The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago Art Institute

The Art Institute of Chicago is hands down sure to be a highlight of the trip for any person to the bustling city of blues and thick pizza. The Art Institute of Chicago has a reputation as one of the destinations in the United States premiere of art, a reputation with travelers that art enthusiasts simply must agree. The famous museum is full of art from 5,000 years ago. Besides finery inside, the building exhibits a distinctive touch of Chicago by the elegance and architectural beauty, becoming a work of art in itself.

Although it began as a combination of school-museum, currently the 1893 building is only as a place to display beautiful pieces, attractive and great art. The Art Institute of Chicago is home to such famous works as Vincent Van Gogh “The Room” by Grant Wood “American Gothic” and Pablo Picasso’s “The Old Guitarist”, to name a few.

The first floor of the museum also contains extensive ancient artifacts like a mummy head cover, a large sitting Buddha statue, and a Chinese food container tripod. It also shows the sculpture court, which has several impressive structures above the photo gallery. Always changing and expanding, the Art Institute of Chicago also has a new modern wing. The wing provides enough configuration change of the ancient art, with over eight hundred innovative artworks today. The Art Institute of Chicago also has several distinctive exhibitions, such as the miniature Thorne rooms (a maze recreations tiny house with Georgia, French, American Classic, or basically any architectural style) on the ground floor.

There is also a children’s area where children and adults can have fun tracking medieval brass rubbings, and a special exhibition space in flux in Regenstein Hall. Other features include an abbey Art Institute calm where guests can enjoy food from one of the places to eat at home, and the gift shop. The store is an impressive feat full of reprints of various artworks, like Georgia O’Keefe “Yello Hickory Leaves with Daisy” cup of coffee, or an umbrella with George Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. – 1884” With all this, the Art Institute of Chicago, just has to be a place in the list of all travelers Chicago hub. The entrance fee is minimal at around $ 12, and the treasures within yourself that involve everyone.

Museum of Modern Art in New York

Opened in 1929, MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York, has become its own right in the museum of modern art in the world .

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Some of the most important works on display at the Moma are: Starry Night by Van Gogh, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso, The Persistence of Memory by Dali and Miro Dutch Interior .

MOMA is a museum big enough and, if you cross it entirely, it will take at least two hours to visit quickly . If you have little time and do not be passionate about modern art, the plants that are worthwhile are the fourth and fifth , where some of the most famous paintings in history.

Advance tickets

To visit the museum without queuing, the best option is to book the tickets online.

 

When to visit?

The museum is free on Fridays from 4 to 8 pm , at least you can take advantage of modern art lovers to visit the museum and see the most famous paintings.

 

Location

53rd Street between 5th and 6th Avenue .

 

Visiting Hours

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 to 17:30.

Fridays from 10:30 to 20:00 hours.

Closed Tuesdays.

 

Price

Adults: $ 25.

Students: $ 14.

Over 65: $ 18.

Children under 16: free.

Free Entry with New York Pass .

 

Transport

Metro : Avenue/53 Fifth Street , E and V lines Bus : lines M1, M2, M3, M4 and M5.

 

The British Museum

Introduction

The British Museum is a must for anyone visiting the city and has a minimal concern for history, archeology and art.

Best antique objects are exposed is this great museum.

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Description

In stylish Russell Street , is one of the most famous museums in the world, thanks to its impressive collection of archaeological fruit of long domination and expansion of the British Empire and plundering in five continents .In any case, this looting has served us to see at a single point and a free countless historical treasures.

The museum was founded in 1753 thanks to the collection of Sir Hans Sloane .

The most famous objects are the Rosetta Stone , sculptures from the Parthenon , the English medieval remains found at Sutton Hoo and Mildenhall, Egyptian mummies and sarcophagi and the famous Portland Vase Roman. Very interesting is also the African collection, possibly the largest in the world.

Information for the visit

The museum is a short walk from Holborn Underground stations, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square and Goodge St., and the following bus lines: New Oxford Street 7, 8, 19, 22b, 25, 38 , 55, 98, Tottenham Court Road, northbound and Gower Street, southbound, 10, 24, 29, 73, 134, Southampton Row 68, 91, 188.

 

Open all year with the following schedule:

– From Saturday to Wednesday: 10:00 to 17:30

– Thursday and Friday: 10:00 to 20:30

Closes March 25, 24 and 26 December and 1 January.

Admission is free .

