visit.

 

DuSable Museum of African American History in Washington Park. (Photo courtesy of DuSable Museum)
DuSable Museum of African American History in Washington Park. (Photo courtesy of DuSable Museum)

 

DuSable Museum of African American History

Located at 740 E. 56th Place in Washington Park at 57th and cottage Grove, the museum’s exhibits feature augmented reality when tied to an app that can be easily downloaded. Admission is free every Tuesday.

For more information call (773) 947-0600 or see DuSable Museum/Visit.

 

The Field Museum

The museum is at 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive at the west end of Chicago’s Museum Campus. It has free basic admission for Illinois residents on Wednesdays from Aug. 14 to Nov. 13, 2019.

Go to FieldMuseum/exhibitions then click on the individual exhibits to see which ones are included in basic admission or needs an All Access or Discover Pass. For more information call (312) 922-9410 or see Field Museum/visit.

 

McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum

Think of this museum as an iceberg with much of what there is to see below the Michigan Avenue and Upper Wacker Drive level. It is inside the Southwest Bridgetower but entry is down at river level at 99 Chicago Riverwalk at the northwest corner of Michigan and Wacker. Sundays are free.  Visitors learn about the historic structure, the river’s bridges and the Chicago River.

For more information call (312) 939-0490 ex. 28 or see Bridgehousemuseum/visit.

 

Wired to Wear is the new hit exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. (Photo credit to JB Spector/Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
Wired to Wear is the new hit exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. (Photo credit to JB Spector/Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

 

Museum of Contemporary Photography

The museum is at at Columbia College Chicago, 600 S. Michigan Ave. near Harrison Street. It is always free but donations are welcomed. For more information call (312) 663-5554 or see MOCP/about.

 

Museum of Science and Industry

Located  at 5700 S. Lake Shore Drive in a building from the 1893 Columbian Expostion, MSI is among the world’s largest science museums so there is plenty to see on free general admission days for Illinois residents even though they don’t include the ticketed exhibits. Coming free days are Aug. 26-28, 2019.

For more information call  (773) 684-1414 or see MSIChicago/visit.

 

National Museum of Mexican Art

The museum is at 1852 W 19th St,  in the Pilsen neighborhood, south west of downtown Chicago. Admission is free, daily. For hours and more information call (312) 738-1503 or see National MuseumofMexicanArt/faqs.

 

Shedd Aquarium

The Aquarium, 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive, is the second building on Chicago’s Museum Campus. Lines are long any day but particularly on free days so go early. Capacity is limited so some people reserve their tickets on line for a $3 transaction fee. Illinois resident free days are Aug. 26-28, 2019.

Illinois residents get access to  all exhibits, chats, presentations and Stingray Touch. For more information call (312) 939-2438 or see Shedd/visit.

 

Jodie Jacobs

 

Four tickets to get now

 

Cast of ‘Miracle’ at Royal George.

Three shows leave and a hit returns

Instead of saying “oops” after “Miracle,” “Manet” and “Head Over Heels” have left Chicago, fit in the one you really hoped to see. Then, if good at planning ahead, look for tickets to “Six.”

 

“ Miracle”

Tickets are available just through Sept. 29, 2019 for this fun show that ties the life of a Wrigleyville bar-owning family to the Chicago Cubs. “Miracle,” whose full title adds on “A musical 108 years in the making,” is at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted St. For Tickets and other information call (312) 988-9000 or visit MiracletheMusical. For the review visit Wrigleyville and Cubs story make great theater.  For the backstory see Miracle Musical.

 

“Manet and Modern Beauty”

At the Art Institute of Chicago, this extensive exhibit on Manet’s later works and transitions of style leaves Sept. 8, 2019. This is a ticketed, dated exhibition. For tickets and more information visit ARTIC/manetand modernbeauty.  For a review see Art Institute turns the spotlight on Edouard Manet.

