For the last few years, I have had the great joy to be able to use my conservation training while working at my local museum and archives. For the most part my projects have involved regular everyday objects that were used and continue to be used in day-to-day life, such as cookware, silverware, dishes, tools and household textiles. I have even had the opportunity to work with some very large pieces, such as a horse drawn hearse, a brougham, a jail cell, and large agricultural equipment such as threshers.
Yet, some of my most memorable projects, that not only challenged me, but were a joy to work on have involved miniatures. Whether they be children’s toys, personal items, or models made for display, miniatures present their own unique challenges, not the least of which is their smallness. For the most part I think my fascination stems from the enchantment inherent in miniatures, and their ability to allow us to be giants for a day, much like Gulliver and his adventures in Lilliput.
The world of miniatures is ironically large and very diverse. At some point many of us may find miniatures in our own collections, whether they be model ships, doll houses, miniature displays used in shops, miniature portraits, or miniature books. I was lucky enough to visit the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) last year and the Thorne Miniature Rooms, which include 68 exhaustively detailed interiors from Europe and America from the 13th century to the 1930s.
English Drawing Room of the Victorian Period, 1840-70, c. 1937
Mrs. James Ward Thorne, Art Institute of Chicago
French Dining Room of the Louis XIV Period, 1660-1700, c. 1937
Mrs. James Ward Thorne, Art Institute of Chicago
Shaker Living Room, c. 1800, c. 1940
Mrs. James Ward Thorne, Art Institute of Chicago
Staff at the AIC take the display of these miniature rooms further, even dressing them for the holiday season.
Staff dress the California Hallway, c. 1940, with a miniature menorah,
and hang mistletoe in the Virginia Entrance Hall, 1751–55.
Mrs. James Ward Thorne, Art Institute of Chicago
The AIC has developed a rather unique interactive experience for viewers to explore the rooms from the comfort of their own homes. Through their Game of Thornes: A Maze of Miniature Proportions, visitors to the AIC website are challenged to navigate their escape through an online maze of the rooms connected by means of doorways and other less obvious secret passages. The game not only let’s visitors explore the rooms from a distance, but experience the high level of detail and craftsmanship put into each one-of-a-kind model.
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago recently completed a 9-month conservation of its own famous miniature, known as Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle. Spanning nine square feet and holding 1,500 artifacts when completely assembled, Moore’s Fairy Castle is a museum in itself. The Castle was also built with a plumbing and electrical system. Not only do the chandeliers light but the bathtubs have real running water, posing even more conservation challenges to the piece.
Colleen Moore's Fairy Tale Castle
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
The 9-month project took five conservators
working six to seven days a week to complete, with a paper conservator focusing
specifically on cleaning and stabilizing 50 real miniature books, including the
smallest bible ever written. A time-lapse video developed by the museum shows
the conservation team reassembling the castle.
In contradiction to their size, miniatures present rather large challenges to those who have been entrusted with their care. With the potential for mixed media, combined with being very small and delicate, and having large number of components, miniatures such as those featured here, in terms of their care and management present a sizeable task for any conservator or collections manager.
Millennium Park, Chicago, with the Art Institute of Chicago visible at the far right. Photo taken by author.
Happy Museum Monday from the Windy City; my name is Cady, and this is my first post for Musings.
Coincidentally, I actually HAVE something exciting to share. This weekend I was fortunate enough to be in Chicago for work. It was my first time to that stunning city, and if you are into museums you can have a literal field day on Museum Campus.
My plan originally, was to go to the Field Museum; however, I was swayed by my colleagues and locals that I had to see the Art Institute of Chicago. So off I went on a hot sunny Saturday morning. It took me half an hour to walk there from my hotel, leaving me an hour and a half before my next meeting. This meant that I only had 60 minutes to see the Art Institute.
I knew I would have to be fast in order to see it all in that time. Now, I’m of the school of thought that believes luck is good planning carefully executed (I’m not sure why I still prescribe to this belief; ironically more often than not, this is the opposite of my reality).
With the help of an information staff person, I planned out a route on the museum's map:
My map. Here on the `first floor, you can see my route drawn out.
FIRST FLOOR
1. Chagall's America Windows
2. Byzantine Special Exhibition , Of Heaven and Earth
3. Greek Art
4. Roman Art
5. Etruscan Art
6. Byzantine Art
7. American Art before 1900
8. American Decorative Arts
9. Indian, South Asian, and Himalayan Art
10. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Art
11. Indian Art of the Americas
12. African Art
SECOND FLOOR
13. Chicago Architecture
14. European Art before 1900
15. Prints and Drawings
16. American Folk Art
17. Renaissance Jewelry
18. Arms and Armor
19. European Decorative Arts
20. And finally…Impressionism (saving the best for last)
If you read all through that list, 1-20, you're amazing.
If you didn't, because numbers 3-19 all blended into the word art then, you are amazingly normal, like me.
I completely gave up on seeing other special exhibitions galleries, and the sections on Modern American Art, Contemporary Art after 1960, as well as the entire lower level of miniature houses.
Not even a minute in and I deviated from my plan. In retrospect that should have been my first warning, but I felt great at the time. The Chagall Windows were just behind me, I'd go there next. Change of plans, not a problem.
In the Greek Art Gallery, I found this object particularly intriguing. I don’t know exactly what it is. Anyone else know?
