Bryn Mawr Historic District [Edgewater Presbyterian Church]

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

AIC: Auguste Rodin

Posted on 4:09 AM by babli panday
Adam - by Auguste Rodin

Adam - by Auguste Rodin

Adam - by Auguste Rodin
Bronze - 1881

The marker reads..
Adam and Eve were originally intended to flank Rodin's monumental... "Gates of Hell", the bronze door that was commissioned by the French government for a new museum of decorative arts. The inclusion of these biblical figures in the depiction of a scene from Dante's "Inferno" would have stressed the legacy of original sin. The museum was never built, and the doorway never finished. So Rodin turned these figures into independent statues..

Eve after the Fall - by Auguste Rodin

Eve after the Fall - by Auguste Rodin

Eve after the Fall - by Auguste Rodin
Marble- 1886

The marker reads..
Auguste Rodin's sculpture "Eve" owes it's genesis to the "Gates of Hell", the artists major commission from the French government in 1800. The associations posed by these sculptural portals of that project led Rodin back to the art of Lorenzo Ghiberti and Michelangelo, particularly their depiction of biblical stories from the book of Genesis. A number of elements from the Gates - such as The Thinker, Adam, and Eve - gradually evolved into independent events. In Particular, Eve recalls the most sculptural of Renaissance paintings. Michelangelo's panels from the Sistine Chapel and Masaccio's "Expulsion from the Garden of Eden". It's naturalism shocked critics when it was first exhibited, since Eve seems to them more like a flesh-and-blood woman than an idealized creation...

Head of Pierre de Wissant - by Auguste Rodin

Sorrow - by Auguste Rodin

Caryatid- by Auguste Rodin

Head of Pierre de Wissant - 1889
Sorrow - 1882
Caryatid - 1891

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For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...
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Friday, February 19, 2010

AIC: New Galleries of Asian Art

Posted on 9:28 PM by babli panday




On Dec 13, 2008, the Art Institute opened two new Asian Art galleries..
- Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art [G140- G142]. Previously this was the Gunsaulus Hall..
- Galleries of Indian and Islamic Art [G151-G152].. North of McKinlock Court.

The new space design is by Renzo Piano.. The only space in the museum outside of the Modern Wing designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The gallery contains about 435 works, half of which are from the Alsdorf collection.









The Alsdorf galleries extend from galleries that house the art of China, Japan, and Korea, with the seated Buddha from China, at the entrance [first image].. There is a seamless transition to Indian art, with a stone statue of Buddha from south India, in the center of the gallery [second image], reminding the viewer of Buddhism’s Indian origins..

To me this is personal. My maternal grandmother was from Bodh Gaya, a place where Lord Buddha attainment of nirvana [Enlightenment] in 528 BC. Many of my childhood vacations were spent in Bodh Gaya.. Coming from a civilization, more than 2000 years old, I was very happy to see many statues dating back to 8th and 10th century..

Image 1: Buddha, China - Tang Dynasty [A.D. 618-907], c. 725/50.
Limestone with traces of polychrome.
Image 2: Buddha, India, 12th century Buddha from South India / stone..
Image 3: Karttikeya, God of War, seated on a peacock / Granite..
India [Andhra Pradesh, Ganga period, c 12th century]
Image 4: Shiva, "Lord of the Dance" [Nataraja] / Bronze..
India [Tamil Nadu, Chole period, c. 1000]

Alsdorf Galleries, previously known as the Gunsaulus Hall, was a windowless walkway filled with the museum's collection of European arms and armours.. Gunsaulus Hall was built in 1916, over the railroad tracks that pass under the Art Institute. Due to the soot and dirt by the trains, the original windows were bricked in the 1930's.
Now renovated by Renzo Piano, the Alsdorf Galleries are light-filled, with views of the Millennium Park and Chicago Skyline. Piono opened 56-foot section of the original walls, increased the height of the ceiling and added new light wood flooring. The Hardings Arms and Armour collection, the formerly occupied the Gunsaulus Hall is now in European paintings and sculpture galleries.





