Fellow art lovers, what are some exhibitions you've seen that had a great impact on you? Viewing impressive paintings or sculptures is an experience I'm always grateful for. I'd love recommendations for artists I should put on my radar.  

Here are a handful I've been blessed to attend:

Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe, Brooklyn Museum
Basquiat and the Bayou, the Ogden
Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic, Brooklyn Museum
Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving, Brooklyn Museum
Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now, the Guggenheim
Basquiat's 'Defacement': The Untold Story, the Guggenheim

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux: Ugolino and his Son, NY MET
Michelangelo: La Pieta, Vatican
The Elgin Marbles: The British Museum

Also think architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago, I.M. Pei, etc. Also, don't neglect the frames, which can be magnificent.

That being noted, Chicago. Chicago Museum of Modern Art. A ton of famous paintings and painters; Andy Warhol, The Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, Farmer and Wife "American Gothic" by Grant Wood.

If you get to Europe, in Amsterdam go to the Vincent Van Gough museum. This is what I noticed. Van Gough painted with broad brush strokes, think Starry Night. If you're in the museum stand across from the atrium and then look at the paintings. It makes more sense, IMHO. Very bold and interesting, and the colors meld together into a blended piece.

I'm not so much into modern art. Maybe in 500 years, it'll be considered amazing, but it seems awfully lazy to me and too much interpretation.

My favorite museum in the world is the Chicago Museum of Modern Art, bar none. And I have traveled extensively globally.

In the basement of the original building, there is a set of maybe 50 dioramas called the Thorne Rooms.   They are miniatures of various rooms from houses in Chicago that were torn down.  Before their destruction, the artist endeavored to recreate them in miniature such that they would still be available to view into the ages.

If you care for architecture and design from the mid to late 19th century, they are exquisite.

Also, I share your view about Chicago's Museum of Modern Art.

I have been to the Art Institute of Chicago, and didn't know those dioramas were there!  I was there for a fundraiser, so I didn't really walk around. Thanks for the heads up!