William Lebaron Jenney?

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?

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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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George Buchanan Armstrong

GEORGE BUCHANAN ARMSTRONG is the Father of Railway Mail Service in America. "The first official US Post Office railroad route was officially established when Mr. Armstrong placed a postal care equipped for general distribution in service between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa." At that time he was Assistant Postmaster in Chicago. www.thepostalgazette.com/issues/12/MailbyRailUSA.pdf The portrait bust shown below, located in the Federal Center Post Office, was sculpted by Leonard Volk in 1881.
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The importance of railroads to the history and development of Chicago cannot be overestimated. Union Station, today, is a Chicago Landmark (http://egov.cityofchicago.org/Landmarks/U/UnionStation.html) See additional photographs and comment at (http://www.architectureintheloop.blogspot.com/). Leonard Volk, incidentally was Stephen Douglas' brother-in-law. The commemorative above (Lincoln seated, Douglas standing), also by Volk is located at the Douglas Memorial on 35th Street and overlooks the Illinois Central line parallelling the Lakefront.

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

Potter and Berthe Palmer

These two portrait heads are located in the Art Institute of Chicago, and are worth, even, the new price of admission. Sculpted in marble by Hiram Powers in 1871, they depict Potter and Berthe Palmer. Powers died just two years after completing this work. They flank the south side of the Sculpture Court.
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Born in Vermont, Powers spent much of his youth in Cincinnati. He was in Florence (that's Italy, not Kentucky) when the Potters purchased these portraits. His most famous work is "The Greek Slave" http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/sentimnt/grslvhp.html

Of all the figural sculpture in Chicago's Loop, this pair is a favorite -- for the convergence of Art, Place, History,Celebrity and Style. I think that Potter's head is slightly larger than Berthe's. And on second glance, I'm not exactly sure what he's is thinking. Neither is Berthe!

THE PAUL POPP MEMORIAL FONT

The Paul Popp Memorial Font was sculpted by Augusta Freeman in 1874, and installed in the Cathedral of St. James, which had nearly burned to the ground in the Fire of 1871. The people at St. James take their Art and Architecture seriously.
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To me, this sculpture seems personal. Augusta's own children, maybe. Almost alive. Note the butterfly, that has rested, intact, on this child's hand for 135 years. The history of the Church is well worth a visit. http://www.saintjamescathedral.org/history1834.asp

The Rae Building

This optimistic face was installed in the cornice at 23 South Wabash, remarkably, in 1871. Archi- tect for the project was Frederick Baumann. Scuptor is unknown to the author. If you have any information, please email. Maybe there is some clue in the collar. Or the curls.

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The Rae building is under careful renovations as a component of the new Legacy Condominium at Millenium Park. This won't be the first FACE that Solomon Cordwell Buenz has cared for on Wabash. And hopefully, it won't be the last. Thank-you SCB.

A Line in the Sand

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This blog will concern itself with Figural Sculpture in the heart of Chicago; in the area bound by North Avenue, Halsted Street, Twelfth Street and the Lake. A small area and a narrow interest. But with enough "material" to last a lifetime's study. And I'll have to admit that I didn't start nearly soon enough. Figural sculpture has a FACE. It is Architectural Ornament, a Monument that stands alone, or sometimes, exists as "just" Art. But it almost always, tells a story.

Life begins here in 1871. Old Saint Pat's, of course survived the Fire. And bits of St. James live in the church tower incorporated to the new Cathedral. But even the original Seal of Chicago was lost. (The Seal above, originally designed by Josiah Goodhue, William Ogden and Hiram Pearson shows 1905 revisions.) I am tempted to head a little south to 35th Street to Leonard Volk's Stephen A. Douglas memorial, begun in 1866, but will wait for the City to rebuild. On Wabash Avenue. In the Loop.