
Schiller Building (later Garrick Theater): Sections of Star-Pod Design from Proscenium Vault
Gift of the commission on Chicago Architectural Landmarks
Catalogue
- Year
- 1886
- Medium
- Painted plaster
- Dimensions
- 70 × 70 cm (27 9/16 × 27 9/16 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Louis Sullivan
Artist

Louis Sullivan was an American architect and theorist who pioneered the modern skyscraper, developing a distinctive ornamental language that integrated geometric and organic forms across cast-iron facades and terra-cotta surfaces. Working primarily in Chicago from the 1880s onward, he designed the Auditorium Building and the Carson, Pirie, Scott store, establishing a vocabulary of vertical emphasis and decorative unity that influenced generations of architects. His essays on architectural form, particularly his dictum that form follows function, articulated a philosophical foundation for modern design that extended beyond building to industrial production and craft.
Full artist profile →More
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Elevator Grille Ornament from the Schlesinger and Mayer Store, Chicago, Illinois
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Entrance Kick Plate from the Chicago Stock Exchange
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Elevator Grille from the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chicago, Illinois
1894 · Cast iron, wrought iron, and copper-plated cast iron
Elevator Grille from the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chicago, IL
1893 · Iron and copper plate
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Louis Sullivan
- Year
- 1886
- Medium
- Painted plaster
- Dimensions
- 70 × 70 cm (27 9/16 × 27 9/16 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1886-155860
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified





