Chicago Trip - Art Institute

One of the two lions standing guard over the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago.

I admit that I was exhausted by the time we arrive here so I wasn't in much of a mood to take photographs inside (non-flash only), but we visited a number of exhibits.

My favorites were the Thorne miniatures, the Frank Lloyd Wright designs, and the Adler & Sullivan architectural fragments (elevator grills). My DH liked the art from the early (pre-Columbian) Americas.

Here's one of the Thorne miniatures (click on it to enlarge it). The scale is 1" = 1'. The rugs were done in 30 ct petit point. The chairs are carved from the wood that would have been used for such chairs — all of the details are meticulous and real. When you look through a doorway you can see to another miniature room that has been furnished as beautifully; the outdoors (see through windows) are finished as well, complete with backdrops that are painted to show what the rest of the neighborhood or city might have looked like. It was magical.