Art Institute of Chicago

About

As the city's excitement fades, walking along the alley where the scent of herbs and bread lingers in the air, a faint structure of iron-framed windows pecking at the light comes into view. In the space where translucent glass covering the roof lets light stream down beneath a low ceiling, there is a stillness like many musicians repeating a single note together. The moment you gaze upon Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, the end of a stroll seems to become the beginning of art. Far from the bustle outside, an evening light that makes you forget time envelops the gallery, and the angle of a contemporary artwork standing in the corner seems to draw the visitor into the world within the painting.