The Art Museam and Eric's Work

On Saturday, we thought it would be fun to visit the Art Museam.  We did have our first date there (and haven't been back since), and I love art, so we were excited to go back.  I was also pleased to learn that you CAN take pictures of the artwork (no flash) as long as it is not part of a traveling art exhibit....bonus!  We tried to see most of the more famous art pieces during our time there...I am always amazed at the different interpretations of artists, and it is neat to read about them, too. 

These first few are more Renaissance, Medieval, or Modern European style artwork. I love these depictions/interpretations of scenes from the Bible...so beautiful.

"The Assumption of the Virgin" by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (Spanish) 

I love this one (not sure of the name, though).

"The Crucifixion" by Francisco de Zurbaran (Spanish)

"The Resurrection" by Francesco Buoneri (Italian)

"Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist" by Guido Reni (Italian)

"St. John the Baptist Pointing to Christ" by Bartolome Esteban Murillo (English)

Here are some more famous paintings or artists:

"Paris Street; Rainy Day" by Gustave Caillebotte

"Two Sisters" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

A wall of Renoir paintings

"Woman at the Piano" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 

"Woman at her Toilette" by Berthe Morisot

"A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat

"Self Portrait" by Vincent Van Gogh

"The Bedroom" by Vincent Van Gogh

"Water Lilies" by Claude Monet

A close up of Monet's signature from 1901

"Houses of Parliament, London" by Claude Monet

More Monet paintings

A funky abstract paiting...interesting

"America Windows" by Marc Chagall

"Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper

"American Gothic" by Grant Wood

I think this is a Picasso, but I don't know the name

"The Red Armchair" by Pablo Picasso

"The Old Guitarist" by Pablo Picasso

This is a picture of the old Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor...kind of a cool looking room. 

I tool this picture as we exited out the side door of
the art museam.  To me, this captures what I love about
Chicago...the contrast and variety of styles everywhere
you look.  There is the curvy modern sculpture in front
contrasted with the art deco style building behind it
contrasted still by a silver straight modern skyscraper...
and some trees in the middle of it all!

We were also able to go see Eric's work office, which was cool because I had never been there before.  He has a spectacular view, and his office is pretty cool! 

View to the right...

and view to the left

I just had to take a picture of this because I thought it was so cool...an office supply dispenser/holder!  Seriously, has anyone seen anything like this before? 

Architectural Boat Tour

We decided to take the architectural boat tour along the Chicago river.  We had taken this tour together once before when we were dating, but thought this would be a fun thing to do again.  We ended up taking it at about 5:30 p.m. which was nice because it wasn't quite as hot as it was earlier in the day, but maybe not the best time for picture taking as the sun was casting a lot of shadows on the buildings.  I did get some good pictures anyway. :)  I was telling Eric afterwards that it is simply amazing that there are architects and builders that can design and build these amazing buildings.  It is so fascinating!  These buildings are so beautiful, and it is fun to hear the history behind some of their designs.

The Trump Tower: The 2nd tallest building in the Western Hemisphere topping off at 92 stories!

The Wrigly Building: Built in the early 1920's as the corporate headquarters of the Wrigly (gum) Company.  This was Chicago's first Air Conditioned office building. 

Marina City: a mixed residential/commercial building complex

Merchandise Mart: Was the largest building in the world when it opened in 1930.  It is so large, it has it's own zip code.

NBC Tower

Mather Tower: Built in 1920's, it is the city's most slender high rise structure

The Jewelers Building

Leo Burnett Building: more of a postmodern design

United Building: This is the world headquarters of Chicago-based United Airlines.  Microsoft also occupies multiple floors.

Lasalle Wacker Building

I thought this one looked cool.

155 N. Wacker: This is the building (in the middle) where my hubby works!

The Civic Opera Building: This is the second largest opera auditorium in North America.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange: Notice the corner of the building-I thought it was interesting that the building was built this way to have more corner offices.

The Willis (formerly Sears) Tower: This is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere topping off at 108 stories

The Carbide & Carbon Building: Built to resemble a champagne bottle with a gold foil on top.

Our beautiful city