CHICAGO SCULPTURE in the Loop

HERMON ATKINS MACNEIL

2012-01-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

TRANSITIONS

HermonAtkins MacNeil died at his Long Island Studio on October 2, 1947. Unable to transition from his Beaux Artstraining to a more "modern" style, he had not had a major commissionfor nearly 15 years. When he died, thecontents of the studio was "hauled out to the dump" (where, much ofthe collection was salvaged by neighbor, illustrator John A. Coughlin who laterdonated it to the Smithsonian Institution.) It hadn't always been that way.

In 1891, 25year old MacNeil came West. To Chicago. Where he assisted Philip Martiny with sculpture at the Electricity Building at the World's ColumbianExposition. And, where, on the Midway, hemet Black Pipe, an Ogalla Sioux, performing atBuffalo Bill's Wild West Show. NativeAmericans and their culture became the inspiration for MacNeil's art for years to come. By late 1895 he was on his way to Monument Valley with Hamlin Garland and C.F. Browne --after working with Edward Kemeys at the Marquette(and no doubt hearing stories of Kemeys Wyomingadventures some 20 years earlier).

The travelsWest were just the beginning. By 1896 hehad married Carol Brooks (one of Lorado Taft's "White Rabbits - and a sculptor in her own right") andhad taken up residence at the AmericanAcademy in Rome. He won the Prixe de Rome in 1899. And entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1900. By 1901 he and Carol (with their twochildren) had returned to Americaand established their studio on Long Island. With an entire career before them.

An entire career before them. National in scope.. Beaux Arts in inspiration. MacNeil returned to Chicago in 1909, briefly, for the Cook County Seal Commission.

But my favorite remains his work in 1895. In Chicago. Where inspiration, youth, opportunity, and abeautiful, capable wife converged with the past and the future -- at the Marquette Building.

The man front and center is Black Pipe. Warrior of the Ogalla Sioux. Memorialized at 140 South Dearborn Street. Bearing the coffin of Father Marquette. See the entire collection of Marquette photos at the CHICAGO LOOP.ORG

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LEON HERMANT

2011-12-19T05:04:00.000-08:00

CREDIT THE TECHNICIAN.

From 1904, when they met in St. Louis, until 1927, Leon Hermant and Carl Beil were partners at their Sculpture Studio at 21 East Pearson Street in Chicago. Leon was the Artist. Carl, the "Executioner.' Hermant continued his art after Beil's death in 1927, receiving a major commission for the Indiana State Library in 1934. His images were carved, in Indianapolis, by German sculptor Adolph Wolter. Below are seven small panels from the East and North Facades of the Library.

Where credit for any work of art ends with the artist and begins with technnician is an interesting question. What would Louis Sullivan be without Christian Schneider? Or Lorado Taft without Jules Bercham? Each of these seven vignettes is charming, attractive -- but seem to lack the strength of Hermant's earlier work with Beil at the Medinah Athletic or Illinois Athletic Club. Was it a broken partnership or simply the inability of a Beaux Arts artist to enter the new world of Deco?

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THE SCHILLER BUILDING. Portrait Busts

2011-10-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

"It doesnot prove a thing to be right because the majority say it is so." FRIEDRICH SCHILLER

I have beenfascinated by Richard Nickel's photographs of the Portrait Busts, taken justprior to demolition at the Schiller Building. And even more fascinated by the Busts themselves. How is it possible that these importantfragments from what is arguably one of the most important buildings produced byDankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan have ended up scattered across the Cityinstead of enshrined on the Grand Staircase at the Art Institute of Chicago?

Who cares? Anybody?

RICHARD NICKEL PHOTOGRAPH

And even with alittle research, even more questions surface. Who sculpted them? Who do theydepict? Reidy attributes the Busts to RichardBock. But Bock's autobiography, editedby his daughter Dorothi mentions only the Schiller's interior tympanums. A later monograph by Chicago historians John Vinci and TimothySamuelson credit the modeling to Frederick Almenraeder (Bock's mentor and laterco-worker at North Western). But theNorth Western Terra Cotta records that might have confirmed that, as well aswho the Busts depict, were lost in a fire.

Photographsshow twelve busts at the second floor with as many as 24 near the towercornice. (Some, of course, may have been duplicates.) And yet, I've only discovered 7 extant(including the one I just learned of on Geneva Terrace). Where are the rest? Rumors abound. And speculation. Lot'sof speculation.

So here's mine. (Why not?) Almenraeder and Bock may well have worked on these portrait headstogether -- all the heads are good, but not stylistically consistent. (I'llgive the more Baroque "Engels" to Ecole trained, Bock.) Bock and Almenraeder were friends and both had simultaneousformalized assignments on the Schiller Building -- and thePortrait commission was too big for one person. As for the identity, I'll trustBob Burton's research for four of them as follows:

Fritz Reuter

Yaakov LiebmannMeyerbeer

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Gotthold Ephram Lessing

And for the following two, I suggest these for your consideration:

FriedrichEngels

FriedrichSchiller

And for thelocation of the remaining work? RichardNickel knows. Knows where every one ofthem are. And is holding on to thatsecret until he knows that these fragments of history and art will beappreciated. And safe. Which may just be a very, very long time.

Link Here for Bob Burtons' very interesting post and research.

Link Here for more photographs of the Portrait Busts

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EASTERN INFLUENCE

2011-10-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH

With a sculptor so closely associated with Chicago, as certainly is Daniel ChesterFrench, it is possible to believe that he belongs to us.

THE GRAND BASIN. WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION 1893

His statue "The Republic" overlooked the Grand Basin(and the Manufacturer's Building ) at the World's Columbian Exhibition in 1893and its golden replica (now a Chicago Landmark) dominates East Hayes Drive in Jackson Park. The original was second in size only to New York's Statue ofLiberty. (And here I'll have to admitthat I can't imagine Daniel Burnham building the "second biggest"anything -- especially with New York as the competition.) But still, almost as big WAS still big.

I stumbled ontoFrench's allegorical works "Manhattan"and "Brooklyn," while researchingthe "1917 American Architect." DanielChester French's sculpture is national in scope. With a substantial amount of work in New York. I shouldn't have been surprised.
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"BROOKLYN" at the Manhattan Bridge
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"MANHATTAN" at the Manhattan Bridge. (Is that a peacock I see?)

Chicagohas a history of bringing home the best. And making it our own.

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THE HALL OF LIBERAL ARTS AND MANUFACTURERS

Gustave Eiffel is most famously credited with the internalstructure of the Statue of Liberty. Butit was Norwegian born structural engineer Joachim Giaver, who, while chiefengineer for the Schiffler Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, designed the internal framework.Giaver went on to become William Shankland's assistant at the ColumbianExposition, where he is credited with the design of the largest three hingearch in the world -- at the Manufacturers and Liberal ArtsBuilding. Daniel Burnham didn't wasteany time after the fair. He hired Giaver at D.H. Burnham & Company -- wherehe engineered innovative foundations and structural steel frames for Burnham'sclassic skyscrapers for seventeen years (before setting up independent shopwith Burnham designer Frederick Dinkelberg.)

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A reputation earned at the Columbian Exposition could support a lifelong career. Carl Beil, Superintendent of Sculpture at the Chicago Fair formed a long and successful partnership with Leon Hermant (French Sculptor at the Saint Louis Fair). To see their work in Chicago, link <HERE>

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I would really like a photograph of Carl Beil!

PETER WEBER

2011-04-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

Architect Peter Weber assisted Charles Atwood at the Chicago World's Fair and later at D.H. Burnham & Company. He worked under his own name after 1902. His work, at all places, however, is so personally consistent that he may not be getting the full credit due for his work.

Animal Bridge. Jackson Park. Peter Weber 1903

Gargoyle. Fisher Building. D.H. Burnham and Co.1896

The fantastic creatures on South Dearborn and in Jackson Park are surely from the same fertile imagination. For more information on the Animal Bridge, link HERE.

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Preview

MARTINY.1893

Athens in Chicago

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GREGORY H. JENKINS AIA

PHILIP MARTINY. Chicago 1893

2011-03-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

++++Philip Martiny was born in Strasbourg, Alsace Lorraine, in 1858 and worked in Paris at the atelier of sculptor Eugene Dock . In 1878 he emigrated to the United States, where he accepted a position as assistant to Augustus Saint Gaudens at the Cornish Studio. In 1873 Martiny established his own Studio on Macdougal Alley in Greenwich Village, New York.

Major commissions include work at Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition. Buffalo’s 1901 Pan American Exposition and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1907 in St. Louis. Martini died in New York in 1927.

THE PARTHENON FRIEZE. At the Art Institute of Chicago

++++In 1892 Martiny spent a year living in Chicago to create sculpture for the Agriculture and Fine Arts Buildings at the Columbian Exposition, and the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue. Although much of Martiny’s work at the Fair is lost, the sculptural reliefs at the Art Institute remain in excellent condition

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LEON HERMANT and CARL BEIL

2011-03-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

ILLINOIS ATHLETIC CLUB 1908 . Details

Some of Beil and Hermant's work appears to be conceptual. Other's however, are clearly portraiture. Whose is the thoughtful face shown below? It is clearly not of the same hand or style as those above.

