FEATURE IMAGE (left to right): Gamaliel Ramirez, outdoor mural (SEA OF FLAGS CHICAGO 2004); Berthe Morisot, painting (WOMAN IN HER GARDEN AIC 1882/3); Artistide Maillol, bronze sculpture (ENCHAINED ACTION AIC 1906); Art Show Entrance (EXPO CHICAGO 2016).
29 Posts.
Art Photography: THE WORKER, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 2001, Willow Springs, Illinois. (5 Photos & Illustrations).
FEATURE Image: Cook/DuPage Cos., Willow Springs, IL. The Worker, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Camp Chicago-Lemont, Company 612, est. June 4, 1933. Author’s photograph, 6/2018 6mb. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a major program in President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Called “Mr. Roosevelt’s Tree Army,” there were over 50 such camps in Illinois alone and over…
Art Photography: LEONARD CRUNELLE (1872-1944). Capt. A. Lincoln, Illinois Volunteer Militia, Black Hawk War, 1832, bronze, 1930, overlooking the Rock River in Dixon, Illinois. (9 Photos & Illustrations).
FEATURE image: Capt. A. Lincoln, Illinois Volunteer Militia, Black Hawk War, 1832, bronze, 1930. by Leonard Crunelle (1872-1944), Dixon, Illinois. The large bronze statue was the first prominent public depiction of the 16th U.S. president as a young adult man. Author’s photograph, 6/2017 4.70mb. Illinois in the early 1830s was the edge of the American…
Art Photography: HIEROTOPY. Created Sacred Space & Its Paradigms. (15 Photos).
FEATURE Image: The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, 10915 S. Lemont Road, Lemont IL. Author’s photograph, 7/2017 5.75 mb INTRODUCTION. Hierotopy derives from two Ancient Greek words meaning “Sacred Space” and in a specifically broad sense. It is a term developed at the start of the 21st century by Alexei Lidov (b. 1959), a Russian art historian who specializes in Byzantium. Hierotopy is…
Art Photography: RICHARD HUNT (b. 1935, American), We Will, 2005, Chicago, Illinois.
Chicagoan Richard Hunt has over 150 large-scale installations around the world. Since 2005, Richard Hunt’s We Will has stood proudly on the sidewalk by the intersection of Randolph Street and Garland Court near Chicago’s Cultural Center and Millennium Park. We Will stands 35 feet tall and is made of welded stainless steel. The public art…
Art Photography: ALEXANDER CALDER (American, 1898-1976), Flamingo (1974), Federal Center Plaza, Chicago, Illinois.
FEATURE Image: Flamingo by Alexander Calder is a masterwork stabile in Chicago’s downtown. It was unveiled on October 25, 1974 in a dedication ceremony with the artist. It is one of Chicago’s iconic outdoor public artworks. 6/2022 7.73 mb In downtown Chicago’s Federal Center Plaza on South Dearborn Street between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard…
Art Photography: BIAGIO GOVERNALI, Bronze Doors, Mysteries of the Rosary (2004)—Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago, IL. (7 Photos).
FEATURE IMAGE: East Bronze Door (upper panels) depicting Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary by Biagio Governali. Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago’s Little Italy. 12/2013 4 mb INTRODUCTION. Our Lady of Pompeii was originally established in Chicago in 1911 as an Italian national parish. The present church building at 1224 West Lexington Street…
Art Photography: Stained Glass, TYROL ART GLASS COMPANY OF INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA. Ascension of Jesus and Assumption of Mary into Heaven (1927), Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Naperville, Illinois. (21 Photos & Illustrations).
BETWEEN 1870 AND 1930, ART GLASS OF GERMANY AND AUSTRIA COMES TO AMERICA, PARTICULARLY TO CHICAGO’S CHURCHES The colorful stained-glass windows in Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, were ordered, produced, and installed towards the end of a 60-year-long run for the predominance of German and Austrian-made…
Art Photography: JACOB WATTS (b., American), Moose Bubblegum Bubble, 2014, 33 E. Congress (South Wall), Chicago, Illinois.
Jacob Watts is a photographer and visual storyteller based in Chicago, Illinois. A graduate of Oswego (Illinois) High School (class of 2008), Watts received his B.F.A. from Columbia College Chicago in 2012. The photo-illustration of a moose blowing bubblegum hangs on a blue wall in the South Loop of Downtown Chicago at a size of…
Art Photography: RUTH AIZUSS MIGDAL (b. 1932, American), Here, 2012, Chicago, Illinois.
Ruth Aizuss Migdal was born in Chicago. The artist was educated at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (B.F.A.) and the University of Illinois at Urbana (M.F.A). Migdal was awarded an honorary doctorate from U of I, her alma mater, in 2019. Classically educated and trained in painting and printmaking, initially she created…
Art Photography: EDUARDO KOBRA (b. 1975, Brazil), Muddy Waters, King of the Blues (2017), 17 N. State Street, Chicago, Illinois.
