Art and cheeseburgers to start the new year

Happy, happy New Year to one and all!

I had a marvelous New Year's Day. Usually, I spend some time at the Art Institute of Chicago. Usually, I go alone. This year, The Boy came along. We were excited about the Lewis Carroll exhibit. I was a little bit afraid of how the photographs would be presented. Would Carroll be exposed as the brilliant amateur photographic artist he was or would the photos be sensationalized and used to further what (in my mind, at least) amount to slanderous, unfounded accusations as to his interest in his child friends?

Happily, the photographs chosen were presented without editorial comment and represented a range of subjects -- children, adults, and even skeletons! They were clear and gorgeous and often moving. Many of the children appeared quite solemn (no doubt due to the need to remain still for periods of time with early photography), making the few where the children smile especially wondrous. I was most intrigued by the photograph of Tennyson and by the self-portraits. I was also entranced by Carroll's own writing in the corners of some of the photos. It seemed to be numbers written backwards and, while the exact significance was lost to me, I thrilled to see Carroll's actual mirror-writing first hand!(Yes, I am a geek.)

While at the AIC anyway (and, actually, before we visited the Carroll exhibit), we decided to pick up my free (member) tickets to the Manet exhibit. We made it through that display in eight minutes flat! It just didn't speak to us. I mean, I can see that the work was art, that it is well done, but it didn't move me or excite my imagination. In fact, my favorite picture in the exhibit was not even by Manet, it was a Renoir! There were two Manet paintings the Boy and I both liked a lot. His favorite was Venice -- The Grand Canal, which was vivid and alive. I was drawn to The Escape of Rochefort -- The Large Study primarily, I am a bit sheepish to admit, because the man in right-hand side the boat looks remarkably like Charlie Chaplin. (Go ahead, take a look and see if you don't agree!)

The rest of the visit to the AIC was a little sad. The Boy's favorite painting is The Golden Wall by Hans Hofmann. That was in storage (again). I was desperate to see Greyed Rainbow by Jackson Pollock, but that was in storage. Van Gogh's Self-Portrait is still out on loan and the Rembrandt is in Boston. The William Blakes can be viewed by appointment only.

We did manage to visit our favorite works by Paul Klee and Magritte. We also got the number to call so we can set up an appointment to see the Blakes.

The gift store yielded happy purchases -- next years' Christmas cards at 75% off, a print of the Hofmann for The Boy, a Seurat print for my friend, Matt...

By this time, I was getting a wee bit whiny because my new shoes were not making my feet happy. (They will, though, once they are properly broken in.) The Boy persuaded me to walk down Michigan Ave for a spell, though, to one of our favorite places, The Billy Goat Tavern.

(A brief aside. When The Boy was ever so much smaller -- maybe first grade? -- he had to make a list of his favorite places for school. He listed home, the AIC, and the Billy Goat. His teacher called home to find out what AIC stood for and to inform The Boy's mother that he had listed a tavern as one of his favorite places. To her everlasting credit, she sighed and said, "I know. He goes there all the time with his cousin.)

We had Chicago's yummiest cheeseburgers (it must be the bread!) along with chips and Coke. We were unable to sit at our "usual" table since a group was already there. However, the table we sat at was right next to a wall dedicated to Royko, so that was fun.

All in all, it was a wonderful start to 2004. I wish all of us a year filled with peace and love, laughter and joy.