Pere Lachaise
Graceland Cemetery
not to be confused with the cemetery at Graceland where Elvis Aaron Presley rests
4001 North Clark Street, Chicago
Located north of Wrigley Field behind a brick wall at the intersection of Clark and Irving Park Road
Accessible by the #22 Clark or #80 Irving Park Bus Routes
CTA Red Line Train (Sheridan) walk .4 west to Graceland Cemetery or take a short ride on #80 Irving Park Bus
Divvy bike-share dock at Southport & Irving Park
(additional docks several blocks either north or south on Clark Street)
It’s a tour with many guides
Each participant will lead us to another grave
And we will share
And discover things we could never find on our own
Graceland Cemetery compares favorably to Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris
Both established in the Victorian-Style of the 19th Century with ornate garden landscaping, creating pastoral settings attributed to the reign of Queen Victoria
Graceland: 80 Acres compared to Père Lachaise: 110 Acres
Both were created relatively far outside of the city, at that time
Graceland because of the Chicago Fire and health concerns about the shallow graves in Lincoln Park, and fear of cholera affecting the water supply
Père Lachaise was created due to the crowded cemeteries of Paris. Skeletal remains of 8 million occupants were also moved underground to ossuaries, or catacombs
Père Lachaise has the tragic love story of Héloïse et Abélard
Graceland has the mystery of Inez Clarke
Both venues bear superstitions surrounding certain statues, of Victor Noir in Père Lachaise and Eternal Silence in Graceland
Although it would be difficult to match the numerous range of statues in Père Lachaise
Graceland has it’s own impressive monuments by Chicago architects, the designer of the Lincoln Memorial in DC and two statures by Lorado Taft
At Graceland Cemetery we may discover:
A US Supreme Court Justice
Mayors, Governors and Legislators
Chicagoans who are familiar because they share the name of a local street, a business or theater
A plethora of Architects and Inventors
Captains of Industry
Publishers and Writers
Painters, Dancers and Actors
The 1st African American Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Mr Cub, Ernie Banks!
And Roger Ebert
Find a Grave in Graceland Cemetery (findagrave.com)
List of Graceland Biographies (gracelandcemetery.org)
Official Graceland Cemetery Site (gracelandcemetery.org)
Graceland Cemetery (wikipedia)
Graceland A Poem by Carl Sandburg
Les Tour de Cimetières
Paris Cemeteries
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Le Chat Mort (Géricault)
(le shah morr)
The Dead Cat Le Louvre
According to my Louvre Calendar, Le Chat Mort was acquired in 2003 and at one time “bought from a second-hand dealer who had no idea of the treasure in his hand”
Sully Wing
2nd Floor
Room 61
Théodore Géricault (1791 – 1824)
(Tay-oh-DOOR jay-ree-KO)
1st Major Work: The Charging Chasseur and the Wounded Cuirassier
Known for: The Raft of the Medusa (1818)
Other areas of specialization:
10 Portraits of the Insane
Still Lives of Severed Heads and Limbs
Anatomy and Action of Horses
Géricault’s Grave at Pere Lachaise
Also See:
Le Singe Peintre (The Monkey Painter) Le Louvre
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin French Painter
Chat Assis (Seated Cat) Le Louvre
Egyptian Antiquity
Dora Maar au Chat (Dora Maar with Cat)
Pablo Picasso (1941)
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