 

Metropolitan Museum of Art New York

(Metropolitan Museum of Art, or just Met) is the second most visited museum in the world behind the Louvre Museum in Paris .

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The museum was opened in February 1872 when Robert Lee Jenkins donated his private collection. Since then he has been increasing his collection to the over two million objects .

The most important objects are the Metropolitan Museum treasures of classical culture and the paintings of artists such as Monet, Cezanne or Rembrandt .

Among the more unusual exhibits is the Egyptian area, which is exposed beautifully reconstructed Temple of Dendur . This temple was a gift from Egypt for help in saving Abu Simbel .

Although the Metropolitan Museum is our favorite art museum in New York, sometimes do not have all the time to stop at each of your jewelry and you have to be selective.

If you have little time, the most interesting are the Roman and Egyptian as well as pictures of the second floor.

 

Location

82nd Street to 5th Avenue .

 

Visiting Hours

From Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 to 17:30 pm, Friday and Saturday until 21:00.

Closed: every Monday, the day of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.

 

Price

Adults: $ 25.

Students: $ 12.

Over 65: $ 17.

Children 12 and under: free.

Free with New York Pass .

 

Transport

Subway : 86th Street , lines 4, 5 and 6. Bus : lines M1, M2, M3 and M4.

 

 

Louvre Museum in Paris

Opened in the late eighteenth century, the Louvre Museum is the largest museum in France and the most visited in the world . Currently receives over eight million visitors each year.

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Formed from the collections of the French monarchy and the plundering carried out during the Napoleonic Empire, the Louvre Museum opened in 1793 showing a new model of museum, which passed from the hands of the ruling classes to the enjoyment of the general public .

 Building architecture

The Louvre Museum is housed in the Louvre Palace , a XII century fortress was enlarged and renovated several times. Before it became a museum, some monarchs Charles V and Philip II used the palace as a royal residence in which accumulated their art collections .

Following the move of the royal residence at Versailles Palace , the impressive building of 160,000 square feet would begin its transformation into one of the most important museums in the world.

In 1989 he built a pyramid of glass breaking the monotony of the big gray blocks of the museum, which now serves as a gateway.

The Louvre’s collection includes nearly 300,000 pre-1948 works, of which approximately 35,000 are exposed . The vast collection is organized thematically into different departments: Oriental Antiquities, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Etruscan history of the Louvre and Medieval Louvre, painting, sculpture, art, graphic and art of Islam.

Among the most important paintings of the museum is worth noting the following:

La Gioconda of Leonardo da Vinci.

Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix.

The Wedding at Cana by Veronese.

 

Among the sculptures the most outstanding works are:

The Venus de Milo of Ancient Greece .

The seated scribe of Ancient Egypt .

The Winged Victory of Samothrace Hellenistic period of ancient Greece.

 

The Louvre is huge and art lovers crossing it could be several days . To get an overview and see the most outstanding works, you need to spend at least a full morning to tour the museum.

While the Louvre is very important worldwide, maybe for people who are not too interested in art ever become too boring place because of its huge dimensions , in addition to the heat and the crowds .

 

Guggenheim Museum New york

The Guggenheim Museum is located between Fifth Avenue and 89th Street, east of Central Park, and is best known in the “Big Apple” as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

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The driver of the Guggenheim Museum Solomon R. was Guggenheim, which names the museum, who was a Swiss-born Jewish billionaire who, after meeting in 1927 to Baroness Hilla Rebay von Ehrenwiesen, was completely infected by his passion for abstract art. This led him to gradually acquire works throughout the world, to be the largest collection in the United States, which they called Non-Objective.

To promote his collection created the Foundation Solomon R. Guggenheim and the Museum of Non-Objective Painting on Calle 54. But this place was not big enough, so in 1943 he commissioned the design of the final Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright.

For the construction of the Guggenheim Museum , Wright was inspired by a ziggurat temple pyramid of ancient Mesopotamia, but gave a form of inverted conch. Inside there is a single gallery of 800 meters ascending spiral that goes through a spiral ramp. It is basically built with precast concrete blocks, that inside are painted white to highlight the works. At the top of the Guggenheim Museum a huge skylight, made ​​of glass and steel, provides much of the necessary light.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York opened in 1959, having passed both its driver as its architect. Although in the beginning he was involved in the controversial and was rejected by the residents of the Upper East Side, the truth is that today the Guggenheim Museum is one of the most visited in the city, and has a great international recognition.