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ANISH KAPOOR. Cloudgate

2011-02-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

It feels like the end of winter, though still windy The light is changing wildly. Today, I'll let the camera do the talking.

ACROTERION. A Deco Interpretation

2011-01-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

Alfred Shaw came into his own at Graham Anderson Probst and White after Peirce Anderson's death in 1924. Shaw quickly moved away from Anderson's (and Burnham's) flat-roofed classicism to peaked roofs and interpretive ornament.

THE PITTSFIELD BUILDING

THE MERCHANDISE MART

At the Pittsfield Building, the classic acroterion becomes an American Eagle. At the Merchandise Mart, it is a Native American. They still, however, represent the classic tradition of Sculptor and Architect working in close partnership -- a tradition soon destroyed by depression and war.

The Sculptor is unknown to this blogger. Any clues would be much appreciated.

ANDERSON. ATWOOD. HERING.

2010-11-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

For a few brief years, after US the economy finally healed itself from the financial panics of the mid 1890's and before the exuberance of the 1920's translated itself to Deco, Chicago - surely - was Rome on the Lake. Below is the Field Museum: as only Peirce Anderson might have conceived it. The sculpture is the work of Henry Hering - Anderson's collaborator who dates back to the World's Fair.

THE FIELD MUSEUM

At D.H. Burnham and Company, Anderson definitely had antecedents. Charles Atwood, showed his "stuff" at the Museum of Science and Industry. Both Museums have become classcial Chicago Icons. (So have their sculptures.) And it is probable that Atwood, too, knew Henry Hering, who assisted Phillip Martiny with the original sculpture that graced his Fine Arts Building (now the MSI).

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CHARLES ATWOOD AND .......MacNeil??

2010-10-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

FISHER TWINS. FISHER BUILDING. 343 South Dearborn.

These twin boys, located on the building's south facade are reputed to be sons of the the Fisher Building's developer. But I've been unable to credit the work to a sculptor. Looking at these..., perhaps, maybe, it just might be.... some early work from Hermon Atkins Macneil. It would make sense. Atwood and MacNeil worked together at the World's Fair. Why not again at the Fisher Building -- where ornament on a very sparse frame takes on an almost ironic importance.

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CHARLES ATWOOD. Architecture and Ornament

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GREGORY H. JENKINS AIA

OPEN STUDIO . 10.15.10 NOON TIL SEVEN

55 EAST WASHINGTON STREET - STE 420

CHICAGO 60602

ATWOOD and MARTINY. Sculpture

2010-10-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

The Museum of Science and Industry.

Charles Atwood's distinct talent for interpreting and re-interpreting classical forms is highlighted on the North and South Facades of the The Fine Arts Building at the Columbian Exposition (Now the Museum of Science and Industry). In this photo we see Sculptural columns and Structural sculpture -- an inversion in late afternoon sunlight. Phillip Martiny, Sculptor, - and Atwood/s collaborator -- seems to have had an inate sense of mass and scale: his figures are at perfect rest on Atwood's Ionic columns.

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CHARLES ATWOOD. Sculpture

2010-09-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sculpture, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was not simply ornament. It was not just "lobby" sculpture, or "plaza" sculpture. A sculpture's location, size, subject matter and purpose were integral to the building as a whole.

Charles Atwoods' Fine Arts Building at the Columbian Exposition would not be complete without Phillip Martiny's sculpture. Both are better for the other.

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CHARLES ATWOOD. Sculptural Collaboration

2010-09-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Late 19th and early 20th Century Architects collaborated with Sculptors to produce a "Building." Sullivan worked with Bock and Schneider. Wright with Ianelli. Peirce Anderson with Henry Hering. And Charles Atwood worked with Phillip Martiny and his young assistant, Henry Hering at the Fine Arts Building at the Columbian Exposition. The work below (now at the Museum of Science and Industry) is a replacement of the original -- albeit a good one. Hering was given the replacement commission (in his own right) in the late "teens.

Although ornament and sculptures' place in construction has gone through a radical transformation, it is still a collaboration of Architect and Sculptor that can produce memorable art.

William Hartmann and Pablo Picasso come to mind... (along the first Mayor Daley).

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CHARLES ATWOOD. Architectural Ornament

2010-09-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

MARSHALL FIELD and Company

Charles Atwood was "in the thick" of designing some 30 structures at the Columbian Exposition when he was given the Marshall Field Commission. He did not give it short shrift.

Tucked below the cornice at Wabash and Washington, this piece of figural sculpture watches over the building. The quality is best seen with binoculars -- and by the lucky few with offices directly across the street......ten floors up.

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MOSES EZEKIEL. Christopher Columbus

2010-09-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

The years preceeding and immediately following the Columbian Exposition were very good for Sculpture in Chicago. Better, than we might guess today today. Much fine work was destroyed. Lucky pieces were salvaged, saved and dispersed throughout the City.

Below is Moses Ezekial's 1894 "Columbus" that onced topped W. W. Boyington's Columbus Memorial at the corner of State and Washington. He has been carefully restored and re-placed (appropriately) in Little Italy -- near Polk and Loomis.

Moses Ezekial and Johannes Gehlert were once among the most prominent sculptors in Chicago. Their work still exists. Just not where one would expect.

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LORADO TAFT. The Fountain of Time

2010-08-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

ANOTHER BALANCING ACT

Lorado Taft continued the formula of "balance" throughout his career. Even the 1922 Fountain of Time -- one of Taft's last works -- and despite its size (more than 125 feet wide and containing over 100 figures) is a balanced composition of detail, sub-component and whole that provides perfect organization for a very complicated assembly.

FOUNTAIN OF TIME. Viewed from the East

FOUNTAIN OF TIME. View to the Right

FOUNTAIN OF TIME. Sub-Composition

FOUTAIN OF TIME. Detail

FOUNTAIN OF TIME. Taft Self-Portrait.

The Fountain of Time is located at the west end of Midway Plaisance -- where its complexity requires viewing in both morning and afternoon light. My only regret is that the sculpture was never rendered in the granite that Taft had orginally conceived. The figures most protected from the weather show Taft at the peak of his creative powers -- if not his career. For more photographs of the FOUNTAIN OF TIME, click HERE.

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LORADO TAFT. The Iroquois Memorial

2010-07-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

The thing I like most about Taft -- after his beautiful people - is his balance of composition. Not quite symmetry - more aptly described as balance - it allows a remarkable variance of detail within a well defined whole. We're all familiar with his Fountain of the Great Lakes (below).

Lesser known is his Memorial to the Iroquois Fire dated 1910. Within the overall tragedy Taft finds space for touching scenes of Mother and Child (below).

This Plaque hangs near the West Entrance of City Hall. It's easy to overlook the detail -- but worth a couple of minutes. Next time you're there. To pick up a Building Permit.

The Iroquois Fire disaster was caused by improper electrical wiring and its proximity to flammable materials -- and had significant impact on the Chicago Building Code. (The doors in this picture actually swing INWARD -- for easy entry)

Chicago loves its disasters. Ghost Tours prowl the alley behind the site of the Iroquois on Randolph and talk about screams in the night. Link to this THE IROQUOIS THEATER FIRE for a particularly ghoulish description of the disaster.

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LORADO TAFT. The Elusuve Lady

2010-07-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

FOUNTAIN OF THE GREAT LAKES.

I've photographed Lorado Taft's FOUNTAIN OF THE GREAT LAKES (1907-1913) in the South Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago more times than I can count. In light and in shadow. I think I've found the others, but Lady Superior has remained elusive. She is badly damaged. And looking downward, her face never sees full light.

It seems to me that Taft would not have short-sheeted the most important character of his composition. And, indeed, I believe he has not.

Her eyes are gently, serenely, closed. Her mouth turns slightly downward. But not in sadness. There is some determination here. Perfect confidence. And she is beautiful .

In a moment she will awaken. Smiling fully. Freely pouring water in abundance. To the end of time.

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GOOD LINKS

2010-06-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

I will be on vacation through July 5.

Sculpture in Chicago is under-noticed and under appreciated. I am always amazed at the lack of information available about even our most notable work. So I am particularly glad to be able to recommend the blog PUBLIC ART IN CHICAGO. Take the time to explore this continuously updated resource. Link HERE.

Another favorite site is the Augustus Saint Gaudens site posted by the National Park Service. Link HERE. We're lucky enough to have both Standing and Seated Lincolns in Chicago.

A new local website is dedicated to Hermon Atkins MacNeil. Link HERE. PUBLIC ART IN CHICAGO also posts MacNeil. Link HERE. CHICAGO SCULPTURE in the Loop has also posted MacNeil with an emphasis on the Marquette Building. (What a great building!) Link HERE. The more the better..... and I look forward to more.

Enjoy. I'll be anxious to be back, I'm sure, come the sixth of July.

1823. BERTEL THORVALDSEN

2010-06-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

NICOLAUS COPERNICUS
Achsah Bond. Near the Planetarium.
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1823 is a little early for Chicago Sculpture. The original, cast in 1823, is located in Warsaw. The Polish American Congress and the Copernicus Foundation purchased this casting for Chicago in 1973.