I found some images I had taken before the opening of Alsdorf Galleries..
- Gunsaulus Hall, windowless walkway, with European arms and armours.. and
- display of Indian art..
Looking at these now, I admire the Alsford galleries even more..
Yes, Architecture Matters!!!

For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...
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AIC - Alsdorf Galleries [Sculptures from Bihar]

Posted on 11:28 AM by babli panday


This seperate post on Alsdorf Galleries, as these sculptures are from Bihar, India, where I grew up!!!


Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara..
India, Bihar, Plala Period, circa 11th century
Black basalt..


Stele depicting the Eight Principal Events from the life of the Buddha..
India, Bihar
Pala period, circa 10th century
Black Chlorite



Buddha giving the First Sermon..
Dharmachakrapravartanamudra..
India, Bihar
Pala period, 10/early 11th century
Black stone
Dharmachakrapravartanamudra..
Perhaps the largest word used in the Art Institute of Chicago!!!
It has 26 letters..
And I love it!!
Although most Indians will split it in three words..
Dharmachakra, Pravartana, Mudra..
Wherein..
Dharmachakra - the wheel of law
Pravartana - change
Mudra - posture /gesture
So it is the posture to change the wheel of law..

For more on.. [click on the link]..
The Art Institute of Chicago...
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Marquette Building

Posted on 9:11 AM by babli panday
 
 
 


Marquette Building..
Address: 140 S. Dearborn St.
Year Built: 1895
Architect: Holabird & Roche
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: June 9, 1975..
The building is named for Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary and explorer who, in 1674-75, wintered in the area that is now Chicago.





Built in the post-Fire building boom period of Chicago, the building has all the characteristics of the Chicago School of Architecture..
- Steel frame with terra cotta exterior..
- Tripartite facade, with features resembling a classical column.. with the base being the first two floors, the shaft or the middle section has long vertical lines and the top capital has ornamental details and is capped with a cornice..
- Typical "Chicago Window" with three parts with a large fixed center panel flanked by two smaller double-hung sash windows..





The lobby..
The building has as beautiful two-floor hexagonal lobby.. with Tiffany mosaic, mahogany doors and grill work in solid bronze. Each of these elements needs to be covered separately..
# For more.. click here..





The mosaics..
The lobby has stunning mosaic works by Louis Comfort Tiffany and J.A. Holzer. The mosaics interpret moments in the life and death of Father Marquette.. Three pictorial tablets describe events in the life of Father Marquette..
# For more.. click here..





Interior bronze portraits..
By Edward Kemeys and Amy Aldis Bradley..
Over each elevator on the first and second floor are bronze portraits of Native Americans and explorers. These sculptures are of people connected with the discovery and exploration of the great Northwest and the Mississippi River and Valley.
# For more.. click here..




Bronze doors..
The bronze doors have intricate patterns, with some very carvings, like panther heads and calumets by Edward Kemeys, who also sculpted most of the bronze portraits in the lobby...
# For more.. click here..




Exterior bronzes..
By Herman MacNeil..
Four bronze panels are placed over the front doors. These illustrate incidents in the life of Father Pere Marquette in his explorations of the Mississippi River and the state of Illinois. The inscriptions below are panels taken from Marquette’s diary.
# For more..click here..

Referenced heavily from the MacArthur Foundation website on Marquette Building.. click here... MacArthur Foundation undertook it's massive restoration work..
"In 2001, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation took action to further restore this architectural treasure. After assuming ownership of the building, the Foundation had a choice: sell or save. MacArthur’s leadership viewed it as their responsibility to maintain this asset for their hometown and for the future. They assembled a team to study the building and determine what renovations were feasible with a dedication to authenticity and longevity.
They discovered many opportunities to restore the building accurately—the most challenging of which was the cornice. Undeterred, MacArthur launched a multiyear restoration program that included cleaning the terra cotta, replacing missing pieces, and restoring all the windows"...


