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***Some readers were wondering about the new DIY haircut. See…not so bad! ***
On our trips to Chicago, one of the things my husband and I like to do is take the River North art gallery tour. On any given Saturday, just show up inside the Starbucks at corner of Franklin and Chicago at 11 a.m. and catch a free, guided tour of four area galleries. You could do it every Saturday and never have the same tour because the galleries change, as do the exhibits. It’s a one-hour tour, so you finish in time for lunch.
It’s sort of like getting the headphones at a museum—only better because the gallery owners and directors greet you as though you’re a VIP. I suppose they think we’re all collectors, but there’s never any pressure to buy. They always provide beautiful explanations of what you’re about to see –a huge help for the average viewer. With those introductions, we always glean a little more than we might have on our own.
Still, I must admit that we’re both a little challenged by abstract art, although one of our favorite galleries is purely modern. We both stood for the longest time in front of an abstract piece with stripe after vertical stripe, running all the way across the canvas in a riot of different colors. The assistant director encouraged us to think about how it spoke to us rather than trying to imagine what the artist was saying. I guess we’re simple, literal people because all we could think was, “Could we have done this ourselves?”
As much as I love fashion, I guess I’m pretty much the same about clothes–literal. When I see a great vintage vest like this, I can’t think of one blasted thing I’d like better to pair it with than a black turtleneck and slacks. I know some of my blogging sisters would have a great time jazzing this piece up.
***I love the frescoes on the lobby ceiling of Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel. They were designed and created by French painter Louis Pierre Rigal. They were restored in 1996 by the same man who helped restore the Sistine Chapel – Lido Lippi. I think this painting depicts Venus rising. ***
What’s your favorite style of art? Mine’s impressionistic. The Art Institute of Chicago has one of the world’s largest collections of impressionistic art, thanks to Bertha Palmer, a wealthy patron of the arts whose husband built the Palmer House Hotel as a wedding present to her. Wow. And all I gave my husband was a money clip. Bertha was also responsible for the invention of one of my favorite desserts, the Brownie. She commissioned its creation for the World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893. I don’t know about you, but I find much to love about Bertha.
12 comments
January 9, 2013 at 1:07 pm
Love the vest, especially the little frog closings. And never mind about being inventive…black is classic and always right!
Chicago is wonderful… except for the winters when the wind can almost blow you into Lake Michigan!
April
January 9, 2013 at 1:45 pm
Isn’t that the truth! I went to Chicago one November years ago in only a London Fog raincoat. After a few steps on the streets of Chicago, I ducked into Marshall Fields and bought the warmest coat I’ve ever owned–and it was a looker, too! I wish I still had that coat! Thanks, April!
January 9, 2013 at 3:18 pm
I was just thinking. If Mrs. Palmer had been more conceited, perhaps we would occasionally bake up a batch of Berthas!
January 9, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Ah, yes, we must give her credit for that as well as a dessert that’s pretty easy to whip up. I’ve got the recipe for the Palmer House Brownie! Yumm!
January 9, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Your hair looks fabulous! Way to go!
Lovely & classy outfit! You can never go wrong with black….nope!
January 9, 2013 at 11:54 pm
“I Just Blew In From The Windy City”… where Jim and I took a little tour of the recent Palmer House Hilton revovation. Plus, the whole family enjoyed a delicious and informative three hour chocolate tour in the loop, however no brownies were included:(
January 10, 2013 at 10:01 am
I love the vest, especially the little ties , I can never remember what they are called.
As far as art goes; I sometimes have a difficult time with abstract art. However I love impressionistic art. I have been to Paris several times. The Louvre is one place a girl can spend days. There are so many museums with fantastic art it is easy to go into art overload. There is also a museum in Amsterdam I visited, the name escapes me just now, that has some astonishing pieces. I came to love art so much more when I was able to travel for work and able to visit the terrific museums around the world.
Have a great day!
January 10, 2013 at 10:19 am
You, too?!!! I guess I like seeing the world through rose colored glasses–all fuzzy!
January 10, 2013 at 10:20 am
I have been meaning to catch up with you about that trip! So was I right? Was the piece in the center Venus???
January 10, 2013 at 10:24 am
Thank you! I just wish I could be a little more inventive from time to time. My blogger friend Citizen Rosebud suggested that I pair a tartan plaid shirt with a leopard print skirt. She always looks so clever that I’m dying to heed her advice, but I am really going to have to jump outside my comfort zone to do it! Thanks for the haircut reassurance. I hope the next try goes as well as this. It’s possible that it only worked because of the lines I was following! Have a great day.
January 18, 2013 at 11:09 am
The Louis Pierre Rigal painting at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago represents Apollo and Daphne. She changes into a laurel tree just as he is about to abduct her.
January 20, 2013 at 1:40 pm
So glad for the correction! Thank you so much. I knew that one of the paintings represented that, but looking at this one, I wasn’t sure that description fit. Thanks for sharing the information. I need to bone up on my mythology!