Important Design 
7 June 2018
Various Artists, ten works from the Louis H. Sullivan project - Image 1 of 1
Important Design 
Various Artists, ten works from the Louis H. Sullivan project - Image 1 of 1
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Various Artists

ten works from the Louis H. Sullivan project

USA, c. 1952
gelatin silver print
estimate: $3,000–5,000
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Lot is comprised of ten works by Aaron Siskind, Richard Nickel, Len Gittleman and James Blair illustrating various bank commissions designed by Louis Sullivan; four images were featured in the 1954 exhibition Louis H. Sullivan at the Institute of Design, Chicago. Stamped to verso of each example: [Institute of Design IIT] and signed by the artist.
provenance: Private Collection, Evanston, IL
literature: Aaron Siskind and Louis Sullivan: The Institute of Design Photo Section Project, Plank, illustrates and discusses project

print

Complete Lot Details

Peoples Savings Bank, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1911 Richard Nickel. 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm). Signed to verso: [R. Nickel].

Peoples Savings Bank, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1911 Richard Nickel. 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm). Signed to verso: [R. Nickel].

Merchants' National Bank, Grinnell, Iowa, 1919 Len Gittleman. 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm). Signed to verso: [L. Gittlemen].

Merchants' National Bank, Grinnell, Iowa, 1919 Aaron Siskind. 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm). Signed to verso: [A. Siskind].

Merchants' National Bank, Grinnell, Iowa, 1919 Aaron Siskind. 10 h × 8 w in (25 × 20 cm). Signed to verso: [A. Siskind].

National Farmers' Bank, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1908 James Blair. 10 h × 8 w in (25 × 20 cm). Signed to verso: [J. Blair].

National Farmers' Bank, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1908 James Blair. 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm). Signed to verso: [J. Blair]. This image was featured in the 1954 exhibition.

National Farmers' Bank, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1908 James Blair. 10 h × 8 w in (25 × 20 cm). Signed to verso: [J. Blair]. This image was featured in the 1954 exhibition.

National Farmers' Bank, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1908 James Blair. 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm). Signed to verso: [J. Blair]. This image was featured in the 1954 exhibition.

National Farmers' Bank, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1908 James Blair. 8 h × 10 w in (20 × 25 cm). Signed to verso: [J. Blair]. This image was featured in the 1954 exhibition.

In 1952, Aaron Siskind led a group of advanced photography students at the Institute of Design on a comprehensive photographic survey of architecture by Louis Sullivan. Over the span of three years, Siskind and his students photographed over sixty buildings, many of which were in various states of disrepair and demolished shortly thereafter. The significance of the Sullivan photography project is two-fold: on one hand it offered the students an opportunity to hone their technical skills and on the other, it resulted in the documentation of many works by the master architect that had been previously overlooked. Student and project participant Richard Nickel recalled this as “the sublime personal satisfaction of recording the beginning shapes of the first modern creative architect”.  In 1954, Siskind compiled 126 works from the project illustrating thirty-five Sullivan buildings for the exhibition Louis H. Sullivan, marking the largest exhibition of Sullivan building photographs to date. Many of the images offered here were chosen to be featured in the 1954 exhibition.

Views of the Exhibition

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Photos by Richard Nickel from the Archival Image Collection, Art Institute of Chicago

Amid the mass of buildings which speak of the growth of a city, the architecture of Louis Sullivan now stands unnoticed but for the student of architecture and those who believe that architecture is the very essence of civilization. The philosophy of Louis Sullivan is of particular note to the students of the Institute of Design in that it bears striking resemblance to their own aesthetic conception.

Richard Nickel

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