REPRINTED FROM THE BOOK
CHICAGO FIGURAL SCULPTURE

1788. JEAN ANTOINE HOUDON

2010-06-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
ANOTHER LOOK.
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I've been to the Fifth Floor of City Hall several times trying to get George's portrait right. And each time I'm there, I have been distracted by the HORRENDOUS fluorescent lighting, bad shadows and background noise. Its also a little distracting to know that THE MAYOR is sitting just inside that opposite door. (Right or wrong, btw, I'm a big fan.) But this morning, for whatever reason, I actually saw Houdon's Washington.

And there is absolutely no doubt in my mind why in 1912 the administrators of the Benjamin Franklin Ferguson Fund purchased this casting of the original. It is remarkable. Even under fluorescent tubes George's face is so plastic, so realistic, that it photographs like a living, breathing man. Details are accurate. And in the blur of low light -- well, you get the picture.

There are dozens, hundreds of little projects, all over the City that deserve attention. But replacing the fluorescents above George with some well placed halogen spots is readily do-able (given that the stakeholders are the City of Chicago and B.F. Ferguson Fund administered by the Art Institute of Chicago). And the result would be to better honor George, Ben, Antoine and Richard. For more on the Ferguson Fund, link HERE.

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1788 JEAN ANTOINE HOUDON

2010-06-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

George Washington

CASTING PURCHASED BY THE B.F.FERGUSON FUND
Located at 121 North LaSalle Street. Fifth Floor
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George stands guard at Mayor Daley's fifth floor office in City Hall. Where is is much loved. This casting was purchased by the B.F. Ferguson Fund in 1925.

From the Book CHICAGO FIGURAL SCULPTURE.

A MEMORIAL TO RENE ROBERT CAVALIER SIEUR DE LA SALLE and HENRI DE TONTI

2010-05-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

PLACED BY THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA.

The LaSalle Memorial on the west side of the Michigan Avenue Bridge is every bit as good as the Marquette Memorial on the East. (See Previous Post) The cast of characters, again, is protrayed to the last detail .......

....right down to the dog, the earrings, and Tonti's prosthetic hand, shown here adjacent to LaSalle's.

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A MEMORIAL TO JACQUES MARQUETTE AND LOUIS JOLLIET

2010-05-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

Placed by the COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA. Artist Unknown.

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The Michigan Avenue Bridge opened to traffic some ninety years ago in May of 1920. Ornamental sculpture and memorial plaques followed to commemorate the local legends of the River and the City. In 1925 the Colonial Dames of America and the Chicago Historical Society placed a Memorial to Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette on the east side of the bridge. A Memorial to Rene Robert Cavalier Sieur de LaSalle and Henri de Tonti was placed on the West. All of these explorers are reputed to have "slept here." Link to PUBLIC ART IN CHICAGO for very good descriptions of the Bridge (link HERE) and these Memorials in General (link Here).

Neither of these Placques are credited to an Artist. And both go largely unnoticed by the thousands of pedestrians that pass them each day. (And no wonder. They are mounted below waist level. There is no opportunity to step back for a better look. And they are dark.) Still, their quality is remarkably good and very much worth a second look. Today's detail photographs show the characters of the Jolliet and Marquette bronze relief

This is quite a cast of characters. Considered. Well-rendered.

The portrait directly above is (I'm guessing) Louis Jolliet. And I have to wonder what brought on that little smile. And what that unknown artist was thinking. Just before this placque was cast. In the spring of 1925.

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IRENE PEASE MANTONYA. A Dedication

2010-05-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Michigan Avenue Bridge is almost covered with plaques, memorials and sculpture. And there are few more prominent places in Chicago. But time (and not much of it) makes a mystery of what, just a generation ago, was important common knowledge. And so this post today features some of what I don't know.

Financial Details of the Benjamin Franklin Ferguson Monument Fund.

The Sculptor who interpreteted and embellished this seal of the City of Chicago.

And Irene Pease Mantonya, first woman appointed to the Board of Local Improvements -- though her accomplishments, on this damp Saturday morning -- are quite lost in the fog.

This is a dedication. Of sorts.

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CHICAGO SCULPTURE. New Galleries at CHICAGO IMAGES in the Loop.

2010-05-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

New sculpture photo galleries are now available at CHICAGO IMAGES IN THE LOOP. Link HERE to view.

JAMES EARLE FRASER. The Pioneers ------ Left Face.

2010-05-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

James Earle Fraser's 1928 Sculpture "The Pioneers" is on the north face of the northwest bridge tower of the Michigan Avenue Bridge. "The Pioneers" is oriented to Michigan Avenue (Left Face) and with Fraser's right-facing "Discovers" frame the BoulMich. Even with details of the work erased by weather and pollution the power of this work is clear.

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Chicago knows Fraser for his work on the Bridge. But his greater fame is for the design of the Indian Head Nickel.
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That Indian Head also shows up on West Lake Street (at Wells) on Thielbar and Fugard's 1930 Trustees Service System Building. (Don't miss Gwen Lux' "Diana" and "Apollo if you stop by for a look.)

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JAMES EARLE FRASER. The Discoverers ---- Right Face

2010-04-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

Even within what appears to be the rigid symmetry of the Michigan Avenue Bridge, a Sculptor makes decisions. Above, James Earle Fraser's "Discoverers" looks to the right -- that Guardian Angel leading the charge is headed straight toward Michigan Avenue. Henry Hering's work (below), "The Defenders" turns in upon itself, and is "at rest" on its Bridge Tower.

The difference in depictions of the Native Americans is also at variance. Hering's Indians attack. Fraser's are at ease. Docile. The truth may be somewhere in between.

Literally. This Colonial Dames of Ameria plaque is located on the bridge span itself. There are two. And both are of remarkable quality.

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JAMES EARLE FRASER . The Discoverers ---- In Charge.

2010-04-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

Fraser's Native Americans, throughout "The Discoverers" on the Northwest Michigan Avenue Bridge Tower, are docile, subservient, even to the extreme.
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One kneels at Father Marquette's feet. Others carry the canoe. The Discover's are in full regalia, moving, decisively from left to right.. The Native Americans are at rest, and wear, primarily, sandals.

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JAMES EARLE FRASER . The Discoverers ... At Dawn.

2010-04-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

Henry Hering was responsible for Sculpture on the two South Michigan Avenue Bridge Towers. (See Previous POSTS). This is our first look at James Earle Fraser's work on the North Michigan Avenue Bridge Towers. There are substantial differences in composition, subject and interpretations. Although both studied under Augustus Saint Gaudens. But the best place to start is with the details. Pictured below is a secondary figure from 'THE DISCOVERERS."

These photos were taken at dawn on the Summer Summer Solstice in 2009. Fraser's work often seems to take a second place to Hering's. Part of this, surely, is that they face North. And are in shadow for most of the year.

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FRED M. TORREY. 333 N. Michigan Avenue

2010-04-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Holabird and Root "frame" is almost as good as Fred Torrey's bas relief description of activities at Fort Dearborn. Deco Ornament (both here and at Holabird and Root's Board of Trade) is spectacular.

Portrayal of Native Americans varies widely in the area of the Michigan Avenue Bridge. In this case, (on the West facade of 333 North) it is the Indian who is fully civilized. (Note the carefully pressed robe.) And the slouching pioneer whose character is doubtful. (That can't be a jacket with no pants....??)

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HOLABIRD AND ROOT. 333 North Michigan. "Deco"

2010-03-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

The transition of Chicago's figural sculpture from Neo-classical to Deco is iridescent. Representing a level of style and creativity not seen before in this City on the River. By the Lake. It also represents a "final flaring."

The combination of Depression and War would forever change sculpture in Chicago. After a long twenty five years, when the City finally began to rebuild itself, this would be the art left behind. And so, for me, at once, Deco is very beautiful and very sad. These figures grace the elevator doors at 333 North Michigan Avenue. When it was briefly possible (yet thoroughly modern) to understand the centuries old vocabularies of Apollo and Diana.

I wonder what we might lose this time.

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HENRY HERING. One Last Great Adventure

2010-03-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Chicago had been very very good to Henry Hering. Assistant to Philip Martiny on the Fine Arts Building at the Columbian Exposition. Then a Commission in his own right to replace that work with permanant stone in 1919. Followed by The Field Museum's commission for Caryatids, statuary and Allegorical Panels. The Benjamin Franklin Ferguson Fund selection for two bridgetowers on Michigan Avenue must have seemed too good to be true. And now, Samuel Insull and the Opera Block.

Hering's work is usually solid. Staid. But here, for the first time, there is a sense of softness. He flirts briefly with Deco. This was his last commission in the area until W. P. Gleason brought him back in 1931 to Gary Indiana. For one last great adventure: Father Marquette striding (in full regalia) from the source of the Grand Calument River.

