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Elevator Enclosure Grille, from the Chicago Stock Exchange

Elevator Enclosure Grille, from the Chicago Stock Exchange

Gallery Location

Not currently on view

Louis Henri Sullivan

In 1871, fire devastated central Chicago, leaving a third of the city’s inhabitants homeless. A great rebuilding followed. The city’s architects transformed steel and other modern industrial materials into some of the world’s first skyscrapers, maximizing floor space by building upward. For Louis Sullivan, this new building form required a new form of ornament, a mission that aligned with an international effort to beautify everyday life in the face of rapid change. The economic inequality that was part of this change often divided the creators and consumers of this beauty, as disputes over low wages that hampered the construction of one of Sullivan’s most prominent projects, the Chicago Stock Exchange building, make clear. This is one of the grilles that surrounded the elevator shaft on each floor. Sullivan designed these to be seen by both visitors walking the building’s corridors and those riding from floor to floor. The stylized seeds bursting from pods and abstracted foliage are characteristic of Sullivan’s exuberant designs inspired by nature and especially attuned to the local prairie landscape. His attention to how form might enhance function, as well as his use of ornamentation, defined his style and influenced many other architects, particularly in the Midwest.
Artist/Maker
Louis Henri Sullivan
(American, 1856 - 1924)
Title
Elevator Enclosure Grille, from the Chicago Stock Exchange
Date
1893-1894
Material & Process
Cast iron, wrought iron, and copper alloy
Dimensions
73 3/4 x 41 x 1 in. Overall
Credit
Gift of the Museum of Modern Art
Inventory No.
1974.95.3
Classification
Architectural Decoration
Location
United States

Related

1962, removed from the Chicago Stock Exchange; 1962, gifted by Kenneth Newberger and Carroll Sudler (Chicago, IL) to the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY); 1974, gifted by the Museum of Modern Art (distributed through the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle) to the Elvehjem Art Center [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

This tall, vertically oriented rectangular elevator grille is made of dark metal strips arranged in an open framework that creates a geometric pattern of intersecting lines and open spaces. The design consists of repeating circular motifs organized in a grid that spans the entire frame. The circles are evenly spaced and aligned both horizontally and vertically, producing a uniform, symmetrical layout. Each column contains large, open circles bisected by two straight rods running vertically through their centers. Within each circle is a stylized “X” shape formed by four short diagonal arms tipped with small metal spheres. Decorative, spool-shaped segments connect the columns horizontally at the intersections. The overall effect is an airy grid of curves and straight lines punctuated by small dots. Mounted at the center of the grille is a solid, copper-brown metal panel shaped like the capital letter “T.” Distinct from the dark grid, it features a dense, textured web of interlaced geometric and curvilinear lines, oval forms, and lattice-like patterns. At the bottom, a solid rectangular kick plate spans the full width of the grille. The copper-brown metal plate displays a smooth, unadorned surface bordered by a line of small circles. A thin metal frame encloses the grille.

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