FEATURE image: Muddy Waters, King of the Chicago Blues, by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra in a photograph taken in May 2021. The 10-story mural tribute was painted in 2017 and is located on State Street in Downtown Chicago. This 100-foot-tall (10 stories) mural of legendary Chicago blues musician Muddy Waters (1913-1983) was dedicated in June…
Art Photography: BOB MANGOLD (b. 1930, American), Anemotive Kinetic, Rockford, Illinois.
As a kinetic (movement) artist, Mangold’s sculptures explore concepts of space and motion. In 1962, Mangold began his Anemotive series of spherical, wind-propelled kinetic sculptures. As with this work, Anemotive Kinetic, the anemotives are characterized by cup-like shapes mounted on arms which allow for motion in nature. text&photo:
Art Photography: JERRY PEART (b. 1948, American), Wildflower, Rockford, Illinois.
The 20-foot painted aluminum sculpture in a fountain setting stands near the entrance of the Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens along the Rock River in Rockford, Illinois. The Conservatory opened in October 2011 and offers a main exhibition house, greenhouses, classrooms, a roof garden, a lagoon, walking trails, outdoor gardens, and more. Jerry Peart is a…
Art Photography: PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973, Spanish). Gift to the People – The Chicago Picasso in Daley Plaza (1967).
FEATURE image: Chicago’s Picasso in Daley Plaza. Author’s photograph (July 2015). Chicago’s “Picasso” in today’s downtown Daley Plaza was officially unveiled on Tuesday, August 15, 1967 at 12 noon. Weeks before the public event excitement (and some dread) swirled among Chicagoans and others as to what Pablo Picasso’s monumental outdoor sculpture would be like. In…
Art Photography: MARION KRYCZKA (b., American). Chevy Dealership: A Tribute to Route 66 (2007), Joliet, Illinois.
FEATURE image: Chevy Dealership: A Tribute to Route 66, 2007, 396 N. Chicago Street, Joliet, Illinois. Tribute mural on Motor Row. One of two acrylic murals at this site by Marion Kryczka with the assistance of artists Dante DiBartolo and Sadia Ashraf. Photograph by author in May 2017. Joliet, Illinois, is a city of nearly…
Art Photography: SCRAPBOOK/ART OUTDOORS. (25 Photos).
Though likely originally intended in the 12th century to be enclosed in a narthex, that structure was not built and these sculptures remained outdoors. These three doors of the West Royal Portal which open directly onto the nave are an important part of what remains of the original mid12th century church, the rest of which…
Art Photography: MARC CHAGALL (1887-1985, Belarusian-French), Four Seasons, 1974, Chase Tower Plaza, Chicago, Illinois.
Feature Image: Chase Tower Plaza, Chicago, 2017. Four Seasons by Marc Chagall, 1974. Chase Tower Plaza, Chicago, Illinois. May 2014. Photographs:
Art Photography: SCRAPBOOK/AT MUSEUMS. (64 Photos).
Photographs and Text by John P. Walsh. FEATURE image: Statue of Winged Victory, called the Victory or Nike of Samothrace, is from an island in the Thracian Sea and dated to around 200 BCE. Today it occupies a commanding perch on the landing of a staircase in the Louvre in Paris. The Bunworth harp is inscribed:…
EXPO CHICAGO 2018, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. 7th Annual International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, September 27-30, 2018. (58 Photos).
FEATURE image: EXPO CHICAGO 2018, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. EXPO CHICAGO 2018 is the 7th annual exhibition of international contemporary and modern art held in Chicago at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall. It took place September 27-30, 2018. Expo Chicago/2018 presented 135 galleries and exhibitors representing 27 countries and 63 cities from around the world. This post’s 60 photographs…
Art Photography: GAMALIEL RAMIREZ (1949-2018, Puerto Rico), Sea of Flags (2004). Street mural in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood.
FEATURE Image: Sea of Flags, Gamaliel Ramirez, 2004, Humboldt Park, Chicago. The mural entitled Sea of Flags depicts Fiesta Boricua (De Bandera a Bandera), an annual 3-day music and cultural event in the Humboldt Park neighborhood in Chicago. Attracting tens of thousands of visitors, the fiesta is held starting in late August or early September.…
Virtual Tour of THE SHRINE OF CHRIST’S PASSION, St. John, Indiana. (73 Photos & Video).