 

“Head Over Heels”

Two weeks have been added to Kokandy Productions’ hit musical comedy but after Sept. 8, 2019 it will be gone. The show is at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. For tickets call (773) 975-8150) or visit KokandyProductions or stop by Theater Wit. For the review please see Head over Heels has got the beat.

 

“Six”

The sold-out concert-style show about Henry VIII’s wives just closed at Chicago Shakespeare but even though it is headed to Broadway it will return to Chicago in 2020. The touring production will open July 8 at the Broadway Playhouse next to Water Tower Place and the Ritz-Carlton through the Broadway in Chicago series. Groups of 10 or more can get tickets now. Watch for the Broadway in Chicago single tickets this fall. For group tickets visit GroupSales@BroadwayInChicago.com. For more information and single tickets visit BroadwayInChicago.

Jodie Jacobs

 

Around town from an art fest and Ravinia to Edge Fest and Egypt

 

The Martin Theater is near the Ravinia Festival Gate at the Metra train stop, accessible by St. Johns Avenue and the Green Bay Road parking lot plus Ravinia bus shuttles. (Photo by J Jacobs)
The Martin Theatre  is near the Ravinia Festival Gate at the Metra train stop, accessible by St. Johns Avenue and the Green Bay Road parking lot plus Ravinia bus shuttles. (Photo by J Jacobs)

 

Celebrate summer while it’s here.  This weekend, art booths fill downtown Glencoe and Renee Fleming is doing Stoppard’s “Penelope” at Ravinia. Next week the Oriental Institute in Hyde Park has Hieroglyphics for kids and the Edgewater neighborhood celebrates summer with food,beverages and music

 

What: Festival of Art

When: July 27-28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Where: Center point is 700 Vernon Ave. near Park Avenue west of Green Bay Road in north suburban Glencoe.

Admission: free

Info at: Amdur Productions/Glencoe.

 

What: Renee Fleming and actress Jennifer Ehle perform Tom Stoppard’s and Andre Previn’s “Penelope” (based on Homer’s Odyseey) at Ravinia Festival.

When: July 28, 4 p.m.

Where: Martin Theatre and carried on large screens on the lawn at Ravinia Festival Park in north suburban Highland Park between Green Bay and Sheridan Roads north of Lake Cook Road.

Admission: Lawn $10 (as of this printing the Martin is sold out)

Info at: Ravinia Festival/Renee Fleming

 

What: Intro to Hieroglyphs Family Workshop with an Egyptologist (recommended for ages 8-12), then go into the Oriental Institute’s galleries to translate artifacts.

When: Aug. 1, 10:30a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Where: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1155 E. 58th St., Chicago

Admission: Registration needed. General $14, members $10 (child and one adult)

Info at: Intro to Hieroglyphs

 

What: EdgeFest, a music, food, brews party thrown by the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce

When: Aug. 3-4 from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday (Pet Parade Sunday 4 p.m.

Where: Broadway from Thorndale to Ardmore

Admission: Suggested $5 donation at gate (donors receive community discount Edge Card.

Info at: Edgewater/Edgefest.

 

Jodie Jacobs

 

Around Town celebrates the Apollo 11

 

Earth Rising over the Moon's Horizon This view of Earth rising over the Moon's horizon was taken from the Apollo 11 spacecraft. The lunar terrain pictured is in the area of Smyth's Sea on the nearside. (Photo courtesy of NASA)
Earth Rising over the Moon’s Horizon This view of Earth rising over the Moon’s horizon was taken from the Apollo 11 spacecraft. The lunar terrain pictured is in the area of Smyth’s Sea on the nearside. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

 

In Chicago, the place to go to hear about and celebrate Apollo 11’s historic moon landing 50 years ago is the Adler Planetarium July 18-20, 2019.

Those folks around 50 years ago likely remember where they were when they heard “The Eagle has landed.” That was July 20, 1969 when the Apollo 11 lunar module, Eagle, landed on the moon.