Object from the Greek Art gallery at the Art Institute of Chicago. Comment below if you know what it is! Photo taken by author.
0:03:47 - Hellenistic and Roman Art
Okay still not Chagall Windows, but it was right next to the Greek Art gallery, so if I could get it done now, why not?
Roman Art Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago. Photo taken by author.
0:04:03 – Chagall’s America Windows
The space exhibiting these windows was quiet and contemplative, bathed in a beautiful blue light. I loved it. I was only four minutes into my hour and already accomplished 3 galleries, so I decided I had time to spare, and stayed with the windows a little longer than I should have.
Chagall's America Windows, Art Institute of Chicago. Photo taken by author.
0:07:44 - Etruscan Art
In this gallery I was excited to find a polished bronze mirror that I remembered admiring in one of my textbooks when I took a course on Etruscan Art and Architecture. Here in the museum, it also came along with an interactive iPad. With the iPad I could explore the object from multiple angles, as well as select related objects that together with the mirror offered different narratives. What a great idea!
Playing with the interactive program on the display for discovering an Etruscan bronze mirror. Photo taken by author.
0:11:45 - Byzantine Art and Special Exhibition Heaven and Earth
A little behind schedule at this point, but as long as I had no hiccups, my timing would be fine. Byzantines were champions of the mosaic, and this is the closest I ever got to one. I've seen the finest examples of Byzantine mosaic in Ravenna and Istanbul, but I never got to be so close to them as I did in Chicago.
Mosaic Icon of the Virgin Episkepis, late 13th century, from present day Istanbul, currently at the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo taken by Author.
0:19:07 - Lost.
Despite my best efforts to stay on track, I managed to get lost. While my route looked good on paper, in reality it wasn't a natural flow between the galleries I had selected.
0:20:40 - and Found! American Decorative Arts and American Art before 1900
Due to my time delay getting lost, I should have really rushed through both the American Decorative Arts and American Art before 1900. Yet, there were so many unique objects and intriguing romantic paintings, that I just had to stop and share.
From the American Art before 1900 gallery. Alvan Fisher painted this scene out of author JamesFenimore Copper's 1827 book Prairie. Photo taken by author.
0:33:32 - The American West
The paintings in this gallery were quite narrative, and the sculpture very emotive. This piece stood out to me as the rest of the paintings in the gallery had to do with overt depictions of confrontation. This one though, made me think both about the subjects, and the artist. Considering the painter’s vantage point, was he really there? What was he trying to show? What does the painting’s title Historians of the Tribe mean?
Historians of the Tribe, Frederic Remington, 1890.
0:39:59 - Indian, South Asian, and Himalayan Art
While this was not a walk through gallery, the space was at least easy to navigate as it was a single large room instead of a series of small rooms to move through (and get lost in…). This gallery had lots of natural light, and vibrant wall paint in shades of red, orange, and yellow. Also...half way through my hour, and nowhere near half way through the museum.
Statue in the Indian, South Asian, and Himalayan Art exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo taken by author.
0:45:25 - Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Art
In all honesty, I wasn't going to go in to this set of galleries because I only had fifteen minutes left and had not even finished the first floor...but it looked so good! I couldn't pass it up.
Collection item from Japanese Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago. Photo taken by author.
0:52:39 - African Art and Indian Art of the Americas
The African Art collection on display was much more extensive than that of the Americas. I was really interested to see how the museum displayed their African art collection as I was in a class last week where we visited the Art Gallery of Ontario and learned about the development and display of its African Art collection. There are two very different sets of aesthetics and ideas about display between the AIC and the AGO...
Beaded mask from African Art Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago. Photo taken by author.
0:59:38 - 22 SECONDS LEFT!!!
Time for a quick impression of Impressionism!
A museum goer admiring Monet`s work up close.
And there you go, the Art Institute of Chicago in 60 minutes. If you want, you can see more of my visit by watching the video, THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO IN 60 SECONDS, below.
This blog post may leave you spinning a little, like I was after my visit. I've intentionally left a lot of my comments on what I saw open, in hopes that you'll have something you want to add or respond to.
Do I recommend trying to see it all in an hour? Absolutely not.
Did I have fun trying to do that? Yes, BUT I did miss getting to know a few pieces really well, or developing any good ideas or thoughts.
My method of taking on the museum in such an ordered fashion didn't go to plan, and in my rush to stick to my route I ended up spending a lot of time trying to figure out if I was where I was supposed to be instead of seeing more of what the museum had to offer in the time I had. I did, however, stay longer in the Impressionism gallery than 22 seconds. I had to, they had 2 rooms full of Monet's work, and he is my favourite painter.
The list of things I missed in an hour is as long as the list of things I saw, but did I ever see a lot. In one hour, I was so fortunate to see a richness of the most beautiful and incredible things that humanity has ever made. Whether the art was created for love, for war, for pride, for passion, for faith, and for reasons unknown, what came into focus during my whirlwind tour in the Windy City, was simply that humans, across time and space, medium and method, are capable of such greatness.
I hope you feel energized, inspired, and full of ideas. You are part of the human race, whose art demonstrates and reminds us that we are all oh-so capable of ingenuity and beauty. So what great thing will you do today, or this week? Perhaps it will start with your comment at the end of this post. Like me stumbling across two rooms full of my favourite painter's works at the end of my marathon of a museum visit, you just don't know when or where you're going to come across your life's greatest wonders--until it just happens.
