Christopher M Wiedmaier

ARTE 342- Dr. Boughton

Fine Art Review

For my fine art review, I headed to the city of Chicago. I journeyed over The Art Institute
of Chicago. After purchasing my admission to the institute, I quickly realized how open the
hallway (or corridor was) where I initially walked in. Towards the beginning of the Institute,
there were a few exhibits that were displayed for a limited time. I worked my way through those
exhibits and worked my way towards

the more permanent

installations.
I have been to the Art Institute

before and I forgot just how

vast and diverse of a collection they

had. Viewing the guide, I

selected a few exhibits that I believe I

would have the most interest

in seeing, unfortunately I was on a

limited timeline to make my

way back to the train so I could not take advantage of the opportunity to try and view everything.
I started over in the gallery displaying American Art. The reason I started here is because all too
often I feel as if I learn or see more European Art or Renaissance Art which can grow redundant
after a while. I was attracted to some scenery paintings done by James McNeill Whistler and
John Henry Twachtman.
Both artists work were created around roughly the same time periods, mid 1800s to early
1900s. Whistlers paintings dealt more with aquatic landscapes and things of that nature with an
attempt at creating a realistic painting and capturing the mood of the water.

Twachtmans painting were less realistic because he had an evident mark of his
brushstroke in his work. His piece Icebound really stuck with me because although it was a
winter landscape, he captured a mood or presence if you will in that scene which made winter
not seem so bleak. This gave me a completely different mood towards the end of year season and
reminded me how it was a vital step before rebirth in the spring and that it is not always
miserable.

With Twachtmans painting The White Bridge, he paints his back

yard landscape and a bridge that was present there. The interesting fact I
discovered was that he did a series of these paintings involving this bridge
but each painting was done from a different viewpoint of the bridge and
through different times of year.
The reason I relate to the artists of Whistler and Twachtman is because they both
attempted to capture the simplicity and the beauty of nature. I myself find myself very fond of
the simplest forms of beauty in my everyday life. Sometimes, if I am
driving home at night and the moon looks ever so bright, large, a different
color, etc.; I will pull over my car and just gaze. When the leaves change

colors for fall, I find myself lost in the warm colors of fall and try to revel in it every chance I
can. Our society and what we have built, I am not saying there is not beauty that exists in the
manmade structures or devices, but even with distractions like cell phones and social media, we
neglect to go outside and look at the Earth for what it is and in its purest form.
I continued to walk through these galleries and I noticed how the rooms themselves were
quite large. Each painting was displayed on the wall and ropes kept you from getting any closer
than two feet to the paintings. But, the rooms themselves were long rectangles at least twentyfive feet wide and with very tall ceilings. This is much different compared to other galleries in
the institute, located on the lower levels, where the rooms are much smaller and the ceilings
much lower. It was also not as well lit in the lower levels and in some rooms the temperature was
much hotter to the point where it was unbearable to be there for more than a few minutes, being
that I was wearing appropriate clothes for a cold day in Chicago.
There were some artists work I also was fond of, Gifford Beals, The Puff of Smoke, and
Walter Elmer Schofields, The Powerhouse, Falls Village, Connecticut. There were also some
artist work that I recognized like Georgia OKeeffe.

I would have to say that the most interesting piece to me was by an artist named Ivan
Albright. The painting is titled, Picture of Dorian Gray. The most interesting thing to me about
this piece was when it was made; 1943-1944. This piece is roughly seventy one years old now
and it just intrigues me. First off, just by its sheer size alone. Most other landscapes or portraits
done by other American artists of this time period, at least what I saw on display, were not as
large as this piece. The next observation is just how vibrant
the colors are. The canvas is saturated with colors from all
over the spectrum giving it a very vivid and surreal feel to
the painting. It is something to me that stand out now, and I
am sure stood out when it was first presented to the public
eye. Compared to the other paintings in which I discussed
earlier in this review, this one is more gruesome, grotesque
and gory in appearance, the colors and details almost make
it look like a living deterioration of a person and the room
he embodies.
The reason I believe this work applies to my life is
simply because of what is current in todays visual culture.
The gruesome details remind me of a zombie-esc kind of
scene and our society is currently obsessed with zombies
and the apocalypse. Several different types of visual culture
have attempted to illustrate events from comics/graphic
novels, TV shows, movies, video games, artwork, toys, and more. That is why I think that
seventy one years later, this piece still has value you to our society. Not only this, I learned that

The Picture of Dorian Gray is also a book written by Oscar Wilde. So, not only is there artwork
as a result from a novel but this piece acts as a bridge to learning about other subjects and getting
those interested in reading.
Overall, the Art Institute of Chicago was a wonderful experience. I always enjoy being
there and I actually wish I had more time to devote to the Institute while I was there. I would
highly recommend any of the galleries to any future students because they have a very diverse
collection of art that I feel will appeal to anyones tastes. I was surprised to find out what I was
more drawn to while viewing the different galleries. Even though there were iconic works on
display. I found myself more drawn to that in which I was unfamiliar with and the strange. After
visiting the institute, I was excited about my experience and shared the information I learned
with my coworkers at the library. I then was informed more of the story behind Ivan Albright
piece and it was another realizing fact that art can
act as a bridge between other subjects and content.
That being said, I learned more about myself and
my interests as a result of this experience and I
would challenge anybody to do the same.