They likely remember where they were when Commander Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon’s surface six hours later on July 21. Televised across the world, they heard him say the famous “one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Buzz Aldrin, the lunar module pilot, stepped out 19 minutes later. The two of them collected lunar material during their more than two hours outside while Michael Collins kept  their command module, Columbia, in the lunar orbit.

They rejoined him, using the Eagle’s ascent stage. Leaving the Eagle in space, they maneuvered out of the lunar orbit and splashed down in the Pacific on July 24.

 

The Eagle Prepares to Land The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, in a landing configuration was photographed in lunar orbit from the Command and Service Module Columbia. Inside the module were Commander Neil A. Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. The long rod-like protrusions under the landing pods are lunar surface sensing probes. (Photo and text courtesy of NASA)
The Eagle Prepares to Land The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, in a landing configuration was photographed in lunar orbit from the Command and Service Module Columbia. Inside the module were Commander Neil A. Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. The long rod-like protrusions under the landing pods are lunar surface sensing probes. (Photo and text courtesy of NASA)

 

Now, 50 years later, the Planetarium starts its three-day celebration with Adler After Dark, its regular, Third Thursday fun evening for adults that mixes cocktails, music with the museum’s shows and exhibits from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Calling the July 18 event “Moonshot,” the Adler celebrates the anniversary with period-themed cocktails, a special double-dry IPA called “Project Apollo, music by the Stingers covers band, and a tuning-in to The Washington Post’s  “Moonrise” podcast  in the Grainger Sky Theatre among immersive visuals before it is released to the public. Oh, and late 60’s style apparel or space=age attire is encouraged.

Then, “Moon Bash” programs follow on July 19’ and 20. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Incuded with Museum Entry pass and frree to members)

 

The Adler Planetarium celebrates the Apollo II anniversary July 18-20. (Photo courtesy of Adler Planetarium)
The Adler Planetarium celebrates the Apollo II anniversary July 18-20. (Photo courtesy of Adler Planetarium)

Friday’s events include:

Exploration Stations. Launch a rocket, train like an astronaut, and learn all about the Moon with hands-on programs.

To The Moon, with I Play Games. Relive the Apollo 11 mission in virtual reality. Sit in the cramped cockpit of the Eagle, see Earth from a different perspective, and take steps on the surface of the Moon.

Sketch the Moon. Explore the work of noted space artist Chesley Bonestell and imagine a future mission to the Moon in this art activity.

Small Steps, Giant Leaps – Voices of Apollo. Explore a series of personal stories inspired by this historic event in a temporary exhibition and share your own stories with us. Check out our related online exhibition Voices of Apollo.

Saturday highlights Include:

The Day We Walked on the Moon. This documentary from the Smithsonian Channel tells the story of how he got to the Moon through spectacular footage and interviews with key figures in the Apollo 11 mission. 

Exploration Stations. Launch a rocket, train like an astronaut, and learn all about the Moon with hands-on programs.

Performances & Talks. Live puppet performances, museum theater pieces and special talks from astronomers & other experts, some of whom worked on the Apollo program.

Chicago’s Moonshot Mural. Help create a community mural that highlights the Apollo 11 anniversary and your own “moonshots.”

Small Steps, Giant Leaps – Voices of Apollo. Explore a series of personal stories inspired by this historic event in a temporary exhibition, and share your own stories. (11 a.m. to noon)

The Adler planetarium  is at  1300 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. For tickets and more information call (312) 922-7827 and visit Adler Planetarium.

Jodie Jacobs

 

Enter a ‘Lord of the Rings’ type bugs encounter

 

The Orchid Mantis is attractive and deadly. It is among the Field Museum's Fantastic Bug Encounters. (J Jacobs photo)
The Orchid Mantis is attractive and deadly. It is among the Field Museum’s Fantastic Bug Encounters. (J Jacobs photo)

 

You don’t have to be interested in entomology to enjoy and be fascinated by the new exhibit opened the end of June  at Chicago’s Field Museum. You are even likely to go home from the exhibit, called “Fantastic Bug Encounters!” with some interesting facts to pass along such as how one of the species, the jewel wasp, performs’ brain surgery” on cockroaches to turn them into zombies.