HENRY HERING. "Defense" Michigan Avenue Bridge Tower. Composition

2010-03-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

Compare the composition of Henry Hering's "Defense" to his "Regeneration" discussed in {earlier Posts.} Typically Beaux Arts, they both utilize a symmetry of balance to organize their images. I would place the "center of balance" directly under Captain Wells' left foot, which is the centerline of the Bridge Tower. (The Heald Family escapes to the right.) The images below describe each vignette -- whole, top, bottom, left and right.

Sculptors in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries worked in a studio setting with a team of assistants. One of Hering's most notable assistants was his wife and even longer companion. They served together with Augusts Saint Gaudens at the Cornish, in New Hampshire. It looks to me that the Captain Wells and the Indian Chief came from the same hand, probably Hering's. That the Native Americans to the left came from another. And that the Heald Family was created by a third.

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HENRY HERING. Allegory

2010-02-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

It's been nearly a month since a February diversion to Ivan Mestrovic (and Notre Dame) and an image by Horace Spenser Fiske distracted me from Henry Hering's work at the Michigan Avenue Bridgetowers. This time it will be Fiske that brings me back. Below is Ralph Fletcher Seymour's drawing of the personification of Chicago from Fiske's "Chicago in Picture and Poetry. "

Anyone, in 1929, crossing the Chicago River would have immediately recognized Hering's "Regeneration" as a reinterpretation of flames, surrounding the personification of Chicago. Seymour's drawing would have been part of a common language. As easily recognized as the "Progress" that topped Ward's headquarters. And the Railway Exchange's references to the Word's Fair. Five women at the Art Institute, each pouring water to the next, were the living face of the Great Lakes. Lions were power. Y was the junction of the Chicago Rivers. Oak leaves. Dragons. Grotesques. Unspoken, understood. Universal code.

We need to be kinder to our history. How do we criticize the art of men whose language we neither speak nor remember?

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ST.GAUDENS. RHIND. MULLINS. Diana. Progress. The Fair. Aaron Montgomery Ward. Yet Another Look.

2010-02-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

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In 1886 Augustus Saint Gaudens sculpted (in plaster) "Diana of the Tower" an 18' tall weathervane to be fabricated in copper by the W. H. Mullins Company of Salem, Ohio. Once completed, it stood (spun) atop McKim Mead and White's Madison Square Garden in New York City from October 1891 until September of 1892 when it was deemed too large for that location and moved to the Agriculture Building at the Chicago World's Fair.

Saint Gaudens replaced the larger original with a smaller "Diana of the Tower" at Madison Square Garden, where she stood until 1925, when she was acquired by the Philadelphia Art Museum.

The larger, original "Diana of the Tower" suffered after the 1893 Fair. The bottom half of the figure was "lost to fire after the Exposition's close. Location of the upper half is unknown." (Hmmm.)

John Massey Rhind's adaptation of Saint Gaudens "Diana of the Tower," renamed "Progress" was installed on the Ward Michigan Avenue headquarters on October 10, 1900 --- seven years after the Fire at the Exposition. The W.H.Mullins Company, who fabricated Gauden's "Diana" also fabricated Rhind's "Progress."

In 1929 a four storey pyramid was added to the Montgomery Ward Administration Building on West Chicago Avenue by Schmidt Garden and Martin. The now existing "Progress" was installed there at that time. See photos of previous two posts. Mullins and Company may have been the fabricator. Again. Using molds from the original. Which would explain similarities of size and pose.

The original Sculpture of "Progress" was removed from 6 North Michigan Avenue in 1947 (which was not so very long ago) when the tower was demolished. (She disappeared without a trace). A vintage photo confirms that "Progress" was still in place on Michigan Avenue in 1930 -- indicating that both "Progresses" were simultaneously extant. And with that -- one mystery is solved. (If these sources are good.) The Sculpture on West Chicago Avenue was not moved from Ward's Michigan Avenue headquarters. She is a copy. Dressed for the times.

"Progress" became a symbol of Montgomery Ward's. See her in Terra Cotta bas relief in links below. What special attachment did Aaron Montgomery Ward hold for this "Progress?" Why would she occupy the Tower location on Michigan Avenue, and be worth copying - not only on West Chicago Avenue, but throughout the Country?

Speculation begins here. "Progress" is the only nude that I've seen by John Massey Rhind. Her flowing style is not in keeping with his typically heavy, well- balanced figures. But he was of sufficient talent and reputation to repair a Saint Gaudens. A Saint Gaudens heavily damaged by fire. And the collapse of the Agriculture Building following the Fair. A bend of the arm. A leg. Foot. Replace the bow with a spear...... Rebalance her a bit. (Go to, Jyoti. Possible. Maybe?) A Sculpture entirely worthy of Aaron Montgomery Ward. I'd say. She had been, after all, once standing on the tallest building in New York City. Nude. Spotlit and Spinning. Not to mention her importance at the Fair.

But just how and why does a Saint Gaudens disappear TWICE.?? And here I will quote Laurence F. Jonson, Curator of the Deere Art Collection in 1990 and entirely familiar with Mullins. (A dreamer maybe, but certainly both educated and connected). "Somewhere.....the proud lady might still stand .... viewing the changing scenes with a wise eye.... as magnificent as when she was first created by....Augustus Saint Gaudens.

I like that.

Follow Exceptional Links Below for Original Photos and resources.

Diana of the Tower

John Deere Heritage

Google Images. 1930

Sharlot Hall Museum

Skyscraper Page

Montgomery Ward

Ohio Antiques

Flickr. Diana

Flickr. Ward Terra Cotta

Flickr. Agriculture Building

New York Times

Building Age. Vol 22

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J. MASSEY RHIND. Progress. A Second Look.

2010-02-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

Is she? Or, isn't she? The J. Massey Rhind "Progress" relocated from the Michigan Avenue Ward Tower to the Montgomery Ward Warehouse Administration Building, that is. Comments on the previous Post (below) necessitate a second look.
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The first photo (unaltered) is from Horace Spencer Fiske's 1903 Publication "Chicago in Picture & Poetry." "Like Mercury touching a hilltop....." Fiske rhymes.

The photo immediately below (taken from ground level approximately 3 blocks west of the Administration Building) has been rotated to match the angle of pose of the original above -- a modification that could conceivably have taken place in the "move." It has also been resized for comparison.

The detail of shoulder and foot (above) are included for further comparison.

And well, uh, ..... Jyoti is right. Taking into all consideration foreshortening from perspective, the slightly different angle of rotation -- even the blur of the original -- these just aren't the same "Progress." Unless, like, they dropped her, broke her leg, and rebuilt it for West Chicago Avenue.

Highly unlikely.

And so, we have yet another mystery. What happened to the original, original "Progress" credited to Saint Gaudens. And the original credited to Massey. And who is the sculptor of this Progress. And who thought her (even in 1929 -- when they should have been thinking something Deco) worth remaking. This is a problem to ponder --- my kind of problem. Important to be sure. But one that can remain unsolved, indefinitely, without implication or damage.

And one that finds friends in differing opinion.

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J. MASSEY RHIND. "Progress." Is She?? or Isn't She??

2010-02-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

Montgomery Ward's "Progress" is the subject of some controversy. The National Register says that the Statue was relocated from the Ward Tower at 6 North Michigan Avenue to the Montgomery Ward Administration Building on West Chicago Avenue in 1929. Geoffrey Baer, during one of his Channel 11 "bits" indicated that the original Ward Tower Progress was completely nude, somehow "spun" and was never relocated to West Chicago Avenue.
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I was recently reading Horace Spencer Fiske's "Chicago in Pictures and Poetry" ( yes, it was a dark and stormy night....) and discovered the black and whites below: "Progress Lighting the Pathway of Commerce." "Progress" is attributed to Sculptor J. Massey Rhind. And like Geoffrey said, she is nude.

Below is my photograph of Progress taken on West Chicago Avenue in 2008 (and included in my book CHICAGO FIGURAL SCULPTURE.) Comparing the two photos -- pose, feet, triton, torch, hairline --all seem very much the same. The main difference is that the Chicago Avenue "Progress" is clothed. Could it be her new dress is the torch flame reworked from the original??

I'm afraid that the Fiske photographs are just a hair too small and blurred to make a confirmation. But, if I had to bet.......

The only one who really knows is this guy (ram's head or devil's horns?) just above those restored Juliet baconies at 6 North -- and we may never get any closer to the truth than this.

For a better look at the Balconies see Lynn Becker's post "Juliet to Return..."

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IVAN MESTROVIC. February Diversion.

2010-02-14T06:28:00.000-08:00

Ivan Mestrovic's Native American Horsemen in Grant Park have been Chicago Landmarks since the day they were installed in 1928. Mestrovic was no stranger to Chicago. He taught at the University of Notre Dame from 1955 until his death in 1962. Today's post is a pictoral comparison (without comment) of his 1928 "The Spearman and The Bowman" and his 1941 "Pieta" now located in the Basilica of Notre Dame. I photographed the "Pieta" yesterday.... My February Diversion -- and what a great day it was.

I highly recommend the Snite Museum on the Notre Dame Campus. Beside the hoped-for Mestrovics, of personal interest, were two Richard Howard Hunts, a couple of Rodins, a fine collection of early nineteenth century sculpture and a Steichen tonalist painting. There's also a Piranesi exhibit --- what's not to like?

