Local, Near and Far: Our journey of exploring the world.

Category: Art (Page 3 of 6)

Notre Dame & The Snite Museum of Art

No visit to South Bend is complete without at least checking out Notre Dame, after all, the top three things to do on TripAdvisor are on campus.  It is full of beautiful architecture, majestic buildings, and the famed Basilica of the Sacred Heart and Golden Dome on top of the Main Building. Listed at #11 and also on the Notre Dame campus is the Snite Museum of Art which next to the Studebaker National Museum, was one of my favorite things on this trip.

NotreDame1 copy

The University of Notre Dame campus was founded in 1842 by a young French priest from the Congregation of the Holy Cross, Edward Sorin, and chartered by the Indiana legislature  in 1844.  A University only in name during the first decades of its existence, it included “religious novitiates, preparatory and grade schools and a manual labor school, but its classical collegiate curriculum never attracted more than a dozen students a year in the early decades.” The University now spans 1250 acres with 143 buildings and is organized into four undergraduate colleges — “Arts and Letters, Science, Engineering, and the Mendoza College of Business — the School of Architecture, the Law School, the Graduate School, and 14 major research institutes. Enrollment for the 2012-13 academic year was 12,126 students overall and 8,475 undergraduates.”

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Millennium Park

IMG_0868No trip to Chicago is complete without a stroll through Millennium Park; it is a beautiful place full of various art pieces, interesting architecture, lots of tourists, and immaculate landscaping that provides some green around the city concrete.

I would venture to guess that every trip we made into the city, we would at least stop by Millennium Park. Situated on Michigan Avenue between Randolph Street (to the north) and Monroe Street (to the sought), Millennium Park would always catch my eye on our walks. Its location lends itself for a pass through, and it’s not something we usually “plan” to visit, but I love it for the breath of fresh air, especially if its on your way!

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The Field Museum

In the heart of Chicago’s Museum Campus, is The Field Museum. It boasts that “with 4.6 billion years under one roof, The Field Museum is your passport to travel around the world and back in time”. Regardless of what you think about their claim, it truly is a fun place to explore, learn about various parts of the world, and soak in some history.

The Field Museum was originally a product of the World’s Columbian Exposition that took place in Chicago in 1893.  The Field Museum’s current home was completed in 1921 and is a magnificent structure. Built in the architectural style of Grecian and Roman designs, the detail in the columns, walls, and arches, composed of fossilized limestone is beautiful. Although there have been additions and renovations made to the building to accommodate the pieces and exhibits acquired, you can’t help but appreciate the building itself.

The Field Museum hosts 17 permanent exhibitions and an additional 8-10 special and traveling exhibits. My personal favorites are SUE the T-Rex and Inside Ancient Egypt. I’ve visited a few times and while I can breeze through most sections, either because they aren’t of interest to me or they are geared toward a younger audience, I also have to stop by those two. SUE the T-Rex is just awesome; its incredible to think about a creature that big and powerful! Growing up, I loved ancient Egypt, visiting that section always rekindles my young (and mostly Indiana Jones-inspired) desire to be an archaeologist and dig up treasures from the past.

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Chasing Caravaggio: Caravaggios of the National Gallery, Part 2

Every Friday we take a break from our regular blogging schedule to allow the authors an opportunity to feature a certain topic they are passionate about. In the past you’ve read about art, studying abroad, experiencing culture through food, and the great burger adventure. Through this and other future posts we hope you’ll enjoy reading, we hope to share with you our personalities, passions, and interests on a more personal level.

As part of our continuing desire to bring beauty into focus, From Texas to Beyond will periodically feature brilliant pieces of art that have influenced our lives.  We are excited to showcase these universal works of beauty with you.

Today, we conclude the two-part miniseries examining the Caravaggio painting from The National Gallery in London.  As I mentioned in my first post in the Chasing Caravaggio Series, I am on a quest to view all of Caravaggio’s masterpieces firsthand.  Thanks to a short layover at London Heathrow I found three more in The National Gallery.

Picking up where we left off during the previous Chasing Caravaggio, I was standing before three great works of art by Caravaggio in The Nation Gallery in London.  While the first two pieces, Boy bitten by a Lizard and Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist were delightful, my favorite of the three now had my full attention.

The Supper at Emmaus

Caravaggio's The Supper at Emmaus - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus – Courtesy of Wikipedia

The final and greatest Caravaggio painting in The National Gallery, The Supper at Emmaus, was much large than I expected.  The scale of the painting accentuates the viewer’s ability to enter into the scene as Christ stretches his hand out of the painting’s surface, directly to us.

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Cy Twombly Gallery

Located across Branard Street from the The Menil Collection, a small stone building with an interesting roof showcases works from American painter and sculptor Cy Twombly. Stepping inside the peacefully quiet Cy Twombly Gallery, it seems impossible that you are still in Houston!

The Entrance

Cy Twombly began an interesting career in art in the mid-1950s. With plenty of modern art movements around him in New York City, Cy created his own distinctive brand of art. Words such as “free scribble” and “graffiti” are often used to describe his works. Born in the United States, Twombly chose to live in Europe for the majority of his professional career, dying in Rome in 2011.

In general, you will probably love his art, or you will hate it.

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