Granted this isn't the shortest trip ever, which was last year when I flew in, took in the Cezanne exhibit at the Art Institute and flew back that evening! But this was still a short trip. I was supposed to fly in Sat. morning, though we had mechanical problems with the plane (fortunately discovered before we took off!) and I was rebooked on a flight that landed just before noon. I met a friend at Jefferson Park, and we continued in on the Blue Line to downtown.
We visited the Art Institute and checked out the Van Gogh exhibit and then the Varo exhibit, which had just opened. I somewhat stupidly left my phone in my backpack, which I then checked. I decided to try to really embrace living in the moment and not take a photo of everything. (I did have my friend send me photos of three paintings, but compared to the hundreds of photos I typically take, this was incredibly restrained.) However, I then could not resist getting both catalogues (fortunately, she had a members' discount.). Both shows were great in their own way, but in some ways it was quite thrilling to see so many Varo paintings up close, and almost all the ones I had seen in books about Varo were present. It is really not to be missed if you are interested in surrealistic art and happen to be living in the Midwest.
We walked up to the Cultural Centre, which was running a show on wall murals, which is actually about to wrap up. They didn't have anything on view on the 2nd or 4th floors, which is generally where the larger shows are put on.
We then went up to the Driehaus Museum, which is housed in a gorgeous mansion (the Nickerson Mansion) just off Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Almost all the wall decorations and fancy fireplaces are original, which is itself quite astonishing. I did hang onto my phone this time, and I'll try to post a few photos soon, though the photos at the Driehaus Museum website are far more professional. Apparently, the Driehaus has only been open to the public since 2019.
We then went up to an Italian place near Steppenwolf. Her husband joined us there, and we had a good dinner before heading over to see Pinter's No Man's Land. One thing that was perhaps a bit ominous was that the theatre was probably not even 15% full. Summer is a tough time for theatre, and Pinter seems to be a particularly hard sell. The reviews have generally been positive, though most of them dwell on the fact that the actor playing Spooner, one of the leads, pulled out a week before the show started, so the understudy has taken over for the entire run. I wasn't really grabbed by this production as the stakes never really seemed that high, and it doesn't cohere as much as Old Times, for instance. Given this was one of the prime reasons for the Chicago trip, it was a bit of a let down. (Fortunately, the Art Institute more than justified the trip...)
The next morning we hung out a bit, then ran over to a farmer's market in Portage Park. This was quite nice, and I had a savory crepe. I barely managed to keep myself from buying some pastries at one of the baked goods stands.
I headed off to O'Hare after that, getting there early but not early enough to go standby on an earlier flight. I managed to get a bit of work done, but was pretty run down and didn't press myself too far. It was a good trip, but I'll probably pay for it when I still haven't shaken off this cough in another week or two. In fact, I really ought to hit the sack now.
On the trip, I got halfway through Austen's Mansfield Park, but I don't care much for it. In addition to Fanny Price being a bit of a simp, Edmund is so ridiculous priggish about so many things, and Mrs. Norris is far, far ruder (to Fanny) than one would expect of a genteel woman of her era. And the writing really does feel so didactic. This is a bit of a disappointment, but I will press on. (I also am finding that All About H. Hatterr is a disappointment, not living up to the often extravagant praise it received.) I did get a chapter into Maugham's Cakes and Ale, and this is definitely more genuinely amusing with some very catty writing about the London literary world. I'll hold off reading it until I finish these other two books, which should happen at some point this week.
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