1928 was a busy year on Michigan Avenue. Work was also underway on Henry Hering's Bridge Tower Sculpture "Defense" and "Regeneration," the subject of our previous and next post.

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HENRY HERING. Defense

2010-02-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

I was about to compare the Beaux Arts composition of Henry Hering's Michigan Avenue Bridgetower "Defense" to "Regeneration" which was the subject previous posts. And the allegorical representations thereof......

Bologna!

Let's just look at the pictures.

This is just plain good stuff.
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HENRY HERING. Regeneration. Compositions

2010-02-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

Edward Bennett's four elegant Bridge Towers define and punctuate the Michigan Avenue Bridge. Each Tower has sculpture dedicated to an important event in Chicago's History. And each Sculpture, similar within a uniform composition, is strikingly varied. Like L'Arc de Triomphe. This is Paris on the Lake. The Burnham Plan of 1909.

Henry Hering's "Regeneration" (and the remaining three, all subjects of future posts) follows "the drill:" variation within apparent symmetry and similar composition. Below are vignettes that summarize the work: Upper. Lower. Right. Center. Left. Each are compositions that could stand alone. Overlapping elements tie them together. (See Previous Post for Details).

It must have taken some "talking" to get Hering on the South to agree with Fraser on the North, and William Wrigley, Fraser's benefactor to concur with the Benjamin Franklin Ferguson Monument Fund (administered by the Art Institute of Chicago), that financed Hering.

But they did agree. And we got the icing on the cake.

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And here are two more links.

CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE AND CITYSCAPE

and

PUBLIC ART IN CHICAGO

Cityscape was started in 2006. Public Art began in 2007 -- these blogs are years long commitments to Art and Architecture in Chicago.

HENRY HERING. Regeneration. Men at Work

2010-01-27T13:46:00.000-08:00

With the Allegory of Regeneration explained (See Previous Post) and the clear knowledge that Mrs. Chicago has subdued the salamander, its time to see the details. No other Henry Hering sculpture in the Chicago area relies so heavily on details and props. Anvil, jackhammer, pulley, beam, gear, gloves, leather aprons, straps, rivets and workshoes all help "tell the story." The combination of movement and strength is remarkable.

A very nice description of this Bridge Tower can be found in "Chicago's Public Sculpture" by Ira J. Bach and Mary Lackritz Gray. Available at Amazon. Link HERE. Let me also plug my own book, "Chicago Figural Sculpture" also available (on sale) at Amazon. Link HERE.

In 1928 the generation that remembered the Chicago Fire was beginning to disappear. This Memorial marks an end of History and the beginning of Legend.

I'll be away for a few days (up in the frozen north) but will return with a few final thoughts on the composition of Regeneraton.

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HENRY HERING. Michigan Avenue Bridge. Southeast Bridge Tower. "Regeneration"

2010-01-25T14:05:00.000-08:00

It always helps to have a clue.....

The Woman in the center of this composition, wearing a breastplate, is tough as nails. She is surrounded by shirtless men. One has a jackhammer. Another, I think, is doing the pasodoble, with his arm stretched under her cape. (She doesn't flinch.) On her head - a cap or crown - embossed with the words "I WILL." In her right hand, a builder's square. In her left, a roll of drawings. Above, a barefooted angel is blowing a huge horn. (Huge) And on closer inspection, we see that a lizard is disappearing under her skirt. At the corner of Michigan and Wacker.

Pictures don't lie.

I'll admit to calling on James L. Riedy and his book CHICAGO SCULPTURE for a little help. (Its available at Amazon,) (So is mine.) Henry Hering used the Charles Holloway sketch that won first prize in an 1892 Competition sponsored by the Chicago InterOcean for the centerpiece of his sculpture. She is the personification of Chicago. The "I WILL" on her crown is the City's motto. The builder's square and drawings show the way for the construction workers that surround her to rebuild the City in 1872. (That Dancer in the crochet hat is actually preparing to hoist a steel beam)

And, by the way, that's no lizard. Mrs. Chicago has her foot on a salamander, a mythological spirit of fire. The Chicago Fire. She is clearly indomitable as the heraldic angel above announces the dawn of a new age.

How I love this place.

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HENRY HERING and JAMES EARLE FRASER. The Michigan Avenue Bridge

2010-01-23T15:57:00.000-08:00

In 1920, with thanks due Daniel Burnham and Ed Bennett (although maybe not in that order), Michigan Avenue spanned the Chicago River. The Bridge, was, is, an elegant construction. A double decked bascule punctuated with four Beaux Arts bridge towers. (More on this in future posts at Chicago Architecture in the Loop.) Henry Hering, commissioned by the Benjamin Franklin Ferguson Monument Fund, sculpted "Defense" and "Regeneration" for the south Bridge Towers. James Earle Fraser, who was funded by William Wrigley, created "Explorers" and Pioneers" for the North Towers. Both had trained under Augustus Saint Gaudens, who had been an artistic advisor to the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

No group of sculpture in the City is more difficult to fully appreciate. The symmetry and architectural impact of the bridge towers relegates these major pieces of sculpture to ornament. The similarities of composition overshadow their differences. And their high traffic location almost precludes the "quiet moment" that sculpture takes to understand.

Not that I'm not complaining very loudly. These four pieces are entirely appropriate ornament for what is arguably the most important Bridge on the most important Avenue in the most important City between New York and the West Coast. Still, they each deserve time and care. More to follow.

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AMY ALDIS BRADLEY. LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY. The MacArthur Foundation.

2010-01-14T16:13:00.000-08:00

Thank Amy Aldis Bradley for the "idealized" Louis Jolliet at the Marquette Building. For more of the story visit the MacArthur Foundation's fine new website here.

It's not my imagination. This Native American does have a mustache. And looks, maybe, Italian??

HENRY HERING. Running Diana

2009-12-27T08:48:00.000-08:00

Even history's very successful figural sculptors were not completely occupied with major commissions. This smalll "Running Diana" is a work from the same Sculptor who is responsible for the two tableaux on the south towers of Edward Bennett's Michigan Avenue Bridge.

PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. LINK TO THE ORIGINAL

Continuing comparisons from the previous post, Hering's nudes are not the sensuous compositions that mark Lorado Taft's work. This one shows great delicacy (and the influence of Hering's mentor, Augustus Saint Gaudens). Both, however, worked side-by side with women in their studios. Taft with Nellie Walker. And Hering with his wife Elsie Ward, an accomplished sculptor in her own right.

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PORNOGRAPHY. NUDES. Looky Here. A Post You Won't Forget!

2009-12-26T16:29:00.000-08:00

I've received three phone calls since my last post: a list of Henry Hering's Sculpture in Chronological order. With no pictures. All three phone calls had the same gist: if you expect your blog to survive (ie "keep traffic") you're going to have to do better than that. Okay. I've read about this stuff too. Chicago Art Magazine knows the value a "sandbox fight." I, too, have seen them in action. (Argghhh. Grrrrr.) And there's the scare tactic. But its the day after Christmas and I don't feel so scary. And why even try when there's PORNOGRAPHY. Pornography always sells.

So in order to make up for that Hering thing, today I post NAKED MEN AND WOMEN and list them as "keywords." The photographs are a study of Lorado Taft's 1907 "Pastoral" at the Garfield Park Conservatory. The fern garden, today, was A VERY STEAMY PLACE.

We probably would have "gotten it" without the rabbit. Come to think about it, Lorado Taft's work is still "suggestive." Taft's "Fountain of the Great Lakes" actually brought about a review of the City of Chicago's Obscenity Ordinance. "Solitude of the Soul still evokes comment. The additional publicity brought both fame and notoriety to Taft. Maybe, maybe the tactic will work again.

Taft and Hering had much in common. Both are early twentieth century sculptors with significant bodies (another keyword) of work in Chicago. Both worked in "Studios" with a team of sculptors: Hering in the Cornish, Taft at the Midway. And both failed to make the transition to Deco. (eg. failed to monetize their product).

I'm glad I have a sense of humor.

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HENRY HERING. Chronology of Work and Life

2009-12-26T07:13:00.000-08:00

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Henry Hering's contributions weren't limited to Chicago. Below is a general timeline/chronology of his life and work.
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1874.02.15
Born. New York City

1888.00.00
Began Study at Cooper Union, New York
Student of Augustus Saint Gaudens
Student of Philip Martiny

1888.00.00 to 1891.00.00
At Saint Gaudens New York Studio

1891.00.00 to 1893.00.00
Columbian Expostion
Saint Gaudens. Columbian Exposition Artistic Advisor
Philip Martiny Fine Arts Building

1894.00.00 to 1898.00.00
Art Students League. New York

1898.00.00 to 1901.00.00
Ecole des Beaux Arts

1901.00.00 though 1907.00.00
Saint Gaudens Principal Assistant
Cornish Studios. Cornish, New Hampshire

1901.00.00
Caryatids (under Saint Gaudens)
Albright Knox Museum
Buffalo, New York

1907.00.00
Ten and Twenty Dollar Gold Pieces
(For Saint Gaudens.)

1910.00.00
Bust of Saint Gaudens

1910.06.00
Married Elsie Ward
(previously Saint Gaudens Assistant)

1913.00.00
"Memory, Peace, Courage, Devotion"
Yale Civil War Memorial
New Haven Connecticut.

