THE DREAMY PAPERWEIGHTS OF CHICAGO'S ART INSTITUTE

“Some fragment of a dream,” is how Truman Capote described his beloved paperweight collection. His words seem particularly potent when faced with Paul Stankard’s Honey Bee Swarm with Flowers and Fruit (2012), one of the newest acquisitions of the Art Institute of Chicago’s expanding paperweight collection. The piece is a wonder. Honey bees hover frozen over flowers, their delicate filaments and reaching vines so realistic that you can almost smell the soft, sweet scent of clover.

Honey Bee Swarm is just one of the hundreds of paperweight beauties on display at Chicago’s  Art Institute. Thanks to recent generous support from the International Paperweight Society Foundation, the museum has been able to expand the Arthur Rubloff Collection of Paperweights. The number of paperweights on view has grown from 341 to more than 800! The expansion ranks the Art Institution’s paperweights as one of the three premiere collections in the world. A romantic stroll through the gallery is the perfect way to spend a blustery Chicago Sunday, especially if you are an Illinois resident. Locals can visit the museum for free on weekdays from January 7th until February 23rd.