Revisiting: Art Institute of Chicago

This is a 2-year backdated post about my visit to the amazing Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) where I got my first glimpse of Van Gogh and Monet masterpieces. My drawings are pretty limited to stickmen types, so it was mind blowing to be looking at the paintings with my own eyes. However my favourite wasn't by either artists, I forgot whatshisname by the time we left the museum. Heh.

*Random. Talking about masterpieces reminds me of the conversation between Will Smith and the Robot in the movie 'I, Robot': 

Detective Del Spooner: You are a clever imitation of life... Can a robot write a symphony? Can a robot take a blank canvas and turn it into a masterpiece? 
Sonny: Can you? 

My friends and I took the train from Elburn to Chicago Union Station and walked 10 blocks from Union Station to the museum in winter! Ok it wasn't really as bad as it sounds as it was a sunny day. It was a straight walk, made very enjoyable as we walked as a group. Map below:

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We all got in for free as the museum's entry fee was free for the whole month of February. It still makes me happy thinking about it. The free part. Must be an Asian thing, no? Regular price for tickets should be USD20 (approx. RM65) per adult but there are also free days weekly thus it's advisable for you to check their website regularly prior to your visit. Anyway I remembered that I really wanted to go again the same month before coming back to Malaysia in May that year but sadly never got the chance to. I went round Chi-town for the last time in March with my sister who came down from Minnesota but she wasn't keen on looking at dead men's paintings.Well, she didn't exactly say that but we had a great time at The Field Museum in March. Ah, a story for another day.

Willis shrouded in clouds.

This ceramic figure was actually really small. Around 15 cm in height.

 

A gay dance! As in joyous!

 

Self-potrait of Vincent Van Gogh, 1887. Left ear intact.

Bedroom in Arles by Van Gogh. According to Wiki (yah, I've been to the museum and I still had to wiki this information) this is the second version of this painting. The first and third version are in Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam and Musee d'Orsay, Paris respectively.

 

Oooh luckily I snapped a photo of the name of the artist and it's in the caption of this painting below. This photo doesn't do it justice. You just have got to see it in person. The painting seemed to come alive the longer I looked at it. I must have stood there for a good 15 minutes, just looking at it. I was certainly wasn't the only one because as soon as I snapped out of the awed-zone, I realised that there were also at least a couple of visitors also enthralled by the painting and stood looking at it behind me.

Fisherman's Cottage by Harald Sohlberg, 1906. Oil on canvas.

While there are many sculptures/paintings/installations that made me go "WAHHHH", there are also equally as many that just didn't make sense, especially in the Modern Art wing. Maybe because I'm just not artsy-fartsy enough (even though I dressed the part that day: beret, check. sling slouchy bag, check. graphic tee, check. scarf slung carelessly, check). Like these:

Looks like telur ulat.

This is a tissue paper box with a... vent? :-/

I dragged my two Indonesian friends across 2 different wings just to find the American Gothic. I mean, how could you miss this iconic image when you're already here? Ok, now you guys can go home.

American Gothic by Grant Wood, 1930.

I didn't take many photos as I've always felt that, sure photos are great for us to reminisce about the trip in the future, but most times I rather not experience my trip just through my lenses but rather remember the feeling, the sights with my own eyes, the sounds or even the smell of the place. Or I'm just too lazy at times.

More revisiting posts coming up!

Muzium Negeri Terengganu

As I've mentioned in my previous post, there are tons of photos of places we visited but yet to be uploaded except for in Facebook. I would like to post them here and describe what I felt when we were at those places before the memory escapes me, growing old thingy you know.

Last year after our 1st Anniversary celebration with a weekend at Ri-yaz Heritage Resort, we spent the entire afternoon upon check out at the Terengganu State Museum. I won't admit it to my 'cool' friends but I love museums and old buildings!

According to Terengganu Tourism, the museum is the largest one in Malaysia. Other sources like here and here mentioned that it is actually the largest museum complex in South East Asia. I would say all the sources are correct, as the museum main building itself may not be the biggest in South East Asia, but the 27 hectares complex sure is! Also known as 'Muzium Losong' by the locals, as the area is known as Losong (and particularly well-known for their keropok lekor, which I never tasted), the complex houses the Main Museum, a Maritime Museum, a Fisheries Museum, 4 traditional houses and botanic and herbs gardens.The entry to the Main Museum and most of the complex cost only RM5 per person, very meager sum compared to what you can see there. For those with young children or the elderly, there's also a train that goes around the complex. I think it costs RM2 per ride.

To be honest, on its own, the main museum isn't as impressive inside as it looks from the outside. I certainly can't compare it to the museums I've visited while in Chicago and Washington DC, but put it together as a whole with the other parts of the complex, it is definitely worthwhile to visit even if you're a first timer to Terengganu. Both of us particularly enjoyed the keris and sparkling paraphernalia of the females of the royal family sections. The other sections displayed various kinds of songket, fashion of the past (harem pants were the in thing!), silverware, wood carving and tons of photos of Terengganu royals, past and present.

The Main Entrance

This was at the lower ground part of the museum. We both loved the walls.

Bridge that connects the main building to the rest of the complex.

While we were there, there was an archaeology exhibition going on with a special focus on the Perak Man. I've already heard about the Perak Man (a 11,000 years old human skeletal remains discovered in 1991 in Lenggong, Perak) so I was pretty psyched to see it with my own eyes. Entrance fee is already included in the RM5 fee so that makes it a super sweet deal. However what we got was a huge let down. Make that humongous. Any word that means bigger than humongous? Ok, a King Kong sized disappointment as the only things that were on display at the so-called 'archaeology' exhibition were replicas. EVERY SINGLE THING. And tons of photos and newspaper cuttings. I would have understood for the need of a Perak Man replica, as the original one is very, very valuable but please, make the other parts of the exhibition interesting. Oh I don't know, perhaps a video or audio commentary. Or we could at least be allowed to take photographs, since all the things were replicas anyway. No reason to fear camera flashes. Rant over.


For more information on how to get there, visit this website *CLICK*

All photos taken with Nikon D3000.

Monument Park

My husband and I have been talking about starting a blog for a while to post our many food and travel photos but never really got to it until today. Tonight I couldn't take it anymore after reading this cute blog, which I found via houzz. Truth be told, I'm not new to the blogging scene, having had a few blogs on and off in the past 10 years but none seem to quite 'gel'. Hopefully this one would stick around for a bit. Ok, maybe more than 'a bit'.

Alright, enough rambling. On to some photos the husband took and I edited when we visited Monument Park of Taman Tamadun Islam (Islamic Civilisation Park) last week. It was our first time there despite having lived in Terengganu for close to 2 years. The Monument Park is within walking distance to the famous landmark of Terengganu, the Crystal Mosque, as both are situated within the refreshing Islamic Civilisation Park. I say refreshing as there are not many places in Malaysia that provides a specific spot for the public to be enlightened about Islam.

The Monument Park showcases "23 great Islamic monuments that reminisce the rise of Islam into a sophisticated global religion" (TTI guidebook). It costs RM15 per adult. There are family packages too but I didn't take a photo of the signage. If you didn't get what I mean, it means that's the way I remember things now, via photos of things. Erm. Yeah.

Each visitor gets a 'passport' to enter the park. Love it!

Inside the cover of the passport.

At the exit, they would stamp your passport again to show you completed your visit. Yay!

All photos taken using Olympus Tough TG-1.