FEATURE image: (detail) Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene, John 20:11-18. INTRODUCTION One hour’s drive (about 40 miles) south of downtown Chicago—and 90 minutes drive from the University of Notre Dame near South Bend, Indiana—is The Shrine of Christ’s Passion. Within a 30-acre site whose landscaped rocks, hills, and trees envelop the visitor, the shrine is…
EXPO CHICAGO 2017, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. 6th Annual International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, September 13-17, 2017. (34 photos).
FEATURE image: EXPO CHICAGO 2017, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. EXPO CHICAGO 2017 is the 6th annual exhibition of international contemporary and modern art held in Chicago at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall. It took place September 13-17, 2017. Expo Chicago/2017 presented 135 galleries representing 25 countries and 58 cities from around the world. Brian Calvin, Momentary…
Art Photography: JOHN PAULDING (1883-1935, American), Over the Top to Victory (“Doughboy”) (1921), in Wheaton, Illinois. (2 Photos).
FEATURE image: Over the Top to Victory (“Doughboy”), 1921, John Paulding, Memorial Park, Wheaton, Illinois. “Over the Top to Victory” is a bronze sculpture that depicts an American infantryman in World War I (known popularly as “doughboys”) that was created by American sculptor John Paulding (1883-1935). The statue was cast in 1921 by the American…
EXPO CHICAGO 2016, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. 5th International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, September 22-25, 2016. (43 Photos).
FEATURE IMAGE: Manuel Mendive, Este Lugar Sagrado/This Sacred Place, 2009, acrylic on canvas, Cernuda Arte Coral Gables, FL. Expo Chicago/2016. EXPO CHICAGO 2016 is the 5th annual exhibition of international contemporary and modern art held in Chicago at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall. It took place from September 22-25, 2016. Expo Chicago/2016 presents 145 galleries representing 22…
Art Photography: ARISTIDE MAILLOL (1861-1944, French), Enchained Action (1906) on The Art Institute of Chicago’s Grand Staircase. (44 Photos).
N.B. When this post was published in July 2016, Aristide Maillol’s Enchained Action — a torso cast in bronze and created in 1905 in France — enjoyed a lengthy time on the Women’s Board Grand Staircase at the Chicago art museum. In 2017 the torso was removed by museum curators and placed in an undisclosed…
EXPO CHICAGO 2015, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. 4th Annual International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, September 17-20, 2015. (42 Photos).
Featured Image: Ewerdt Hilgemann, Habakuk (Homage to Max Ernst), 2014, stainless steel, Borzo Gallery and The Mayor Gallery. In/Situ Outside 2015. EXPO CHICAGO 2015 is the 4th annual exhibition of international contemporary and modern art held in Chicago at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall on September 17 – 20, 2015. This year’s exhibition featured 140 art galleries…
Art Photography: FRANZ MAYER & COMPANY, MUNICH, GERMANY. Stained glass, Angels (1902), St. Michael Church in Old Town, Chicago, Illinois. (11 Photos).
ASSUMPTION WINDOW (central panel/detail), 1902, St. Michael Church, Chicago. Franz Mayer & Company, Munich, Germany. INTRODUCTION: St. Michael Church in Old Town on Chicago’s north side is one of the oldest parishes and church buildings in the city. Founded as a parish in 1852, the church building’s brick walls from 1869 withstood the flames of the Great…
EXPO CHICAGO 2014, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. 3rd Annual International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, September 18-21, 2014. (51 Photos).
FEATURE image: EXPO CHICAGO 2014, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. EXPO CHICAGO 2014 is the 3rd annual exhibition of international contemporary and modern art held in Chicago at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall on September 18 – 21, 2014. Photographs by John P. Walsh. Jina Park, Automatic Door Follow Me, 2014, oil on canvas, 100 x 130 cm,…
EXPO CHICAGO 2013, Festival Hall, Navy Pier. 2nd Annual International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, September 19-22, 2013. (26 Photos).
FEATURE Image: Glenn Kaino, Bridge, 2013. A section of a 100-foot long construction that features 200 gold casts of Tommie Smith’s arm in a raised fist salute that occured in the 1968 Summer Olympics on the medal podium during the national anthem after Smith broke a sprinting record to take gold. EXPO CHICAGO 2013 is…
Art Photography: FERDINAND REBECHINI (1923-2003, American). Kaskaskia tribe member leads Fr. Jacques Marquette, S.J. and Louis Jolliet through the Chicago Portage, 1673. A Cor-10 steel sculpture (1990) in Lyons, Illinois.
FEATURE image: Kaskaskia tribe member leads Fr. Jacques Marquette, S.J. and Louis Jolliet through the Chicago Portage, 1673. Cor-10 steel, Ferdinand Rebechini (1923-2003), The Chicago Portage National Historic Site, Lyons, Illinois, 1990. Author’s photograph taken in November 2012. In September 1673 members of the Kaskaskia, a Native American tribe of the Illinois Confederation, led French…