Among the treasures it houses the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum are works by Kandinsky, Picasso, Modigliani, Chagall, Matisse, Braque, Miró, Pollock, Van Gogh or magritte, although the building itself is already a work of art.

The Guggenheim Museum and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum , located in the 1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89th Street). Its time to visit is from Sunday to Wednesday from 10:00 to 18:00, closed on Fridays at 17:45 and Saturdays at 19:45. Closed on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

The price or rate entries Guggenheim Museum is $ 18, for students aged 65 and older will be $ 15 and under 12 and members are free.

 

National Museum of the US Army

Long Time Waiting, But the National Museum Of The United States Army Is Almost Here

Image Credit: Wikipedia

The United States if full of museums and memorials for those who have served in the Armed Forces. From the Vietnam Memorial to the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii, you can find just about anything which memorializes specific conflicts or time periods of U.S. history. Until now, there has not been anything that completely memorializes the entire history of specific branch of government. Scheduled to open in 2015, the National Museum of the United States Army is set to change that.

“I have been to monument dedications throughout the United States, but this is one that I believe I have looked forward to the most, “ said Doug Christiansen, a photographer from Mount Zion, Illinois. “The announcements about what to expect inside the museum have been quiet, which makes the anticipation grown even more.” Christiansen says he plans to travel to the opening ceremony with his wife and three children.

Construction on the museum is set to begin in fall of 2013 and will be located within minute of Washington D.C. at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. It is planned to be a 155,000 square foot building set on over 40 acres of property. According to the Association of the United States Army, the museum will be accessible without having to enter the base which will make access less complex for visitors. The cost of the project is estimated at approximately $200 Million and the website for the museum is already up and running. When completed, the museum will celebrate the history of the United States Army from 1775 to present, including the men and women who have served both in war and during times of peace.

The project is the brainchild of the Department of the Army, who received fundraising support from the Army Historical Foundation. Visitor expectation is expected to be a little less than 1 Million people annually. With this many people expected to visit, the Department of the Army has spared no expense on the design. They have contracted with two nationally known firms, Christopher Chadbourne & Associates and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. For those not familiar, Christopher Chadbourne & Associates has a wealth of museum design experience, while Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is the architectural design firm responsible for the design of the Freedom Tower at One World Trade Center.

They have also spared no expense on the pre-opening of the museum. They have contracted with award winning producer and director Kevin Meyer to write, direct, and produce a series of short documentaries for the new museum. The documentaries include voice over narration by Rex Linn and Karri Turner and will be available in the “Experiential Learning Center” on the museum website prior to opening, and then part of the traveling exhibit which will tour the country prior to landing at the museum on opening day. “This is a great experience for me being able to take part in something so special to this country,” stated Meyer. “I have worked in film for many years on many projects, but this one will always be forefront in my mind. My brother and nephews serve in the military and as a filmmaker, this is my way of giving back.” Meyer has produced many well known films including “Perfect Alibi” starring Teri Garr and also wrote the 1997 romantic comedy film “A Smile Like Yours” starring Greg Kinnear and Lauren Holly.

The site for the project was approved from Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh in June 2011. “In presenting the Army’s storied 236-year history, this long-overdue facility will offer the American people a unique opportunity to connect with our Soldiers and better understand and appreciate their many and glorious stories,” said McHugh. He is correct that a project like this is long overdue. To have something that covers the history of the U.S. Army so thoroughly is something that those who have served deserve. It is nice to see it finally coming to fruition.

Garry Reynolds is a decorated veteran of the United States Army and spends his time traveling to many of the U.S.’s most popular travel destinations.

Glass Museum

The History of the Chandelier

Meaning ‘candle holder’, the word chandelier originates from the French word ‘chandelle’ (a fixture attached to the ceiling).  The Chandelier is the most stylish and beautiful form of lighting in the world, making a statement in any room.

The earliest chandelier dates back to over 1000 years ago, to medieval times. Then, chandeliers were generally made of wood, with candles placed on spikes set around them – a far cry from the stunning glass and crystal creations we know and love today.  Wooden lighting fixtures and exposed flames would send the health and safety conscious of us completely mad!

Gradually, rich Europeans re-designed the chandelier and by the early 1900’s crystal chandeliers with candles were all the rage. Crystal chandeliers made from cut glass which caught the light and sparkled brightly adorned the homes of the wealthy and famous, showing off their wealth and social status.

