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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Holiday Thorne Rooms

Nov 22, 2019 – Jan 7, 2020
111 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60603, USA

Chicago is home to Colleen Moore’s famous Fairy Castle—a magical palace exactly 8’7” x 8’2” x 7’7” that’s been happily ensconced, since 1949, at the Museum of Science and Industry. Less known to Chicago natives and no doubt the rest of the world, are the Lilliputian wonders at the Art Institute Chicago: the Thorne Miniature Rooms. There are 68 in all, little dioramas scaled one inch to one foot. The rooms move through the centuries, a charming lesson in interior architecture and design that begins with 13th-century Gothic and ends with a French library of the 1930s and a California hallway circa 1940. Come see the rooms decked out for the holidays! —L.J.

Holiday Thorne Rooms, 2019. Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.