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Holiday Lions The Art Institute of Chicago has been, and continues to be, one of the most popular destinations for visitors to Chicago. So much so that I painted it twice, although in opposite seasons. During the holidays in December the entire city undergoes a transformation of color through the addition of thousands of banners and signs proclaiming the tidings of the season. The lions in front of the Art Institute are included in this annual pageantry as they receive their collars of evergreen boughs. The occasional snow fall ads a certain distinction to their imposing forms. The building housing one of the finest collections of impressionistic art (among others) dates back to 1892 and the days of the Colombian Exposition. Although the main body of architecture was further south in Hyde Park, this facility was utilized for the World's Fair Congress. The planning and politics took place here. More on the politics later. The lions are bronze castings created by American sculptor Edward Kemeys (d. 1907) and donated to the Art Institute by Mrs. Henry Field. If you look closely at the two lions you may notice subtle differences in their poses. The tails and heads are different. You may not be able to see those differences clearly in this painting, so next time you are in town go to the Art Institute and see for yourself. Only Kemeys knows the real reason for the differences and it's too late to ask him. These lions have been compared with those guarding the New York Public Library and the British Museum in London. Lions have been used as architectural guardians since the early days of documented civilization including the Assyrians, Greeks and Romans. These lions are particularly well done as Kemeys was a master of animal sculpture. So good was he, that Teddy Roosevelt befriended him and was his patron. These lions have stood guard here since 1894. Too bad then that they let their guard down in 1989 when a few of the city's aldermen crashed a student exhibit to "arrest" a painting that they wished to censor. Their moronic antics cost the museum and the city a great deal of good will. The artist, damaged by the actions, was successful in his civil rights claim against these fine civic leaders. Ironically, it was a painting of the very person whom these zealots followed during the course of a progressive era in city politics. Print size: 10.5" x 15" FRAME STYLES* Style A is a gold-toned aluminum frame with a single white mat over the print. Style B a gold-leaf wooden frame with a gorgeous linen mat, inner fillet of gold-leaf wood over another white mat.

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