By the mid-19th century, with the popularity of gas lighting, candle chandeliers were converted and by the 1890s, most chandeliers used a combination of gas and electricity.

The largest chandeliers in history

One of the most beautiful chandeliers in the world can be seen in Istanbul. Gifted to the Dolmabahce Palace by Queen Victoria, the chandelier weighs 4.5 tons and has 750 lamps. Other stunning examples of crystal chandeliers can be seen in the ‘Grand Salon’ of the Louvre and the Hall of Mirrors, in the Palace of Versailles, Paris, which contains 17 large and 26 small chandeliers, holding up to 1,000 candles in total, as well as in Prague, where many of the art nouveau buildings contain beautiful examples of chandeliers from the early 1900s.

Today, chandeliers have become glass art in museums across the globe. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a stunning example of a blown glass chandelier in the entrance hall. Created by glass artist Dale Chihuly in 2000, the 30ft chandelier is a breathtaking sight for visitors entering the museum.

The Corning Museum of Glass in New York contains more than 40,000 objects made from glass, dating from Egyptian times to the present day. Antique bowls, sculptures and glass portraits sit alongside contemporary sculptures and of course some amazing chandeliers, including the Erbium Chandelier, a vivid pink blown glass chandelier created in 1993 by Dale Chihuly.

Today, chandeliers have become more affordable for everyone. It is still lovely to have a unique and bespoke chandelier hand crafted by local glass artists, but it is also possible to find more budget friendly versions on the internet and in various home furnishing shops.  The chandelier has evolved from its simplest wooden designs to incorporate a wide variety of materials in its more modern reincarnation.  Furthermore, chandelier designs have also been adapted to suit those looking more for a piece of modern art than necessary lighting.  Chandelier designers such as Rocco Borghese have collections that show the stark difference between classic designs and more contemporary .

Modern Chandeliers.

Chandeliers have a rich history and are making a resurgence in modern times.  There is a huge variety of sizes and styles, and of course price right from the affordable ones in larger retailers to custom made chandeliers by boutique experts.

Cairo Museum in Egypt

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A must-see in Cairo  “Egypt”, is undoubtedly the Egyptian Museum, is required at least one day to see the entire collection of objects of the Pharaonic era, it houses the largest collection of objects Pharaonic times.

The museum is located north of Midan Tahrir in Tahrir Square, once you arrive at the entrance to force you to leave cameras and phones, it is forbidden to take pictures inside. The museum is impressively large and part of the entrance is a sitting area so you can spend some time sitting in the sun and also shops to buy souvenirs, books, coins ..

At the entrance of the museum you find a lot of guides that you can hire for 30 €, eye many of them are not official guides and are rather scammers. I only had three hours to see the museum, having read so much information I went to what really struck me as the room dedicated to Tutankhamen W where I could see the golden mask and all that was in Great Treasure his tomb in the Valley of the Kings W .

On the first floor there is a large collection of coins and papyrus, which is preserved in the museum are works of art, but not all can be seen as being restored many others and some no room to display them.

Another room I recommend is the area of the Old Kingdomvery well because the background can appreciate the seated statue of Mentuhotep I W .

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A room that is very curious is where are the eleven Mummies, where the Ramses III and IV among many others, to get into it you have to pay some extra Egyptian pounds as it is not included in the price of the museum entrance. If you want to see mummies and do not want to pay the entrance, you can see in another room of several animal mummies.

Museum hours are from 9:00 to 6:30 every day, entry is allowed until 5:00 pm, mummies halls close at 6:00.

 

Museo del Prado in Madrid

The Museo del Prado is not only an essential references of Spanish culture is nurtured and excellent representation of human artistic production. The Centro Virtual Cervantes comes from this section, funds that houses the gallery Madrid, through various thematic selections of his painting.

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Information about the Prado

Located in the city center of Madrid, the Prado Museum in itself, since 1819, the core of a broad artistic scope, covering the works of masters from around the world. The museum is divided into two sites very close to each other: the Villanueva Building (the most representative), located in the Paseo del Prado, and the Cason del Buen Retiro. In October 2019 we opened an extension of the museum that features the cloister of the neighboring church of Jeronimos.

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In the different rooms, the museum visitor can find not only exceptional examples of the paintings by Spanish (Goya, Velázquez, Zurbarán …), but also works of great masters of other schools (Titian, Rubens and Bosch, for example), as well as samples of high quality sculptures and other art.