Art Institute of Chicago (metropolitan, Irish, frequency)

[emathias]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

True, but actually the Met really is better. I even have an A.I. membership, but when I went to the Met for the first time, I couldn't believe what a pathetic little art museum we have in Chicago. You could fit the whole thing into one corner of the Met.

Ok, I'm exaggerating slightly, but still the Met is still several orders of magnitude greater then the A.I. It truly is stunning.

Odd.

I've actually grown to appreciate the Art Institute more as I've gotten to see more international art museums. The Met is monstrously large and comprehensive, which is why it's the third-most-visited museum in the world most years. I'm not in any way trying to say it's not a great museum.

But so is the Art Institute. The existence of Beethoven doesn't mean Brahms was a crap composer.

The Art Institute is one of the great art museums in the world. It's not the best, but then again I'd argue that neither is the Met - despite it's encyclopedic collection. With art it's not about "best" or even "better," it's about presenting a collection that has something to contribute to the world stage. And both the Met and the Art Institute do that - as do dozens of other globally significant museums.

[nJohn]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

True, but actually the Met really is better. I even have an A.I. membership, but when I went to the Met for the first time, I couldn't believe what a pathetic little art museum we have in Chicago. You could fit the whole thing into one corner of the Met.

Ok, I'm exaggerating slightly, but still the Met is still several orders of magnitude greater then the A.I. It truly is stunning.

Considering it is NYC I'm not surprised. The amount of artists and business done there should make their art museums one of the most well stocked in the States outside of Paris and London, if not then they're doing something wrong.

[sonkab14]

As a student, I gotta say that SAIC is a great school, it was voted the most influential art school in the US recently. However, the beginning and end of any 'best museum' discussion is the Louvre.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

What a silly argument. I love the Art Institute. I've been to the Met several times, and while it is massive, I find it a little unwieldy, compared to the more manageable and very high quality AI.

Since someone mentioned the Louvre, I'll draw the comparison: The Louvre is fantastic and I'm glad I went, but it would take an entire Parisian vacation's worth of time to do it justice. The Musee d'Orsay, however, is manageable and possesses some simply stunning works.

I'm cool with the Met being the Louvre and the AI being the Orsay.

But as to the OP's question, there's no need to live right beside the SAIC. Pick a pleasant outlying neighborhood (there's lots of info on that in this forum), get a place where you can have a dog and maybe a patch of grass for him to pee on, and enjoy.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

Ok, I'm exaggerating slightly, but still the Met is still several orders of magnitude greater then the A.I. It truly is stunning.

Several orders of magnitude? How many orders of magnitude? Is it only 1000 times greater or 10,000 or 100,000 times greater? 1,000,000?

[prairiestate]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Several orders of magnitude? How many orders of magnitude? Is it only 1000 times greater or 10,000 or 100,000 times greater? 1,000,000?

I'm not trying to exaggerate. I meant several as in 3 or so. It is significantly larger, more comprehensive, has more one of a kind, spectacular exhibits. They brought over an ancient Egyptian tomb and rebuilt it brick by brick inside the museum!

[emathias]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

I'm not trying to exaggerate. I meant several as in 3 or so. It is significantly larger, more comprehensive, has more one of a kind, spectacular exhibits. They brought over an ancient Egyptian tomb and rebuilt it brick by brick inside the museum!

Perhaps you don't understand what an "order of magnitude" is.

The Met is the largest art museum in the US. The Art Institute is the second largest. They both have things the other doesn't.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by americangeneral

Yawn. MET in NYC is better.

lol, no actually, as a school...it isn't.

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Since someone mentioned the Louvre, I'll draw the comparison: The Louvre is fantastic and I'm glad I went, but it would take an entire Parisian vacation's worth of time to do it justice. The Musee d'Orsay, however, is manageable and possesses some simply stunning works.


.

The traditional "survey exploration" of the Louvre is a 4 day walk through. That is just to cover the area and see most of the works, not to take any time really.

Originally Posted by prairiestate

True, but actually the Met really is better. I even have an A.I. membership, but when I went to the Met for the first time, I couldn't believe what a pathetic little art museum we have in Chicago. You could fit the whole thing into one corner of the Met.

Ok, I'm exaggerating slightly, but still the Met is still several orders of magnitude greater then the A.I. It truly is stunning.

what is the point of your post exactly...?

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by emathias

Perhaps you don't understand what an "order of magnitude" is.

This.

The Met is the largest art museum in the US. The Art Institute is the second largest. They both have things the other doesn't.

On size they don't compete. Near as I can tell, the volume of the collection is way, way larger at the MET. Something like 2,000,000 works vs a quarter million at the AI.

But numbers alone are pretty meaningless. Unless you've got a lifetime to explore, I'd argue that the AI gives more bang for the buck. The MET is a complete works box set. The AI is a Greatest Hits album.

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

the volume of the collection is way, way larger at the MET. Something like 2,000,000 works vs a quarter million at the AI.

How did you arrive at these numbers?

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

...I'd argue that the AI gives more bang for the buck. The MET is a complete works box set. The AI is a Greatest Hits album.

I'd argue that this a bad analogy and doesn't say anything at all.