Meet the bees in their hive. (J Jacobs photo
Meet the bees in their hive. (J Jacobs photo

By the way, the word “fantastic” is a perfect description because the exhibition is on loan from New Zealand’s famed Te Papa Tongarewa museum where it developed the exhibition with the Academy Award-Winning Weta Workshop.

Think “Lord of the Rings” and you will walk in prepared for what you will encounter. The Weta Workshop produced sets, costumes, weapons, armour, and creatures for director Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. And Weta is the name of a giant, flightless prehistoric cricket group native to New Zealand.

So be warned, you walk into giant, pod-like homes of such real bug creatures as the Japanese honey bee and the jewel wasp. Take a selfie if you dare turn your back on one of them.

But for those visitors who would like to know more about the insects and some spiders, there are several interactive stations that tell about different creatures’ wing design, camouflage, speed, reflexes and superpowers.

Not all of insects will be dead. The exhibit includes a small Live Bug Zoo where a museum staffer will handle some of them so visitors can see them up close.

A Field Museum staffer holds a patent leather beetle for visitors from the Chicago Park district to see. (J Jacobs photo)
A Field Museum staffer holds a patent leather beetle for visitors from the Chicago Park district to see. (J Jacobs photo)

These encounters are on the hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a patent leather beetle, a lubber grasshopper, a death feigning beetle and a Madagascar hissing cockroach.

Plus, there are some live bugs in glass enclosures to see and not touch such as the emperor scorpion, a stick mantis and a pink-toed tarantula.

“Bugs are weird, beautiful, and fascinating creatures, and we’re proud to be able to share them with visitors of all ages in Fantastic Bug Encounters!” said Jaap Hoogstraten, Field Museum Exhibitions Director. “This exhibition is full of gorgeous larger-than-life models that show what these animals look like close-up and how they’ve perfectly adapted to the world around them—our visitors will never look at bugs the same way again.”

DETAILS: Fantastic Bug Encounters!” is at the Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, on Chicago’s museum campus near Soldier Field, Chicago now through April 19, 2020. For hours and ticket information call (312) 922.9410 and visit Field Museum.

Jodie Jacobs

Museum of Science and Industry captures a World War Two anniversary story

 

German and American uniforms in the U-505 - 75 Stories exhibit at the museum of science and Industry. (J Jacobs photo)
German and American uniforms in the U-505 – 75 Stories exhibit at the museum of science and Industry. (J Jacobs photo)

Seventy five years after Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy France, on D Day, June 6, 1944, the seaborn invasion that would change the course of the fight against Nazi Germany was commemorated last week.

What some folks might not know is that there is another World War II 75th anniversary story that also bears telling.and commemorating.

A German submarine, the U 505, was searching for American and Allied ships in waters off the West African coast when it was captured on June 4, 1944 by United States Navy Task Group 22.3.

It was towed by the Guadalanal escort aircraft carrier to near then handed off to the Abnaki, the fleet’s tug to enter Bermuda waters in secret so the Germans wouldn’t know to change the code books and other important materials found on board.

In  Their Finest Hour, Winston Churchill had referred to the U-boat peril as “The only thing that really frightened me during the war…”

But the U boat capture did make a difference.

What the U-505 yielded was approximately 900 pounds of code books and documents, and two Enigma machines that saved the U.S Navy countless hours of decoding.

The U-505 was donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in 1954 where it resides in its own, specially built space and where numerous visitors have toured it or merely stopped to see it.

However, MSI has now pulled out materials and obtained more items for a temporary exhibit to commemorate the capture.

