Tracking Ferris Bueller at The Art Institute of Chicago

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it” – Ferris Bueller

A spot on quote from one of my favorite movies! Ferris inspired me while I was visiting Chicago this year. In the movie he and his friends spent a memorable day bouncing around all the famous Chicago landmarks. Although I was visiting Chicago solo, I was there doing the same. Typically I do not visit art museums as I am admirer of architecture over paintings, so I had not planned on visiting The Art Institute of Chicago. I had just over an hour to spare, which was a rarity, and decided to pop in to the museum. I had a fast pass ticket thanks to previously buying the Chicago City Pass so I did not feel I was wasting any additional money by breezing through the museum.

As I perused the museum map I decided that due to my time limit I would hit up the spots that would be most important to me: architecture, the medieval exhibit, the Chinese, Japanese and Korean art exhibit and a quick walk through some of the famous the paintings.

I first found the architecture exhibit, which held several cast iron plates from the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan, who Wright had worked for early in his career in Chicago. There was also a small collection of Wright’s art glass as well, which is what I appreciate most about Wright’s work. His homes may have a lot of details but his art glass details can put the homes to shame.

I moved on to the medieval exhibit where I found a presentation of several suits of armor as well as swords and jousting sticks. I am fascinated by armor.  Perhaps it’s the mystery of who is behind the mask or one too many knight in shining armor stories from my childhood. Either way I am intrigued by armor and much like architecture, I enjoy the details of the armor.

I stopped in next at the Chinese, Japanese and Korean exhibits. There was lots to see here but of course I gravitated to what I know best… dogs. He looks like a good watch dog right? This Mastiff tomb figure dates back to AD 25-220 from the Eastern Han dynasty.

My last exhibit was the paintings. I did not spend much time here other than to find the Warhol, because I am a fan of him and to catch a glimpse of a few of the famous ones. Although I am positive I missed a few as my time was short. I did wedge myself in for a photo of the A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, unlike Ferris and his crew, I was not able to stand and appreciate the painting for long as there were herds of people waiting in line to get a closer look.

I am glad I took the time to visit the museum but I would recommend spending a longer time than just over an hour, like I did. I know that I missed a lot just looking back at the visitor guide.