The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

What a beautiful place! Loved everything about it....top notch!

The last time I visited the Art Institute of Chicago was in 5th grade. I went with my Elementary School from Northwest Indiana. I am now twenty years old and returned to the museum for the first time a few days ago. All I can say is Van Gogh's self portrait is mesmerizing. There is so much aesthetic value in many of the museum's portraits. It's more unbelievable than I can remember. It's free in February so take advantage if you can make a visit. Leaving for school in Charleston I'll truly miss it.

Still fresh and exciting after all these years....loved my visit. New, innovative, beautiful exhibits highlighted the visit. I will go back. Food wasn't bad either.

I think this place is feally ok I really liked it a lot I really would miss this place you will have a lot of fun visting derffernt place

Every art piece in this institute is just wonderful. You see from very famous pantings to less known paintings. I attended the Art Institute last year but it was a great experience.

The Chicago Art museum has art from every walk of life. There are visiting exibits that will leave a lasting impression and a life long memorie. This is not a ten minute tour, it is an all day experience for the mind and soal.

Great displays even if you're not an Art Buff. Impressionist Art on display is second only to the Louvre. Currently building an addition that connects to Millenium Park.

so many different types, styles, and examples of great art. Some pieces I didn't understand, however, they still interested me, and made me wonder.

I recently went back here. Even though I live in Chicago, it's been almost ten years since I first went to the Art Institute. At the time I didn't have a lot of museum-going experience to compare it to, with the Hermitage being the one big significant museum I'd gone to at the time. In the past 10 years, though, I've had the opportunity to see the Louvre twice, and the Prado and a number of other smaller but still well-curated museums in the U.S., Europe and China. Coming back to the Art Institute with some actual points of reference to compare it to really enhanced my appreciation for it. It is an amazing museum. Nothing can really compare to the Louvre, and the Prado is a heavy-hitter too, but I really think that the Art Institute is every bit as significant as the Prado. The Prado has more Old Masters, the Art Institute more modern art and impressionism, but on balance they're both incredible museums that are "must-see" in the field of international museums. I did not expect to be as impressed with the Art Institute as I was. I've always told people they should go more out of civic pride than any real expectation that it was a "can't-miss" destination, but now I can send people there both out of civic pride and a genuine admiration for the quality and significance of the museum.

Plan on spending at a few hours of your day here and you will not be disappointed--more if you ejoy this sort of thing. Admission is on a donation basis and they recommend $12/adult, but you don't have to pay the full amount if you don't want to. Admission is free during the summer from 5-9 PM Thursdays & Fridays--but expect some crowds. There's a good restaurant across the street called Gage that had pretty good prices and excellant food.