With Chicago’s myriad museums and its exquisite art scene, it’s difficult to experience it all in a single lifetime. Area museum exhibits range from the human body to video games to the lifestyles of teenagers, so finding a simple museum with classic elegance is a hard task. But at the Martin D’Arcy Museum of Art, located on Loyola University Chicago’s Lake Shore Campus at 6525 N. Sheridan Rd., a true Chicago art experience like no other is a guarantee every time you visit.
“This museum is unlike any other because it’s simple and elegant at the same time,” says a Loyola museum assistant.
Situated inside Loyola’s exquisite Cudahy Library, the D’Arcy Museum of Art is the only museum in Chicago that specializes in medieval, Renaissance and Baroque art; the collection includes art from as early as 1150 and its later pieces are from 1750. With easy access from the El and minutes from downtown Chicago, this small museum targets the museum-goer who wants a more intimate atmosphere to appreciate art.
“I come here all the time to study because it’s so peaceful,” says Chris Daniels, a Loyola student. “I see people writing their dissertations in here, and it’s just a nice place to relax.”
The D’Arcy was established by Donald Rowe in 1969. The collection’s first painting was Giovanni Bellini’s “The Madonna and Child” and now is home to more than 500 paintings, pieces of furniture and other artifacts.
The museum has a calming atmosphere, with classical music playing in the background. It is home to valuable pieces of art, some which are the most rare of their kind. An original Embriachi marriage casket graces the corner of the room, and the beautiful Venetian paintings are a sight to see. This marriage casket, circa 1450, would have been presented to a bride to commemorate her marriage. The display reads: “It brings life to a French romance.”
The D’Arcy houses artifacts from a 14th-century Italian processional cross to a rare 16th-century German thumb ring encrusted with gold, sapphires, emeralds and rubies.
The museum tells a history of Europe through art in ways that history books cannot. A 15th-century cassone, or marriage chest, is an example of the combination of beauty and practicality that is characteristic of many of the museum’s pieces. In this case, a groom’s father traditionally ordered a cassone to be built along with other house-warming gifts for a bride on her wedding day. It often served as the centerpiece in a room, much like today’s televisions or couches. It acted as a coffee table, as storage and as a bench — not to mention as an ever-present reminder of wedded happiness.
As elegant as the D’Arcy is, its doors won’t be open much longer — it will close May 16 and its possessions will move to a new location. The school’s Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) is set to open in October 2005 at the Water Tower Campus; it will be the new home of the D’Arcy collection. The LUMA will be located in Lewis Towers, 820 N. Michigan Ave., right across the street from Water Tower Park. The new location also is home to Loyola’s administrative offices and several classrooms. The new building offers additional space for the D’Arcy collection itself, as well as space for rotating exhibits — the first of which will be “Caravaggio: The Impossible Exhibition,” starting Oct. 8.
“I think it will be really nice, even though it’s moving away,” Daniels says. “As long as it is still free.” That’s right — admission to the D’Arcy is free, so there’s no better time to go than now.
Despite the D’Arcy’s reasons for moving, it still seems safe to say that its impact on the Chicago-area art scene will not diminish.
“It’s an exhibit worth seeing before it’s gone,” says the senior museum assistant.
The D’Arcy Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Call (773) 508-2679 for more information.
Medill freshman Alexis Jeffries is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].