Chicago Museum History

The Art Institute of Chicago is a Museum and art school located in the Michigan Avenue near Grant Park, across Lake Michigan in Chicago. It is one of the most important art museums of the United States, along with the Metropolitan Museum of New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It has one of the most important permanent collections of paintings of Impressionism and Post Impressionism in the world. Was founded in 1879 and was George Armour its first president. In 1893, the museum was moved to a Renaissance-style building designed by the architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, Boston. The building had been built for the universal exposition held that same year. The museum's collection is due in part to the donations made by people wealthy as a gift to the city of Chicago.
The famous Western entrance of the Museum, on Michigan Avenue, is flanked by two bronze statues. It consists of two lions created by Edward L. Kemeys. A curious fact when a Chicago team …show more content…
It also, boasts important examples of painting from the Renaissance. The most significant collections are those of Italian, Flemish, Dutch and Spanish painting. Some famous artists represented are El Greco, Ribera José, Rembrandt and Frans Hals. The collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist is rich. It includes more than 30 paintings by Claude Monet, one of his series The Saint-Lazare station, including six of the haystacks and some Water lilies. Important works of Renoir, such as Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise and Two Sisters on the Terrace, as well as those of Paul Cézanne Bathers, Basket of apples, and Madame Cézanne in a yellow Chair, are in the collection. In the Moulin rouge and the Circus, Henri de Toulouse - Lautrec are other stellar works, as well as the works of Seurat Late Sunday on the island of the Grande Jatte and Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street rainy