Photo of the U-505 making its way to Chicago in in an exhibit at the Museum of science and Industry. (J Jacobs photo)
Photo of the U-505 making its way to Chicago in in an exhibit at the Museum of science and Industry. (J Jacobs photo)

Opened early June 2019 in time for its own 75th anniversary, the exhibit is “The U-505 Submarine – 75 Stories.”

Housed in a small room on the ground level, it is packed with items from the German sub and items from the American perspective. Visitors should look for scrapbooks, journals, photos and a Marvel comic book about submarines and a book about Capt. Daniel Gallery who commanded the TG 22.3’s Guadalcanal escort aircraft carrier and the destroyer escorts commanded by Frederick S. Hall that were involved in the capture.

Among the exhibit’s FAQS, is that Daniel Gallery’s brother, Father John Ireland Gallery, thought the U-505 should go to Chicago as a war memorial. A photo of the U-505 going under the Michigan Avenue bridge is in the exhibit.

“The exhibit has rarely seen things from our collection,” said MSI Director of Collections  Kathleen McCarthy, the museum’s head curator.

For more exhibit information visit U505 Submarine/75 stories.

The exhibit and viewing of the submarine are included in the admission (submarine tour is extra). For admission and hours see MSI/Visit.

 

Jodie Jacobs

Three stylish blockbuster exhibits

Off-White™ c/o Virgil Abloh, Spring/Summer 2018, Look 11; courtesy of Off-White™ c/o Virgil Abloh. Photo: Fabien Montique.
Off-White™ c/o Virgil Abloh, Spring/Summer 2018, Look 11; courtesy of Off-White™ c/o Virgil Abloh. Photo: Fabien Montique.

 

If thinking about the fashions of tomorrow, head to the Museum of Science and Industry near the Hyde Park neighborhood for “Wired to Wear.”

If anyone in the household is wondering how people break into the fashion industry, go over to the Museum of Contemporary Art for Virgil Abloh’s “Figures of Speech.”

If curious how a famed 19th century artist dresses his models and sees  1870s-1880s Parisian apparel, visit “Manet and Modern Beauty” at the Art Institute of Chicago.

 

 

Microsoft design Smart tattoo of gold and metal leaf. (Photo courtesy of the Museum of Science and Industry.)
Microsoft design Smart tattoo of gold and metal leaf. (Photo courtesy of the Museum of Science and Industry.)

“Wired to Wear”

Some day, probably sooner than you expect, your what-to-wear question will be which of your wired apparel would best suit the day’s activities.

Choices could range from Nike’s Self-Lacing Shoes because of time constraints to a D-Air Racing suit with a cushion that inflates before your crash to prevent injury such as when racing a motorcycle.  Or the choice might range from an Iridescence collar that will detect the mood of people encountered to a Smart Tattoo on the arm that interfaces with your mobile device and makes a personal style statement.

Designed by Microsoft, the tattoo in the exhibit allows visitors to create notes on an instrument and even control lighting. To hear more about it go to Duoskin.

Similar to the Coal Mine, visitors need a special ticket in addition to museum entry. Opened in Mid-Mach 2019, the exhibit continues to May 2020. MSI is at 5700 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago. For hours and other information see Visit.

 

Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”, MCA Chicago June 10 – September 22, (2019 Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.)
Virgil Abloh: “Figures of Speech”, MCA Chicago June 10 – September 22, (2019 Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.)

“Figures of Speech”

Engineer, architect, artist, fashion designer, Virgil Abloh is a 30-seomthing, black male from Rockford, Il whose creativity and determination has taken him from t-shirt designs to founding “Off-White,” his own line in Milan, and becoming Louis Vuitton Men’s Artistic Director.

But what the MCA exhibit which opens to the public June 10 does, is more than highlight Abloh’s career to date. It also offers the artist’s sense of astonishment that he has been successful in an industry not exactly populated by blacks.

