Chicago
The Chicago Skyline
In the spring, Chicago dresses for a wedding, with oceans of tulips setting the scene. The meridian down the center of Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile is dense with blooms in pink, purple, blush, lavender, cream, red, yellow — every imaginable hue — while the Water Tower lawn is blanketed in pristine white, and the parkway trees are centerpieces in elaborate bouquets of tulips, lilacs, daffodils, and hyacinths. The bride and groom approach the white, fragrant lawn with blossoms swaying in unison, accompanied by an attendant spreading her train and a corps of photographers following closely. Suddenly, we see that we’re part of a fashion photo shoot and all around us spectators are murmuring, “Well, the mayor simply loves flowers, you know!” We’re told that each season is more beautifully embellished than the last. More power to you, Mr. Mayor! Perhaps this could happen only in a city that takes such huge pride in its visual grandeur.
Chicago, we needn’t even argue, is the grandest site for architecture in America, and whether your heart lies with the great Beaux-Arts mansions of the Edwardian era, the decorative genius of Sullivan and Adler, the American Bauhaus of Mies van der Rohe, the prairie-hugging houses of the remarkable Mr. Wright, or the witty, billowing forms of the 21st-century Frank (that would be Gehry, not Wright), there is simply no skyline like this one.
Louis Sullivan's Stock Exchange Arch
While we centered our trip around the pleasures of Art Chicago, the International Contemporary Art Fair held each spring, you may want to consider making SOFA Chicago — The International Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair — scheduled for November 5-7, your fall destination. Although SOFA began in Chicago 13 years ago, it has since added New York, and last year Santa Fe, and remains the most prominent event to focus primarily on three-dimensional art that bridges the boundaries between fine art and the decorative or applied arts. ...
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