Mapping Out The Art Institute on Loyola Day

Beyond the lions of Michigan Avenue, Loyola art history majors presented on chosen artworks during Loyola Day at the Art Institute, Nov. 16 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students prepared talking points on their chosen pieces to educate visitors on the art’s history, culture and artistic techniques.

Loyola is one of 29 colleges partnered with the Art Institute, providing art history majors with the opportunity to give gallery talks, according to Art History Professor Paula Wisotzki. Additional benefits for students include free admission, according to the Art Institute’s University Partners webpage. 

Between morning and afternoon student gallery talks, Wisotzki gave a walking tour to visitors. She devoted five to 10 minutes at each stop, opening the floor to any relevant questions.

“This isn’t our first go-around of Loyola Day, but it’s exciting every time,” Wisotzki said. “I think this is an amazing chance for the students to see their knowledge has meaning which can be shared with other people.”

A lap through the Institute’s exhibits proved almost perilous on the chilly Saturday afternoon outside. Breathing room was difficult to find among famous works such as “Sunday in La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat and “American Gothic” by Grant Wood. 

Purveyors seemed to wander aimlessly, silently observing the many galleries. Loyola’s art history students, however, connected them with cultures and art modes of the past and near-present. They demonstrated poise in their presentations and drew in onlookers with extensive knowledge of their chosen works and worldly perspectives. 

Claire Christensen, a fourth-year art history major, presented on “Head (Uhunmwun Elao)” created in the 18th or early 19th century in Nigeria. Made from brass, the work depicts the opulence and wealth of the Kingdom of Benin with an elongated, intricately beaded neck. Head depictions were commissioned by newly crowned kings in the kingdom’s patriarchal lineage, Christensen said.

Christensen’s interest in the Benin Kingdom’s queen mothers, called the iyoba, informed her fascination with “Head.” Christensen said she appreciated the tantamount power possessed by the iyoba, who were viewed as instrumental to the protection and well-being of the future ruler.

“This was one of the first pieces I actively came to seek out,” Christensen said. “Seeing it so close to the ground was very impactful, because I already knew it was supposed to be on an altar.”

The sculpture was stolen from the Benin Kingdom when the British looted and burned down their palace in 1897, according to the National Museum of African Art.

“The head represents an ancestor of a family which still lives today,” Christensen said. “We’re able to come here and enjoy it, but their descendants in Benin don’t get to appreciate artifacts from their own family.”

Rory Bendig, a fourth-year art history major, took post beside Sandro Botticelli’s “Virgin and Child with Angel” in Gallery 204 of the Arts of Europe wing. Most famous of Botticelli’s works is “The Birth of Venus,” currently on display in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, Bendig said.

Bendig said Botticelli’s color choices represent Christ as contrary to how elite figures would be portrayed. Blue represents Christ’s holiness instead of the purple normally used to depict Roman elites, Bendig said. 

The painting depicts Mary as a Florentine noblewoman with velvet green representing wealth. The sheer veil stands in for Mary’s purity in immaculate conception, as she gave birth to Christ without original sin, according to Bendig.

Bendig said her connection to the piece wasn’t rooted in Renaissance morality but rather spirituality.

“No matter what your religion may be, this is a meditative piece,” Bendig said. “It emphasizes a peaceful approach to a serious subject — the eventual death of Christ. It emulates having a sense of calm when things may seem otherwise violent and upheaved.”

Mia Luparello, a second-year art history and theatre double major, presented oil on canvas “Café Singer” and a lead sculpture recreation of pastel “The Tub” by French impressionist Edward Degas. 

The performance culture in France boomed with the transformation of the city in the late 19th century when both works were created, Luparello said.

In “Café Singer” stylistic choices by Degas emphasize the pain felt by women of the time who worked under poor conditions at the Paris Opera House to support their families, according to Luparello.

“It’s important to learn from history,” Luparello said. “There’s a lot of pain behind the cultures shown in these works. It’s a good thing we’re able to learn and not repeat mistakes of the past.”

With the industrialization of France in the late 19th century, the Paris Opera Ballet was known for its competitive job market and exploitation of the women desperate to work there, according to The Collector.

“Degas has a complicated history,” Luparello said. “Was he trying to showcase the struggles of these girls, or did he cause them?”

The Art Institute is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It’s open on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The rest of the week, it’s open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.