1919.00.00 "Relief Figures."
Federal Reserve Bank. (GAPW)
Kansas City, Missouri

1919.00.00 Garlanded Angels
Attic Figures
Museum of Science and Industry (Replacements)
Chicago, Illinois

1923.00.00 "Energy in Repose."
Federal Reserve Bank.(Walker & Weeks)
Cleveland, Ohio

1923.00.00 Elsie Ward Hering Dies.

1925.00.00 "Law." "Science" "Religion" "Education"
Civic Center (Walker & Weeks)
Indianapolis, Indiana

1928.00.00 "Defense" and "Regeneration"
Michigan Avenue Bridge. (1920) Edward Bennett
Chicago, Illinois
Gift of William Wrigley to the BF Ferguson Monument Fund

1928.00.00 "Olin Library"
Wesleyan University
Middletown, Connecticut

1929.00.00 Pro Patria
Indiana War Memorial, (Walker & Weeks)
Indianapolis, Indiana

1931.00.00 L'Allegro

1932.00.00 "Pere Marquette" (with Walker & Weeks)
Marquette Park.
Gary, Indiana

1932.00.00 Guardians of Traffic
Lorain-Carnegie Bridge (Walker & Weeks)
Cleveland, Ohio

1932.00.00 Pediment
Serverance Hall (Walker & Weeks)
Cleveland, Ohio

1932.00.00 Wood Nymph
Brookgreen Gardens
Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

1934.00.00 "Abraham Lincoln"
University Park.
Indianapolis, Indiana

1945.07.28 B25 Bomber Crashed into Empire State Building
Wreckage fell into Hering's Studio below
The Waldorf. 10 East 33rd Street, New York.

Running Diana

American Eagle Book-ends

1949.01.17
Died in New York City

The secret hidden in this list is how much Henry might have depended on Elsie Ward, who gave up her career to assist his during the years 1910-1923.

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HENRY HERING. The Michigan Avenue Bridge

2009-12-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

It's not so far from the Museum of Science and Industry at 57th Street to the Michigan Avenue Bridge. But in this distance Henry Hering spanned a Century and became an accomplished Sculptor. Compare the work posted here to the previously posted Caryatids. These two "Spirits" -- "Regeneration" and "Defense" are the work of a man at the peak of his career.

The early twentieth century was a confusing time to portray Native Americans. Especially in Chicago. Noble savage? Or the Tribe that massacred Grandma? The Spirit (shown above) was at Fort Dearborn. The Spirit below inspired the City to rebuild after the Fire.

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HENRY HERING .MSI. The Columbian Exposition Fine Arts Building

2009-12-19T05:41:00.000-08:00

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There is something intriguing about a caryatid.
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And at the turn of the Twentieth Century, many agreed. Henry Hering sculpted more Caryatids in Chicago than ever existed on the Acropolis.

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HENRY HERING. MSI. The Columbian Exposition Fine Arts Building

2009-12-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

The amount of sculpture on the Museum of Science and Industry is almost mind-boggling. Panels in Relief. Caryatids. And four "Attic" figures above both the North and South Entrances. These four are on the North Facade.

This was just the beginning for Henry Hering. Twenty years of collaboration would follow with both Daniel Burnham and Graham Anderson Probst and White.

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HENRY HERING. MSI. The Columbian Exposition Fine Arts Building

2009-12-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

"ATTIC FIGURE" above the central temple entrance to the Museum.

Young Henry Hering had reached the ripe age of nineteen when the original of this piece was completed.

By 1914 the Museum was showing its age. Take a look at this photo from the Field Museum Library's photostream. Philip Martiny's work is visible in the colonnade. Nice Truck!

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HENRY HERING. Empire State Building. Studio

2009-12-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

Very little can be stranger than this photo. Hopefully Mr. Hering's serenity was alive and well in 1945.

HENRY HERING. MSI. The Columbian Exposition Fine Arts Building.

2009-12-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

History is a matter of simple facts. Henry Hering was born in 1874 and died in 1949. He studied under Augustus Saint Gaudens and Philip Martiny. He is credited with the sculpture at the Fine Arts Building at the Columbian Exposition (now the Museum of Science and Industry), working with Daniel Burnham and Charles Atwood and the "greatest assemblage of artists since the Renaissance."

Now add into the mix that Charles Atwood was most probably an opium addict (with just three more years to live), that Jackson Park was a swamp, and that the entire team was struggling under what seemed an impossible deadline. And, oh, yes, with a little addition and subtraction.... Henry Hering was 17 years old when he started on the work of the originals photographed below.

How does a 17 year old boy produce work with this serenity? How would anybody under those conditions? (Certainly with some guidance from Philip Martiny) Don't miss the Field Museum Library Photostream at Flickr. Sculpture in this condition doesn't just "happen." It is the result of patient maintenance, restoration, and care. And that remarkable gift of 1919.

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HENRY HERING. Regeneration. Detail

2009-11-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

I am always surprised by the camera. Last night, just after dusk, I snapped these two shots of Henry Hering's "Regeneration" (on the Michigan Avenue Bridge) in rapid succession. They should have been the same. Instead, they are remarkably different and reveal the depth of consideration Henry Hering had for the face and emotion his "Spirit."

His work at the MSI may deserve a another look.

LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY. Preston Bradley Hall

2009-11-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

This sculpted face by Louis Comfort Tiffany is a part of the ornament of each Chandelier in Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center.

The Cultural Center was designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in 1897.

THIS IMAGE IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT IMAGES IN THE LOOP.

LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY. The Palmer House

2009-11-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

This elegant figure, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, stands in the second floor Lobby of the Palmer House near the entrance to the Empire Room.

Completed in 1927 by Architects Holabird and Roche, the Palmer House is home to an ensemble of Architecture, Sculpture, and Art that exemplifies the Beaux Arts Tradition in Chicago.

To see additional photography of Chicago Sculpture Icons visit IMAGES IN THE LOOP

PHILLIP MARTINY. Museum of Science and Industry

2009-10-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

These classsic Bas Reliefs, tucked away at the Museum of Science and Industry look remarkably similar to the frieze at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Both were sculpted by Philip Martiny. The Museum of Science and Industry was previously the Fine Arts Building at the Columbian Exposition of 1893. The two commissions were almost concurrent.

CHICAGO.Images in the Loop

2009-10-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

There have been some big changes at CHICAGO. Sculpture in the Loop. We now have a three column format to display more photographs, links and information. Past posts are now organized with an Index. More changes are coming. Many Images first published at CHICAGO.Sculpture in the Loop are now available for purchase online at CHICAGO.Images in the Loop.

This Image is Availablefor Purchase Online at CHICAGO. Images in the Loop.

You are welcomed to bowse both the Sculpture Galleries and the Architecture Galleries. Thank-you all for your kind words and support.

GREGORY H. JENKINS AIA

ON VACATION. Thru 10.23

2009-10-16T09:30:00.001-07:00

Away from the internet for a week. Which sometimes, is all good.

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CHICAGO. The Clock

2009-10-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

During the summer of 1967 I was an intern at the Perkins and Will Partnership. E. Todd Wheeler's name still showed up on pre-printed mylar title sheets. And Larry Perkins (huge, larger than life) occasionally walked the aisles, remembering Crow Island School and Eliel Saarinen. My boss had worked for Graham Anderson Probst and White and had known Ernest Graham personally. Graham, of course had worked for Daniel Burnham.

I've realized the import of this only some forty years later.

The First National Bank of Chicago was an important commission for P&W. Even shared with C.F. Murphy and Associates. In addition to the Bank, there was the Plaza. And beyond that, the entire block bounded by Dearborn, Monroe, Clark and Adams was the proposed site of a 100 story office building.

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My job in this was presentation draftsman. Locust trees were my specialty. The ones painstakingly stippled with a 4H pencil. Quietly. Like "this" said Carter Manny, who gave us all a quick (humorless?) lesson. The proposal quietly failed -- with the rumored irony being that the Italian Village's unwillingness to sell its property to the assemblage ultimately saved the Marquette Building from demolition.

We officed that summer on the 10th floor of the original Bank, designed by Daniel Burnham in 1902. From some few historic photos, I can see that some of details bear the mark of Peirce Anderson. (Column details recall the entrance to Marshall Field and Company.) But during the months that I worked in their building these names were unknown to me. When the new Bank was completed Burnham's building was demolished. I had not take a single picture.

During recent months of this blog I've been able to reassemble pieces of Peirce Anderson's career as he worked first with Daniel Burnham and then with Ernest Graham. But the earliest years, those turn-of-the-century years elude me. In 1967 I might have said, Ray,did Ernest ever mention Peirce's role in the Banking Room at the First? Ray might have answered. And I might have photographed the room.

But, I didn't.

