It wasn't too windy in Chicago today which was a good thing as we decided to go up the Sears Tower. It was only open up to the 99th floor today which was more than high enough for me. I felt dread as the lift zoomed up and the indicator said: 50 ... 60 ... 70... My mind said: "This is not natural; what on earth are we doing!" However I was pleasantly surprised when I came out of the lift. We were "safe" in a spacious area with fabulous views all round. The best view is Northwards, with the Chicago river snaking through the foreground, Lake Michigan in the background, and in between the gleaming towers of Chicago's beautiful skyscrapers displaying all periods and all styles of modern architecture.
Our day had started with a ride on the Metra, the local railway system taking us from Flossmoor to Randolph street downtown. We had a wonderful cup of coffee at the Descartes cafe on North Michigan Avenue, the best cup I've had since coming to America, and sat sipping it while watching the world walk briskly by. After the Sears tower, we spent an hour or so at the Art Institute of Chicago, which really deserves more time; it is a treasure trove of all forms and periods of art. We focused on the American art collections, and enjoyed, among other works, the collection of paintings by Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986). Born in Wisconsin of farming stock, Georgia actually studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1905. Her challenging (at the time) paintings were extremely influential especially after she began her association with the famous photographer Alfred Stieglitz who promoted her through his 291 gallery. Georgia finished her days in the Santa Fe art community in New Mexico. I was intrigued to find that several artists from Chicago were sponsored to live and paint in Santa Fe by prominent figures in Chicago in the earlier part of the 20th Century. What exciting days for artists to be painting and recording the west. Before that, artists from the USA so often went to Europe to paint and make their names: Whistler and so on.
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