For more on..
# Marquette building - the lobby.. click here..
# Marquette building - mosaics.. click here..
# Marquette buillding - mosaics-II.. click here..
# Marquette building - bronze portraits.. click here..
# Marquette building - bronze doors.. click here..
# Marquette building - exterior bronzes.. click here..
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Marquette Building - the lobby

Posted on 7:16 AM by babli panday


The two-story hexagonal lobby is just awesome!!
Some of its outstanding features include..
- mosaic panels made by the Louis Comfort Tiffany and J.A.Holzer..
- bronze portraits of native Americans and early explorers, over elevators on the first and second floors, by Edward Kemeys and Amy Aldis Bradley..
- bronze doors with relief works of calumets and panther heads, by Edward Kemeys






 
The Marquette building is named for Father Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary and explorer who in 1674-75, wintered in the area that is now Chicago. One of the most outstanding features of the building is it's two-story hexagonal lobby. It has beautiful mosaic works interpreting moments in the life and death of Father Marquette.

The stunning mosaics are the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany and J.A.Holzer.. Holzer was chief designer for the Tiffany Glass and Decorating company. These mosaics are composed entirely of mother of pearl and Favrile glass.

From the MacArthur Foundation website.. click here..
“In this memorial rotunda, which is considered the most artistic and interesting portions of the building, [are]...three pictorial tablets descriptive of the events in the life of Marquette. These glass mosaic panels are certainly works of high artistic value.. a glowing series of pictures never before attempted in glass mosaic.”
- Architectural Reviewer, July 1897..
 
 
 
Words inscribed..
Firmly resolved to do all and to suffer all for so glorious an undertaking..
 
 
 
Words inscribed..
They answered they were Illinois and in token of peace presented the pipes to smoke.

 
Words inscribed..
To die as he had always asked in a wretched cabin amid the forest destitute of all human aid.
 
 
Detail from the above mosaic panel




 
 




 
 
 
 






 
 
 
 
 










For more on..
# Marquette building.. click here..
# Marquette building - the lobby.. click here..
# Marquette building - mosaics.. click here..
# Marquette buillding - mosaics-II.. click here..
# Marquette building - bronze portraits.. click here..
# Marquette building - bronze doors.. click here..
# Marquette building - exterior bronzes.. click here..
Read More
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Sunday, February 14, 2010

Marquette Building - mosaics

Posted on 10:45 PM by babli panday


The Marquette building is named for Father Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary and explorer who in 1674-75, wintered in the area that is now Chicago. One of the most outstanding features of the building is it's two-story hexagonal lobby. It has beautiful mosaic works interpreting moments in the life and death of Father Marquette.

The stunning mosaics are the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany and J.A.Holzer.. Holzer was chief designer for the Tiffany Glass and Decorating company. These mosaics are composed entirely of mother of pearl and Favrile glass.

From the MacArthur Foundation website.. click here..
“In this memorial rotunda, which is considered the most artistic and interesting portions of the building, [are]...three pictorial tablets descriptive of the events in the life of Marquette. These glass mosaic panels are certainly works of high artistic value.. a glowing series of pictures never before attempted in glass mosaic.”
- Architectural Reviewer, July 1897..



Words inscribed.. Firmly resolved to do all and to suffer all for so glorious an undertaking..



Words inscribed.. They answered they were Illinois and in token of peace presented the pipes to smoke..



Words inscribed.. To die as he had always asked in a wretched cabin amid the forest destitute of all human aid..





A couple of close-ups from the above mosaic panels..



AND MORE.. images of mosaic panels.. click here..
Apart from three mosaic panels, describing events from the life of Father Marquette.. there are other panels which are more like portraits..Since I could not cover all in one post..click here..

Please do not use or reproduce any of these images without written permission..

For more on..
# Marquette building.. click here..
# Marquette building - the lobby.. click here..
# Marquette building - mosaics.. click here..
# Marquette buillding - mosaics-II.. click here..
# Marquette building - bronze portraits.. click here..
# Marquette building - bronze doors.. click here..
# Marquette building - exterior bronzes.. click here..
Read More
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