The Clock, now standing in the Plaza is all that remains. (Photographed above.) Along with blurred memories, untold stories, and of course, regrets.

TRIBUNE TOWER. Rene Paul Chambellan. Preservation

2009-10-08T06:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of those photos that you don't want to think about. You've seen it before. A chip here or there. Some eroding of the stone. A small crack.

And you realize that this Art lives on the huge original successes of the Chicago Tribune. Successes that may no longer be forthcoming.

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How many years are left for that little rat (on the right) with the musket? The one that symbolizes "cruelty and maliciouness."

TRIBUNE TOWER. Rene Paul Chambellen. Scandal.

2009-10-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Blair Kamin in his book "Tribune Tower" says that the elephant, "wearing glasses and holding his nose, evokes scandal." Surely there is more to it than that.

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There seems to be no end to Chambellan's creativity. If we only knew the whole story.......

TRIBUNE TOWER.Rene Paul Chambellan. More Sculpture

2009-10-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

More Grotesques. Each with a story. Each story lost. A dog with spectacles, looking side-ways? .

And who is this?

TRIBUNE TOWER. Sculpture and Architecture

2009-09-27T14:34:00.001-07:00

Sculptor, Rene Paul Chambellan, and Architects Raymond Hood and John Howells made a remarkable team at Tribune Tower. (And again at Rockefeller Center.)

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Who can say where Architecture ends and Sculpture begins?

TRIBUNE TOWER. Rene Paul Chambellan. Grotesque

2009-09-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

So. What's not to like?

It seems that there are multiple stories describing what each of these grotesques mean, and their significance to the "Colonel" and the Chicago Tribune. But even Blair Kamin's book "Tribune Tower" is incomplete.

What is this guy's story? Who is he? Any ideas?

RENE PAUL CHAMBELLAN. The Frog

2009-09-20T01:42:00.000-07:00

Isak Dinesen, in her essay "Daguerreotypes" makes an interesting reference to our relationship with the past. Generally summarizing (and I recommend a direct "read") she explains that people over the age of 50 who were lucky enough to have contact with people over the age of 50 during their childhood and youth have direct knowledge of the world of 100 years ago from people who saw it.

Direct knowledge.

For me, that means stories from Indiana farmers who followed the railroad north from the Ohio River Valley about trips to Chicago at the turn of the Century. For Bob Perrone, it means first hand knowledge of the remarkable career of his grandfather, Rene Paul Chambellan. Bob left a comment on my post of August 26, 2009. And that communication has given me a most welcomed, first hand connection to the Sculpture of Tribune Tower.

Today was a remarkably warm, sunny September day. Tourists (lots of them, swarms of them) on north Michigan Avenue, guidebooks in hand, were touching the stones embedded in the stone walls of the Tribune Building. (The Parthenon. The Colosseum.) And then looking up to Aesop's screen, and above, those oddly inspired figures of "Rumor" and "News".

The reaction of each tourist was the same. First, eyes wide, amazed. And second, a huge smile brought with the discovery that "humor" could be a part of the architecture of "the most beautiful building in the world." We need to remember to thank the "Frog."

LONDON GUARANTEE. The Fort Dearborn Commemorative

2009-09-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

Alfred Alschuler's London Guarantee Building, 360 North Michigan Avenue, is an excellent example of Chicago's neo-classic architecture. Constructed in 1923, it is covered with detail and ornament. So much so that it is easy to over look the panel commemorating the site of Fort Dearborn at the corner of Michigan and Wacker. The panel is nearly three stories above the ground -- where the richness of detail can be seen ONLY WITH BINOCULARS.

Who would have guessed that the Settler and the Indian standing on either side of the Fort could have such clear and expressive faces. The Indian certainly seems more confident than the Settler. Let's date this confidence to the evening of August 14, 1812: the night before the famous Massacre.

LORADO TAFT. Black Hawk

2009-09-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Lorado Taft created the maquette (left) for Chief Black Hawk at the Eagle's Nest. The finished work, dated 1911, (right) stands nearly 50 feet tall, overlooking the valley from 125 feet above the Rock River's edge

NELLIE WALKER. The Eagle's Nest

2009-08-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Nellie Walker and Leonard Crunelle finished Lorado Taft's Heald Square Monument near Wacker and Wabash after Taft's death. Leonard Crunelle has an important list of work to his credit. Nellie Walker is known for being a member of Taft's Midway Studio. Below is Walker's maquette for Chief Keokuk. She created this work at the Eagle's Nest. It is on display at the Oregon Public Library.

Note the expressive face. We may owe more to Ms Walker for the Heald monument than we know.

TRIBUNE TOWER. Rene Chambellan

2009-08-26T00:43:00.000-07:00

New York Architects, Howells and Hood, won the 1922 Tribune Tower Competition, submitting the "MOST BEAUTIFUL OFFICE BUILDING IN THE WORLD." Below are two allegorical sculptures by Rene Chambellan that reside above the front entrance. "News" and "Rumor"
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Chambellan's sculpture here is extensive. And it is "good stuff" (althought the word "BEAUTIFUL" may not apply). It hard to believe, though, that this is the same artist who worked on Rockefeller Center not so many years later, again, with Howells and Hood.

THE JEWELERS BUILDING CLOCK. ca 1926

2009-08-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

Father Time watches over Heald Square from his vantage point on top of the Jewelers Building Clock.
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Marshall Field & Company's clock at State and Randolph is one fine clock. But it's not the only clock in town. The Jewelers' Building Clock at the corner of Wabash and Wacker commands its share of the attention too. Somehow this clock manages to compete with the Jewelers Building by Architects Thielbar & Fugard and Giaver & Dinkelberg, its four rooftop temples, and a dome fit for Helmut Jahn -- and come out an unforgettable equal.

TRIBUNE TOWER. Nathan Hale

2009-08-19T13:35:00.001-07:00

Bela Lyon Pratt sculpted Nathan Hale between 1908 and 1912. The Chicago Tribune purchased this casting in 1940. I've always particularly liked this work. And thought that the casting was very good. But I could never have guessed how close to life Nathan Hale might come, in this morning's reflected light.

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Bela Lyon Pratt was no stranger to Chicago. After attending the Ecole des Beaux Arts, he was a contributer to the Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893, working closely with August St. Gaudens.

MARSHALL FIELD CLOCK. Sculpture. Art. Architecture

2009-08-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

More views of the Peirce Anderson's clock at State and Randolph. Note the highly creative implementation of a traditional Beaux Arts motif. See more at the previous post.

Life's not all Sculpture and Architecture. Take a look at photographs of the Chicago Air and Water Show posted at CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE IN THE LOOP.

MARSHALL FIELD CLOCK. State at Randolph

2009-08-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Turn of the Century Architecture (that's the turn of the last century) blurs the lines of Architecture, Ornament, and Sculpture. The Marshall Field Clock, designed by Peirce Anderson in 1902 is a perfect example.

I'll say this is "Sculpture."

Take a look at some of Peirce Anderson's Architecture at Architecture at Architecture in the Loop.

GONE FISHIN.

2009-07-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

I'll be on a much needed vacation through 08.04. Batchawana Bay and Michipicoten Harbor. It doesn't get much better......

THE MARQUETTE BUILDING. Hermon Atkins MacNeil

2009-07-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth and final restored panel to reappear on the Marquette's East Facade. I hate to say that there are NO MORE. (This series of Marquette posts has been great pleasure.) Spectacular work, by Hermon Atkins MacNeil and the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation. Thank you.

Passing Two Leagues Up the River, We Resolved to Winter There +++ Being Detained by My Illness

THE MARQUETTE BUILDING. Amy Aldis Bradley. "The Vision."

2009-07-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

So, Amy said, "Hermon, this is what Father Marquette looked like." And Hermon said, "Amy, you've got to be kidding........." Discussions like this, that most certainly took place, are gone forever. We are, however, left, with Amy's "Vision." And a sense of "entre nous" humor that we will never never quite "get. " (And if you think this needs explanation -- take a look at the white guy with a mustache dressed up like an Indian in the Tiffany mosaics.)

FATHER JACQUES MARQUETTE. by Amy Aldis Bradley

If anyone knows more of the real story, or even knows of speculation, PLEASE COMMENT.

THE MARQUETTE BUILDING. Hermon Atkins MacNeil. A Cast of Characters

2009-07-18T10:09:00.001-07:00

The Richness and Depth of Hermon Atkins MacNeil's panels at the Marquette Building is easily overlooked. But each is filled with characters, action and detail. Below is the third panel featured here, newly restored and returned to its proper place.

IN VAIN I SHOWED THE CALUMET +++ TO EXPLAIN THAT WE DID NOT COME AS ENEMIES.

Look at Father Marquette's Haircut! I have a suspicion that Amy Aldis Bradley may have pulled some strings here (The Building's Developer, Owen Aldis was her brother.). The good father looks a lot like HER sculptural depiction above the elevators in the Marquette's main lobby.

THE MARQUETTE BUILDING. Hermon Atkins MacNeil. Another restored panel.

2009-07-12T07:30:00.001-07:00

"To Follow Waters +++Which Will Henceforth Lead us into Strange Lands."

