By: Bimol Bee
Submitted: 2012-02-04 06:35:48 | Word Count: 658
The Art Institute of Chicago is the important place for all the art admirers and design lovers. The institute belongs to the place of great interest for the fine art experts, fine art lovers, and travelers from all over the world. The main precious thing at this institute is the largest collections of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in North America. Its diverse collection also includes significant displays of American art, American and foreign contemporary art, Asian art, and modern art.
The Art Institute of Chicago was established in 1866 by a group of local artists. The main purpose of the institute creation became the wish to develop the art school with its own art gallery. Nowadays the amount of the permanent collection comprises approximately 260 000 pieces of American and foreign art that succeed to the age of 5000 years.
There are five Art Institute's famous paintings that are well-known around the world.
1. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The painting is created by Georges Seurat. It is one of his most famous works and an example of pointillism, the art technique of using miniature dots of different colors that form a single hue of color. The main scene of the painting represents the people enjoying a leisurely day on the island of la Grande Jatte, located on the Seine River in Paris and serving as a retreat for a nearby housing development.
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2. Nighthawks - A 1942 painting created by Edward Hopper. This famous painting depicts people that are sitting in a downtown diner late at night. Nighthawks is considered to be Hopper's the most famous painting, as well as one of the most recognizable in American art. The historical background of the painting lies in the fact of Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1942. It is aimed to represent the widespread feeling of depression and gloominess during that time. That painting found the great reflection of that date horror.
3. American Gothic is a very well-known painting by Grant Wood from 1930. This painting depicts the farmer who stands by his unmarried daughter. The main scene represents 19th century Midwestern Americana with men and women fulfilling traditional roles of that era. There is depicted the cottage designed in the Gothic Revival style with a distinctive upper window and a decision to paint the house along with "the kind of people I fancied should live in that house". That gave the special perception of the surrounding environment and the presence of the main heroes.
4. Bedroom at Arles. This picture took the title that is similar to two more paintings of the same author, 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. The paintings depict Van Gogh's bedroom in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhone, France, known as his Yellow House. The main difference between three masterpieces is the own improvements and idiosyncrasies. The last third version is known to be the reduction of the originals but nevertheless preserving the main theme of the previous two ones.
5. The Old Guitarist. A painting by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1903, just after the suicide death of Picasso's close friend, Casagemas. This painting reflects a kind of emotional disbalance. The painting shows an older man playing a guitar and seated in disturbed position. A feeling of melancholy is felt through the shades of blue color exhibited throughout the painting. It is also notable for the apparent pentimento involving an image painted underneath where Picasso originally began a woman's portrait. The painting is emotionally rich and precious. The author was influenced by the hard and terrible conditions and events that became the reasonable purpose to create this painting.
These are five the most famous and important painting that create the precious treasure of Art Institute of Chicago. Every painting has its history of creation and the historical or author`s personal background. These paintings belong to the world`s famous masterpieces.
