In 1977, when I was in Jr. High, King Tut toured the states and visited Chicago. All of us in the Florissant Junior High Gifted and Talented program got to go on a field trip to Chicago and see the exhibit.
The Florissant Gifted and Talented students shared a bus to Chicago with the students from the Hazelwood Petty and Conventional program. After travelling in a bus with the Hazelwood jocks and cheerleaders for six hours, and standing in line at 6 am with the gifted yet Hyper and Affected Florissant students, I was sick of every one of them. When the doors opened at the 7 am (just for students), everyone ran into the exhibit and headed for the right. I was trying to avoid everybody. (Seriously, who runs in a museum?) Since everyone ran right, I went left, and thus went through the exhibit backwards. They saved the best room for last so that’s how I came face to face with the Death Mask in an otherwise completely empty room :
No, that’s not actually me, but believe me, that’s the glass box, that’s the 70’s, and that’s the mask. Nothing in the room but me, the glass box, and Tut. I didn’t think, “Wow, I’m really here looking at the King Tut mask,” like “Wow, I’m really here at Stonehenge.” I also didn’t think, “Hey, isn’t there supposed to be a guard here? Why am I all alone? I could take off with this.” I thought, or felt, like I was having a private audience with King Tut. There is something fundamental about being in a room alone with art. I understand the man who stole the Mona Lisa and kept it under his bed because he could never sell it. You feel like it’s yours, all yours, just you, and you don’t have to share it. You and history.
That mask was on the cover of one of our books at home and I couldn’t get over how ageless and graceful and truly artistic it was in person. No photo can do it justice. I stayed there fifteen minutes, staring, almost breathless, studying every detail like the crack in the lapis lazuli on the left, before I heard the thudding feet of junior high students. I waved a tiny “Bye, Tut” wave and skedaddled.
I went back later and of course there were people all around my Boy King, and it wasn’t the same. It won’t ever be the same, because the mask was damaged during that 70’s tour and now can never leave Egypt. (I didn’t do it. It was damaged when I saw it, I swear.)
Still, if I recall correctly, there were plenty of other gorgeous things in that exhibit and plenty of lesser masks. I don’t mind the Egyptians keeping my mask safe; I’ll go to Egypt one day and see him again.
3 responses to “Let’s Hear It For the Boy King”
I know exactly what you mean! I was a peon directing traffic at the Monet exhibit in Chicago, and tickets were being scalped outside it was so popular! The crowds every day were incredible. But, on Sundays I had to come in early (train schedule) and I got to walk around the exhibit a couple of times all alone for an hour. It was incredible! (I still have a warm spot in my heart for Monet.)If you can, head back to Chicago for the current Tut exhibit. You can’t go through backwards, but they have done a nice job with the exhibit.
And, now that I read the rest of your entries I see that you are indeed headed for Chicago! Definitely hit the exhibit. (And definitely buy your ticket in advance online – it is selling out fast.)And, I will chime in with a plug for all the standards: when you are in Museum Park anyway to see the Tut stuff you are next to the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium. The Art Institute is a short walk down Michigan Avenue. Definitely ride the trains “� they are so fun! (And you get to see so many interesting people!) You can take a bus or a cab (I don’t really like the buses, but they are not too bad) down to the Museum of Science and Industry. You get to walk through a German submarine, ride through a coal mine, and the Imax theater is great! Check Travelocity for some hotel prices “� sometimes they have really good sales, and they make other (potentially expensive) suggestions for things to do. Oh! I could not get my husband to do this, but you can take a Segway tour around Chicago! It looks like so much fun. http://www.citysegwaytours.com/chicago/ And, definitely eat deep dish pizza “� I like Gino’s but Uno’s is fine too (actually, you will probably not go wrong anywhere). Sadly for Chicago, the State Street Marshall Fields is now Macey’s (boo!), but they will probably still put up their cool Christmas windows. Depending on how close to Thanksgiving you are there, you might enjoy looking at the windows along the street. (I’m not even a shopper and I like it!) You might also try Lincoln Park Zoo “� it is a pretty nice zoo. (And free! Unlike most of Chicago.) At Navy Pier you can ride the giant Ferris wheel.It’s hard to go wrong in Chicago “� just being there is fun!
BOO to Macy’s. They took over Famous-Barr (or Famous AND Barr as we in STL like to call it). And this weekend was supposed to be devoted to buying air/horwl/Tut exhibit tickets. I’m getting on that this evening.Thanks, Mary!