The Marquette Restorations just keep getting better. The full impact of the replaced window frames is now evident. And will be a future subject of CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE in the Loop.

THE MARQUETTE BUILDING. Hermon Atkins MacNeil. Opposites

2009-07-04T08:10:00.001-07:00

The Marquette Building was completed in 1895. Twenty years had passed since the Battle of Little Bighorn. And the passing of the the American Indian had, by then, become on object of confused Romanticism. The Fort Dearborn Massacre was still a story Chicago grandparents told their grandchildren. (Bad Indians!) But the country now stretched from Ocean to Ocean. And the time of Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet hiking a bucolic Chicago River --helped along by Native Americans -- was, surely, regretfully, gone forever.

Hermon Atkins MacNeil met Black Pipe, of the Lakota Sioux on the Midway in 1893. This Indian, who had seen the last of the open prairies, performed at Wild Bill Cody's Wild West Show at the Chicago World's Fair and stayed in Chicago after the Fair to work and model for MacNeil. His rough features, often repeated in MacNeil's work, are contrasted here with the delicate images of two children. Both gain from the proximity.

THE MARQUETTE BUILDING. Hermon Atkins MacNeil. Post 1

2009-07-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

Rarely have I been so impressed with a Restoration. Today I noticed that the first two panels memorializing Father Marquette by sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil have been quietly reinstalled on the East Facade of Holabird and Roche's Marquette Building. Longterm credits are due the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for their care and preservation of the Marquette. Today, more "thank-you's" are due. This careful, thoughtful work is spectacular. Kudos are also due the preservation artist -- I hope to have credit s here shortly.

Below are vignettes from "The De Profundis was Intoned +++ The Body was then Carried to the Church."

Hermon Atkins Macneil was born in 1866 and died in 1947. He was a contributor to the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Another work, "The Sun Vow" is displayed in Hammond Beeby Babka's elegant Sculpture Court in the Daniel F and Ada L Rice Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. More to follow.

LaSALLE STREET. near Jackson

2009-06-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

LaSalle Street midway between Jackson Boulevard and Adams is one of those perfect time capsules that make history easy. The neo-classical Eagles of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Illinois Merchant's Bank stand face to face. The Deco Eagle of the Chicago Board of Trade is perched to the south. (See Entry Below) And to the north, John Wellborn Root's masterpiece of Architecture and Sculpture, the Rookery. Completed by the firm of Burnham and Root in 1888, this building exemplifies the Chicago School.

"LaSalle Street." No one has "said" it better.
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CHICAGO PHOTOS are available online at CHICAGO IMAGES IN THE LOOP.

BATCHAWANA BAY

2009-06-15T16:20:00.001-07:00

Gone fishin. Sorta. On Vacation thru the Summer Solstice. Then Back to work.

CHICAGO PHOTOS are available online at www.ImagesintheLoop.com

LaSALLE STREET. The LaSalle Street Eagles

2009-06-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

The three eagles of LaSalle Street hover over the intersection of LaSalle Street at Jackson Boulevard. Two are Neo-classic and one is Deco.

The meanest belongs to the Board of Trade (1930). The biggest to the Illinois Merchants Bank (1924). And the most sedate? To the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (1922).
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HENRY HERING. Marquette Park

2009-06-02T18:59:00.001-07:00

By the time Henry Hering was commissioned by W.P.Gleason to sculpt Father Marquette for Marquette Park, in Gary, Indiana, he had been "on the road" for some forty years. Hering had made his first mark at Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893. Then, the Field Museum, the Michigan Avenue Bridge Towers, and the Civic Opera Block. But, by 1931 the Beaux Arts style, in which he had been trained, was giving way to Art Deco. And beyond this, the world of figural sculpture was about to change forever. Few figural sculptors would outlast the Depression and the War. At the time of this commission, Hering's work was almost hopelessly out of date. And commissions were few and far between.

Who would have guessed, after a life of accomplishments, his finest work would belong to Marquette Park? The Victorian fussiness of the Palace of Fine Arts is gone. And the stilted classicism of the Field Museum. The touch of Deco experimentation at the Civic Opera block is nowhere to be seen. Nor the hints of the Arts and Crafts glimpsed on Edward Bennetts' Bridge Towers. Father Marquette steps firmly forward, lips parted, cross defiantly, realistically lifted to the smoke filled skies of Gary, Indiana in a style and vision that clearly belongs to Hering alone. And another era.

Note the Father Marquette's Crucifix. Take another look at it at Images in the Loop

THE PALACE OF FINE ARTS. Henry Hering

2009-05-28T11:46:00.001-07:00

Shown below is one one of Henry Hering's many sculptures that complete Charles Atwood's designs for the Palace of Fine Arts 1893 Facade. This was the first of several important commissions in Chicago. He went on to work with Peirce Anderson on the both the Field Museum and Union Station. He worked with Edward Bennett on the Michigan Avenue Bridge. And Holabird and Root at the Civic Opera block. He also took a sidetrip to Marquette Park in Gary, Indiana with George Washington Maher - where he completed a very fine Father Marquette.

. Note the sculpture's extraordinary condition. We owe the Museum of Science and Industry a real debt of gratitude for ongoing maintenance and restoration of its building, its ornament and the sculpure.

CHICAGO PHOTOGRAPHS are available from CHICAGO IMAGES IN THE LOOP.

THE CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE

2009-05-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

INDUSTRY and AGRICULTURE flanked the front entrance of the Chicago Board of Trade. The structure was designed by William Boyington in 1885 and lasted until demolished to allow the construction of the new Board of Trade Building in 1928. Below is INDUSTRY.

Her serenity gives no clue of the concern that the BOT felt for Chicago's growing and increasingly vocal Chicago Labor Movement. Take a look at this link: http://www.patsabin.com/illinois/trade.htm It is a vintage postcard showing the statues standing above the door. Their sculptor is unknown.

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Fountain of the Great Lakes

2009-05-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ontario extends her hand to the Sea. This striking woman is a detail from Lorado Taft's Fountain of the Great Lakes.
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This photograph is available for purchase at IMAGES in the Loop.

FIELD MUSEUM. Henry Hering and Allegory

2009-05-06T12:07:00.001-07:00

This commission surely brought a smile to Henry Hering. The Field Museum's bas-reliefs. Caryatids. And four Allegorical Figures in Stanley Field Hall. Two are shown below.

Above: "Record"

Below: "Dissemination of Knowledge"

Although clearly neoclassical, there are elements in the hair that foreshadow Hering's later work at the Civic Opera House.

Henry Hering. Caryatids

2009-04-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

Henry Hering had some experience with caryatids before sculpting the "Porch of the Maidens" ca 1911 (shown below) at Chicago's Field Museum. He also had received the commission for preparing the caryatids at The Palace of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Industry) at the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

D. H. Burnham and Company designed the Palace of Fine Arts. It was the successor firm, Graham, Anderson, Probst and White that designed the Field Museum and once again collaborated with Henry Hering, continuing the Classical Architecture of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

CHICAGO PHOTOGRAPHS are available for purchase at www.ImagesintheLoop.com

FIELD MUSEUM. Henry Hering

2009-04-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

Working seamlessly with Peirce Anderson to incorporate Sculpture and Architecture, Henry Hering produced these allegorical bas reliefs for the facade of the Field Museum.
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They represent "Anthropology" above and "Geology" below. More images are currently available at http://www.architectureintheloop.blogspot.com/ Posts to follow will describe Hering's interor work at the Field.

CHICAGO PHOTOGRAPHS are available for purchase at www.ImagesintheLoop.com/

UNION STATION. Day and Night

2009-04-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Stanford White looked around him at the design team who had begun work on the Chicago World's Fair and said that it was "the greatest assemblage of talent since the Renaissance." Sculptor's who had "got their start" at the Fair became important figures of the early twentieth century. And the tradition of Architecture and Sculpture working hand in hand in Chicago had begun.
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Above are Henry Hering's allegorical figures of Day and Night located in Union Station. They are fully integrated into the Architecture. See http://www.architectureintheloop.blogspot.com/ for a contextural photo. This was the beginning of a long relationship between Sculptor Hering and Architect Anderson. Anderson soon gave Hering the largest commission of his career: The Field Museum.

CHICAGO PHOTOGRAPHS are available for purchase at www.ImagesintheLoop.com

William Lebaron Jenney?

2009-03-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

These decorative sculptures are located on the East Facade at 312 South Federal, directly behind the existing Union League Club, designed by Mundie & Jensen in 1928. If this small building at 312 is a remnant of the original Union League, the Architect would have been William LeBaron Jenney. (Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, John Root, and William Holabird all worked in Jenney's office.) The building would be dated 1880. Does anyone know more?

The Gothic Revival Style with its tracery and arches would be date appropriate to 1880. The Monadnock Building, directly to the East was constructed in 1891, and combined with the narrowness of (pre-automobile) Federal Street, makes this little corner of the City decidedly 19th Century. A perfect place for a Chicago mystery. For more detailed information about Architect/Engineer William LeBaron Jenney see http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/Architects/Jenney.html

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