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What to do and see in Central, Illinois (IL): The Best Art Museums
The windy city is a cornucopia of modern art, fine dining, cutting edge comedy, and die-hard sports fans. Snap a photo of your reflection in the silver Cloud Gate sculpture at Millennium Park before heading to Grant Park to get hit with the refreshing spray of Buckingham Fountain. There are dozens of museums and theater companies in Chicago, so a cultural experience is never hard to find. You’re sure to laugh your head off at the Second City Theater, the professional launch pad of many famous comedians.
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1. The Art Institute of Chicago
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 24,057 reviews
See why the Art Institute of Chicago is the only museum in the world to be top-ranked by TripAdvisor four years in a row! Experience the greatest Impressionist collection outside Paris, and view contemporary masterpieces in the spectacular Modern Wing. Stand before classics like Nighthawks, and travel the globe through galleries devoted to the art of ancient Greece, Japan, Africa, and the Americas.
Reviewed By nemeshek - Mexico City, Mexico
This is the best Chicago Museum for me. All the classical paints such as Francesco de Mura, Peter Paul Rubens, El Greco, Luca Cambiaso, Tintoretto, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Edvard Munch, Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh are incredible. This is a must to visit in Chicago.
2. Van Gogh's Bedrooms
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 5 reviews
3. Thorne Miniature Rooms
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 7 reviews
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
My wife and I have browsed the Thorne Miniature Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago on previous occasions. But after seeing the display of the Thorne collection at the Phoenix Art Museum during our recent two-week vacation in Arizona, we decided to make another visit to larger Thorne collection in Chicago. It is an exhibit unlike any other, a child's dream. Thorne Miniature Rooms are a set of about 100 miniature models of rooms created between 1932 and 1940 under the direction of Narcissa Niblack Thorne, who was born in 1882 in Vincennes, Indiana. As a child, she began to collect miniature furniture and household accessories. Her uncle, a U.S. Navy vice admiral, sent her many antique dollhouse miniatures from around the world. When she was 19, she married Montgomery Ward department store heir James Ward Thorne, whose fortune helped to finance her hobby. Ninety-nine of the rooms are still believed to be in existence. The majority of them, a total of 68, are on display at the Art Institute of Chicago, located at 111 South Michigan Avenue. We saw 20 of them at the Phoenix Art Museum. The Art Institute's rooms document European and American interiors from the late 13th century to the 1930s and the 17th century to the 1930s, respectively. Constructed on a 1:12 scale, the rooms are largely made of the same materials as full-sized rooms and some even include original works of art, including paintings and sculpture, silver bowls and crystal chandeliers. They are among the most popular attractions at the Art Institute with an authentic appearance and attention to detail that boggles the mind.
4. Wabash Arts Corridor
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 7 reviews
The WAC is an urban outdoor exhibition featuring world class, large-scale works of public art. The heart of WAC is Wabash Avenue from Van Buren to Roosevelt and is framed to the east by Michigan Avenue and to the west by State Street.
Reviewed By Mudge828 - Chicago, United States
We took a walking tour of murals in the Wabash Arts Corridor, organized through Columbia College. Great fun! Although it was a very warm day, we found lots of shade. Our docent was excellent, providing us with lots of information about the history of the murals and why they were done in this area. If you're interested in a deep dive into art and history, this is a great tour to take.
5. Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 63 reviews
Located at Loyola University, the gallery's impressive medieval, Renaissance and baroque collection has a Catholic slant.
Reviewed By Mikeytheboss
this is a fun small museum with an interesting collection. We take all our visitors here. You need a couple hours here and it is something a bit different in the city.
6. Richard H. Driehaus Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,422 reviews
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum explores the art, architecture, and design of the late 19th century to the present. Its permanent collection and temporary exhibitions are presented in an immersive experience within the restored Nickerson Mansion, completed in 1883.
Reviewed By w945106 - Tampa, United States
This house was amazing. I can’t really call it a home. Mr. Driehaus has done a great service restoring and presenting this wonderful house for us to see. Several docents about - we took a tour (excellent). Lots of photos with further explanation. Even the guards had a working knowledge of the museum. Some amazing woodwork and marble - silk wall coverings and complex wooden floors. There are traveling exhibits from the Driehaus we have seen twice this year - French posters, Tiffany lamps. There is another Tiffany exhibit coming soon. I wasn’t taken by the external exhibit by British-African artist. But I am glad I was exposed to his art.
7. Museum of Contemporary Art
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 857 reviews
The MCA brings artists and audiences together to experience and contemplate contemporary art and culture.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago was created as a result of a 1964 meeting of 30 critics, collectors and dealers with the idea of organizing and building a museum of contemporary art to complement the city's Art Institute of Chicago. And so it was opened in 1967 at 237 East Ontario. But it quickly outgrew its surroundings. In 1996, the four-story, 220,0000-square-foot building designed by Josef Paul Kleihues was opened at the museum's current address, 220 East Chicago Avenue, site of a former National Guard Armory. The architecture of the museum, located near Water Tower Place in the Streeterville neighborhood, is said to reference the modernism of Mies van der Rohe as well as the tradition of Chicago architecture. It is noted for its signature staircase leading to an elevated ground floor, which has an atrium, the full glass-walled east and west facades giving a direct view of the city and Lake Michigan. The collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art is composed of thousands of objects of post-World War II visual art. It is divided into three programming departments--curatorial, performance and education. The museum is open from 10 to 5 on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and from 10 to 9 on Tuesday and Friday. Its collection consists of 2,700 objects and more than 3,000 artists books. Works of art from 1945 to the present include examples of late surrealism, pop art, minimalism and conceptual art from the 1940s through the 1970s. Works from the 1980s can be grouped under post modernism and painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation and related media that current artists explore. Notable works on display include Study for a Portrait (1949) by Francis Bacon; Jackie Frieze (1964) by Andy Warhol; Untitled (1970) by Donald Judd; Rabbit (1986) by Jeff Koons; Cindy (1988) by Chuck Close; Retroactive II (1963) by Robert Rauschenberg; and The Wonder of Nature (1953) by Rene Magritte. Along with its counterparts in New York City and Washington DC, there is nothing to compare to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
8. The Da Vinci Machines Exhibition
9. The Art of Dr. Seuss Gallery
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 12 reviews
We're an art gallery dedicated to the artwork of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, located in Water Tower Place in Chicago. Dr. Seuss drew, painted, and sculpted throughout his entire life. He kept most of his artwork close and rarely shared it with the outside world. After his passing in 1991, his widow Audrey began revealing his works to the world. Come visit us and see The Art of Dr. Seuss! In 1997, this dream was realized when The Art of Dr. Seuss project was launched. For the first time in history collectors were able to see and acquire lithographs, serigraphs and sculpture reproduced from Geisel's original drawings and paintings. In her introduction to the collection Audrey Geisel wrote, "I remember telling Ted that there would come a day when many of his paintings would be seen and he would thus share with his fans another facet of himself - his private self. That day has come. I am glad."
Reviewed By SharonB231 - Toledo, United States
This art gallery is Located in Water Tower Place. They have a stunning collection of Dr. Seuss artwork all for sale. Worth a visit.