So race is an underlying theme. However, Abloh also hopes the exhibit will inspire youngsters to go for their dreams undeterred by obstacles. There is an accompanying store, called “Church and State,” that is on the same 4th floor as the exhibit. It has Abloh items and a catalogue that further explains the theme and the “go-for-it philosophy.

The exhibit goes to Sept. 22, 2019. MCA is at 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago. Admission is by timed tickets. For more information or tickets call 312-397-4010.or see Visit and Events.

 

Édouard Manet. Letter to Madame Jules Guillemet, Decorated with a Portrait and a Still Life of a Bag and a Parasol, July 1880. Private Collection. (Credit: Saint Honoré Art Consulting, Paris.)
Édouard Manet. Letter to Madame Jules Guillemet, Decorated with a Portrait and a Still Life of a Bag and a Parasol, July 1880. Private Collection. (Credit: Saint Honoré Art Consulting, Paris.)

 

“Manet and Modern Beauty”

In his early years, 19th century French artist Édouard Manet had primarily focused on historical and religious subjects. But in his later years when he transitioned to Impressionism he became interested in modern life and ladies’ fashionable apparel and leisure activities. The exhibit features more than 90 works from paintings to letters.

The audio devise that accompanies the exhibit and some of the wall descriptions explain clothing choices and mention the stylish apparel of men and women.

The Art Institute of Chicago is at 111 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. The exhibit is only up this summer and ends Sept. 8, 2019.  For admission and hours see AIC/visit.

 

These exhibits deserve to be on the summer do list.

Jodie Jacobs

 

Art Institute turns spotlight on Édouard Manet

 

Jeanne (Spring); Édouard Manet (French, 1832 - 1883); France; 1881; Oil on canvas; 74 × 51.5 cm (29 1/8 × 20 1/4 in.); 2014.62 (Photo courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago)
Jeanne (Spring); Édouard Manet (French, 1832 – 1883); France; 1881; Oil on canvas; 74 × 51.5 cm (29 1/8 × 20 1/4 in.); 2014.62
(Photo courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago)

If you are only familiar with 19th century French artist Édouard Manet’s early and middle period styles you are likely to find quite a few surprises in  “Manet and Modern Beauty,” a wonderfully extensive, new exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago that showcases his later works.

Before he died in 1883 at age 51 from complications from syphilis and rheumatism, Manet was influencing other painters as he moved from a transgressive style in the 1860s to Impressionism in the 1870s and from historical and religious subjects to modern life and what he could capture “plein air” as influenced by Berthe Morisot.

Now, get to know his late 70’s and early 80’s works plus see some earlier, important Impressionism pieces. “Manet and Modern Beauty” is the first Art Institute show to focus just on Manet in more than 50 years.

Continue reading “Art Institute turns spotlight on Édouard Manet”

Hamilton: The Exhibition opens

Hamilton The Exhibition opens on Northerly Island (Photo courtesy of Broadway In Chicago)
Hamilton The Exhibition opens on Northerly Island (Photo courtesy of Broadway In Chicago)

Heads up “Hamilton” lovers and anyone interested in Alexander Hamilton’s life.

“Hamilton: The Exhibition” (also called “Ham”), situated in an all-weather structure on Northerly Island, opens April 27. The island stretches south of the Museum Campus just west of the Adler Planetarium. The exhibition is at 1536 S. Linn White Drive.

“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda narrates the audio tour with the musical’s original Broadway actors, Phillipa Soo (Eliza Schuyler) and Christopher Jackson (George Washington).

Go to learn more about Hamilton’s early years and the start up of the United States of America through multi-media and historical artifacts that take visitors to St. Croix, New York of 1776 and George Washington’s war tent.

To learn more visit Hamilton Exhibition.

To hear Creative Director David Konins talk about the exhibition visit YouTube.

For tickets visit TicketMaster/HamiltonExhibition.  And for CPS and groups go to BroadwayInChicago/Groups.

Jodie Jacobs