Destination: Chicago

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Last, January while in Paris we had an extremely tight schedule visiting museums and galleries over a three-and half-day period. The city was unusually crowded due to the protesting of with thousands of public transportation drivers, teachers, and public sector workers marching throughout the city. Unions disrupted metro and overground services which upped our walking mileage on average to 8-12 miles per day.

On our last day we had timed tickets to see the El Greco exhibit at the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées. Unfortunately, the protestors were in such an uproar due to a response from Emmanuel Macron that we couldn’t get close to the museum. That night at dinner each of us reviewed our notes and saw the El Greco exhibit was on its way to the Art Institute of Chicago. Then the virus rolled around, and in March we were all social-distancing.

Well, last week several of our team had meetings in Chicago and were able to fit the El Greco: Ambition and Defiance exhibit into their schedules…. I was thrilled.

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Regarded as one of the most foremost painters of the Spanish Renaissance, El Greco’s works are renowned for their spiritual intensity and elongated figures, along with an unnatural flesh tone. He trained in Crete as a Byzantine icon painter then moved to Italy in 1567 to study with Venetian Renaissance painters Titan and Tintoretto.

Our crew also had the opportunity to view the Monet and Chicago exhibit while at the Art Institute so, more on that later.

Stay safe and enjoy,
Kathleen